Page 9 - QT Eedition #28 July 10, 2025
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THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2025                                    THE QUEENS TIMES                                                            PAGE 9


                       Free Swim For 2nd Graders is Back!                                        Anne Frank Exhibition Expands Free
                                                                                                             Access This Summer
             Council Member Shekar Krish-
        nan said “Free swim for second
        graders is back! I am so proud                                                              (Continued from page 7)  to accommodate NYC’s diverse
        to have created this  lifesaving                                                                                     population. The expanded acces-
        program with Council Member                                                             cess of similar initiatives globally.  sibility reflects a growing aware-
        Julie Menin and Asphalt Green, in                                                       The center hopes that removing  ness of the power of inclusive
        partnership with Commonpoint.”                                                          financial barriers will increase  storytelling.
             Wavemakers’ goal is to provide                                                     attendance, especially among       For local schools and summer
        essential water safety instruction                                                      students and educators from un-  programs, the exhibition offers a
        to children across New York City,                                                       derserved communities.       rare opportunity to integrate real-
        free of charge. Children who are                                                             In addition to the main ex-  world learning into curriculum.
        entering the second grade or just                                                       hibition, visitors this summer  Teachers who bring students to
        completed the second grade are                                                          can participate in guided tours,  the exhibition will receive com-
        eligible to apply.                                                                      educational workshops, and panel  plimentary educational materials,
             The Wavemakers program                                                             discussions led by historians and  including lesson plans and discus-
        teaches children the critical life                                                      educators. Topics range from  sion guides aligned with national
        skills of drowning prevention                                                           Holocaust remembrance and hu-  standards.
        and eventually swim proficiency.                                                        man rights to contemporary anti-       “This is not just about visit-
        Classes are taught by certified                                                         semitism and the enduring power  ing a museum,” said NYC high
        Water Safety Instructors and take                                                       of youth activism. Each event is  school  teacher  James  Rowley,
        place  for  45  minutes  once  per                                                      designed to deepen engagement  who brings his students annually.
        week, held in Jackson Heights!                                                          and provoke dialogue—anchored  “It’s a transformative experience.
             To apply, please download and                                                      by the timeless message in Anne’s  Anne’s story humanizes history in
        fill out this form and email it to                                                      diary.                       ways textbooks can’t.”
        Sdecker@commonpoint.org. The                                                                 The Center’s initiative arrives       The Anne Frank Center en-
        program administrators will be                                                          at a critical juncture. Surveys  courages those interested to make
        in touch if your child is selected.                                                     show that knowledge about the  advance reservations online,
             I will continue to fight for water                                                 Holocaust is declining among  though walk-ins will be welcome.
        safety programs in our city and ac-                                                     younger generations, and anti-  Demand is expected to be high,
        cess to safe swim. Happy summer!                                                        semitic incidents in the United  particularly around key dates such
                                                                                                States have risen sharply over  as Anne’s birthday on June 12 and
                Attorney General James Urges Court to Halt                                      the past few years. Experts say  the anniversary of her arrest on
                                                                                                                             August 4.
                                                                                                that immersive educational ex-
                 Unconstitutional ICE Raids in Los Angeles                                      periences like this exhibition are       More than a historical exhibit,
                                                                                                                             is a call to conscience. It is a place
        Multistate Coalition Files Brief  and farmers markets have shut  can history.           vital tools in combating ignorance  Anne Frank: A History for Today
                                                                                                and hate.
        Arguing Mass Deportation Tac-  down due to fear of enforcement.       The attorneys general argue that       “Anne’s diary reminds us what  to reflect, to learn, and—perhaps
        tics Harm Communities, Under-  Hospitals and health clinics report  the federal government’s conduct  happens when society fails to  most importantly—to act. With
        mine Public Safety, and Erode  soaring appointment cancellation  creates confusion and fear that  protect its most vulnerable,” said  free access this summer, the
        Civil Liberties              rates, which presents alarming con-  also directly impedes local law  Holocaust historian Dr. Miriam  Center is offering not just a gift
                                     cerns for public health. Students  enforcement. Numerous incidents  Feldstein, who will lead one of the  to the public, but a challenge: to
             New York Attorney General  are skipping school and graduation  have been reported in which plain-  upcoming workshops. “Her voice  confront intolerance wherever it
        Letitia James today joined a coali-  ceremonies, days that are supposed  clothes Immigration and Customs  must remain part of our public  may appear, and to stand up for
        tion of 17 other attorneys general  to be among the most joyous of  Enforcement (ICE) agents driving  consciousness.”  dignity and justice.
        in supporting the American Civil  their lives. Houses of worship have  unmarked vehicles were mistaken       To support the increased foot       For further details, program-
        Liberties Union’s (ACLU) lawsuit  also seen a dramatic decline in at-  for criminals, leading to false re-  traffic, the Anne Frank Center  ming schedules, or to reserve
        challenging the federal govern-  tendance.                 ports of kidnappings and assaults.  has also extended operating hours  group visits, patrons can visit
        ment’s use of unlawful immigra-       The attorneys general highlight  This, too, erodes the culture of trust  through August and introduced  www.annefrankcenter.org or call
        tion enforcement tactics in Los  the long history of discriminatory  between immigrant communities  multilingual exhibit materials  (212) 431-7993.
