By Madina Toure
Queens Borough Celebration Day brought about 200 children from the Police Athletic League’s Summer Play Streets program to Harvey Park in Whitestone last week for a day of games and other activities.
The Aug. 13 event featured basketball and an inflated mock basketball court, face painting and games such as Connect Four.
The Summer Play Streets program, which operates in all five boroughs and targets youth ages seven to 16, closes off streets and other public areas throughout the city to give children safe, supervised and fun-filled places to play and learn during the summer. This year the program ran from July 6 to Aug. 21.
“It’s just kind of an end-of-the-year party where they can meet other kids from Queens and have a good time, kind of our thank you to them,” George Stork, PAL’s program manager, said.
Borough celebration days were also held in Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx. The Brooklyn celebration was cancelled due to rainy weather but will be rescheduled.
The program’s Queens sites were at the Westway Hotel Shelter in Astoria, Ocean Bay Houses in Arverne, Louis Armstrong Playground in Corona and Playground 75 in Flushing.
Briana Gaskins, site director for the Playground 75 site, said that the younger kids are passionate not only about playing games but learning about the organization itself.
She said the organization tries to teach the kids about the importance of having an active, healthy lifestyle and that they also teach them about how to deal with safety issues such as bullying. She noted that the coloring books the organization hands out to kids always come along with stories.
“If the people we are giving to grow up wanting to give back, then I feel like we’re doing our job,” Gaskins said.
Amirah Levant, 9, who attends Goldie Maple Academy in Arverne, has been doing the program for four years and says she has learned how to play a bunch of new games.
“I like that it can be competitive and you can do face painting,” Levant said.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
