Page 9 - QT Eedition #28 July 10, 2025

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.