By Nathan Duke
The proposed closing of an East Elmhurst after-school program would likely leave parents with nowhere to send their children when the school day ends at 3 p.m., the program’s director said.
The after-school program at PS 2, at 75-10 21st Ave. in East Elmhurst near the Astoria border, provides activities for 175 elementary school students and currently has a waiting list of 150 students, said George Stellakis, director of youth services for the Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee.
“Parents have said they wouldn’t be able to keep their jobs or would have to cut back on hours to pick up their children after school,” he said. “Or their kids would have to be left alone without supervision. This would be detrimental because many of them cannot afford paid programs.”
The program, which opened in 2005, runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and includes a variety of activities, such as homework help, tutoring, arts and crafts, acting classes and sports as well as recreational and cultural activities. It accommodates students from kindergarten through fifth-grade. HANAC is a Manhattan-based social services nonprofit with an office in Astoria.
But proposed cuts to the city Community and Youth Development Department in this year’s city budget could lead to the program’s closure June 30, Stellakis said.
The closest after-school program to PS 2 is a paid program on 82nd Street at 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights 20 minutes away, a spokeswoman for City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said.
But Stellakis said that program would probably not be an option for most parents because of its distance from the East Elmhurst school. In addition, the Jackson Heights site would also likely reserve 99 percent of its slots to children in that community, he said.
“We all understand the need for scaling back, but once again Queens is taking the brunt of the city’s cuts with over half of the after-school programs eliminated in this borough,” Vallone said. “This is unfair and unacceptable.”
Eliza Lamb of Astoria sends her daughter, Madeline, 7, a second-grader, to PS 2’s after-school program for at least three hours every day.
“If they don’t have an after-school program, she’ll have to switch schools,” Lamb said of her daughter. “I’m a working mom and a full-time student. She’s too young to be at home by herself.”
The school is one of 17 in Queens facing cuts, while another 16 across the five boroughs are slated to close amid the city’s budget deficit. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget proposal includes cutting $7.5 million in funding for after-school programs.
The Council is still negotiating a final budget.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
