Tuesday, August 4

QUEENS, NY – Borough President Melinda Katz and the Queens Center will distribute free backpacks and school supplies to schoolchildren at several National Night Out events this evening starting at 5:15pm at the 112th Precinct’s event in MacDonald Park (Queens Boulevard Service Road and Yellowstone Boulevard).

“The new school year is right around the corner,” said Borough President KATZ. “Let’s make sure our schoolkids have a great start by equipping them with the right resources, from both school supplies to relationships with trusted members of the community. Queens is grateful to our NYPD Community Councils for this annual fun-filled community event, as well as to Queens Center for their generosity in the school supplies that makes today’s distribution possible.”

The backpacks and school supplies were donated by the Queens Center shopping mall. National Night Out is an annual summer event by the NYPD and various agencies, local business and civic organizations to foster relationships between the community and police and to promote a united stand in the fight against crime.

“It is our pleasure to partner with Borough President Melinda Katz on her efforts to ensure that children in our local community go back to school prepared with some of the tools they will need to succeed,” said Queens Center Senior Manager of Marketing JOHN SCATURRO. “Queens Center is proud to support those efforts by contributing hundreds of backpacks and school supplies for distribution by the Borough President at events throughout the borough. Queens Center believes strongly in being part of our community and this is one way to show our allegiance to the residents of Queens, especially those less able to provide these essential supplies to their children as they prepare to go back to school.”

The backpacks will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis – only to school-age children who are in attendance – at the following National Night Out events this evening:

Precinct Location of National Night Out event
103rd Rufus King Park (89 Avenue and 150 Street) in Jamaica
105th Cabbell Park (121 Avenue and Francis Lewis Boulevard) in Cambria Heights
110th Flushing Meadows-Corona Park 200 Area (111 Street and 53 Avenue) in Corona
112th MacDonald Park (Queens Boulevard Service Road and Yellowstone Boulevard) in Forest Hills
113th Baisley Pond Park (Baisley Boulevard and 150 Street) in Jamaica

All sixteen of the NYPD in Queens precincts will hold National Night Out events this evening, as will Police Service Area 9 (the Housing Bureau unit responsible for policing in the borough’s public housing complexes). The events feature free food, family entertainment, giveaways and the dissemination of important public safety information.

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