        Angeles, California. In an amicus  and militarized immigration en-  and the police. ICE’s secretive
        brief filed today in Perdomo v.  forcement campaigns in California,  approach has even led to a rise in   NYC DOT Begins Construction On
        Noem, Attorney General James  including “Operation Wetback,” a  copycat crimes in which masked
        and the coalition urge the court  1954 mass deportation campaign  perpetrators imitate ICE agents in   Hillside Avenue Bus Lanes, Speeding
        to grant a temporary restraining  that took its name from an ethnic  order to abduct or harass others.  Service For Over 215,000 Daily Riders
        order halting the raids, which have  slur, as well as the La Placita raids       In their filing, Attorney General
        upended the community, harmed  during the Great Depression. The  James and the coalition emphasize   (Continued from page 6)  in 1969, and the 2025 project rep-
        local economies, and undermined  attorneys general note that at the  that while the ACLU’s lawsuit is                resents their first major upgrade
        public trust in law enforcement.  time, Mexican farmworkers were  specifically focused on ICE en-  Long Island Rail Road, and the  in more than 50 years.
             “In Los Angeles and nationwide,  indiscriminately blamed for job  forcement tactics in Los Angeles,  JFK AirTrain. Buses on Hillside       NYC DOT’s proposed design
        we are seeing immigration enforce-  shortages and shrinking public  the federal government has been  Avenue move more passengers  will feature a parking lane on each
        ment officers deploy dystopian  benefits, and ultimately, the cam-  engaging in widespread raids in  than PATH, NJ Transit Rail, or  side of the street, as well as one
        tactics that are deeply harmful,”  paign resulted in the deportation of  cities  throughout  the  country,  BART. On its own, the buses on  travel lane for vehicle traffic, one
        said Attorney General James. “No  nearly two million Mexican Amer-  including New York. Arrests at im-  Hillside Avenue would be the 18th  lane for left turning vehicles, and
        one should fear being questioned,  icans, more than half of whom were  migration courts in Manhattan and  largest transit system by ridership  one lane for bus traffic in each
        detained, or deported by unidenti-  U.S. citizens, without due process.  on farms upstate have contributed  in the US.   direction. The new offset bus
        fied masked agents while taking  Families were separated, and many  to a culture of fear for many immi-       Hillside Avenue intersects  lanes would be in effect 24 hours,
        their child to school, going to work,  children never again saw their  grant New Yorkers. The attorneys  several neighborhoods of eastern  seven days a week and enforced
        or attending church. These mass  parents. Historians and scholars  general are asking the court to  Queens, including Briarwood, Ja-  via the MTA’s ACE system of bus-
        raids are tearing families apart,  have widely condemned these  immediately intervene and stop the  maica, Hollis, and Queens Village.  mounted camera enforcement.
        threatening public safety, and turn-  discriminatory raids as inhumane  unlawful immigration enforcement  The new bus lanes will benefit the       The eastbound bus lane will run
        ing once-lively neighborhoods into  terror campaigns.      tactics in Los Angeles, arguing  vast majority of nearby residents  from 144th Street to Springfield
        ghost towns. Federal agents are       Attorney General James and the  that the culture of fear that these  who commute to work by transit  Boulevard. The westbound bus
        sowing fear in entire communities,  coalition draw parallels between  raids have created permeates well  as well as the vast majority of  lane will run from 143rd Street to
        which is why we are urging the  those shameful chapters of Ameri-  beyond city and state borders and  the  people  currently  traveling  Springfield Boulevard.
        court to intervene and stop these  can history and the current actions  has had an overwhelming chilling  on  Hillside Avenue. About 60       The design will speed up bus
        unconstitutional raids at once.”  under the Trump administration,  effect on communities nationwide.  percent of nearby residents take  service while also adding more
             In the brief, Attorney General  which seemingly prioritize maxi-       The attorneys general are sup-  transit to work and 83 percent  than 600 parking and loading
        James and the coalition detail how  mizing the quantity of arrests over  porting the plaintiffs’ motion for  of Hillside Avenue users are bus  spaces to support local businesses
        the federal government’s current  the right to due process. They high-  a temporary restraining order, in  riders—even though buses are  receiving deliveries.
        immigration enforcement efforts  light the president’s past remarks,  which they argue ICE is not stop-  allocated less than a third of the       The proposal is the result of
        have “shattered the rhythms of  in which he praised “Operation  ping people based on any reason-  roadway space.     nearly 300 pedestrian surveys
        everyday life” in Los Angeles.  Wetback” as an enforcement model  able, individualized suspicion,       Currently, certain sections of  conducted in multiple languages,
        In recent months, masked agents  and hailed the Eisenhower admin-  and instead is engaging in racial  Hillside Avenue feature curbside  visits to more than 400 businesses
        conducting  unannounced  and  istration for setting the record for  profiling.          bus lanes in operation during  and more than a dozen meetings
        unmarked operations in neighbor-  deportations, a record he said his       Joining Attorney General James  rush hours. These inconsistent  with community boards, local
        hoods, churches, schools, and local  administration would break. The  in filing this brief are the attorneys  curbside bus lanes were among  elected officials, and other stake-
        businesses have left people afraid  attorneys general emphasize that  general of Arizona, California,  the first ever installed in the city,  holders.
        to leave their homes. Residents,  the administration’s recent im-  Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii,
        including U.S. citizens, have been  migration raids, including in Los  Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts,
        unlawfully detained, questioned,  Angeles, appear to bear many of  Maryland, Michigan, Minne-
        and harassed, often without any  the same hallmarks as the earlier  sota, New Jersey, New Mexico,   Visit Our Website: www.queenstimes.com
        reasonable suspicion of wrongdo-  mass deportation efforts that are  Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and
        ing. Local businesses have closed  now shameful chapters of Ameri-  Washington.
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