BY GABRIELLE MILNER
Printed in the NY Daily News on August 10, 2010

Noemi and Miguel Trejo, ages 8 and 6, sit in the middle of 78th St. in Jackson Heights, drawing butterflies and flowers, without a worry in the world.

That's because they're in a safe haven,   the 78th St. Play Street, a 24-hour, car-free art and sports space.

"You get to write stories, you get to color and you get to paint," said Noemi, who comes to the Play Street with her brother every day.

Local organizations, including Friends of Travers Park, Jackson Heights Green Alliance and Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), teamed to create a sanctuary for summer sports and arts and crafts. They created it not only for fleeting summer fun, but to help hone language and art skills.

"Particularly in Jackson Heights, many of these families are nonnative English speakers whose children struggle to master both a language at home and another at school. Art programs can be the best way to communicate with their peers," said Emily Odermatt, 18, a Queens resident and NYU nursing student.

Studies indicate that children who take art classes have higher grades and better chances of success, according to The Center for Arts Education of New York. But the creators behind Play Street think kids might not get enough art throughout the year.

"It's one thing that kids are not getting in the public schools. The art classes [are] the first thing that they cut out," said Dromm. "I think that having as many art opportunities as possible is very important."

The scaling back of arts programs has left many kids eager to take part in Play Street arts and crafts.

"We usually have kids waiting for us to set up because they're so anxious to get started," said Anna Dioguardi, a director of Queens Community House, which provides supervision to kids on Play Street.

Doug Israel, director of the center, said that arts opportunities for students remain in decline. Over the past three years, the center reported a decrease of 68% in Department of Education budgeting for art and music supplies.

"These declines started before the onset of the current economic downturn, so we are concerned that as school budgets get cut, next year things will get worse," said Israel.

Still, the DOE said that even in tight budget times, public school art programs have improved. Between 2006 and 2009, the DOE reported that arts funding increased by 5.5% and that 139 new full-time arts teachers were hired, said spokesperson Matt Mittenthal.

Simran Singh, 16, a summer youth employment worker on Play Street, helps organize the arts activities for the participants. "They're overjoyed," she said. "I've never seen an actual street before closed for the kids. It's really nice of them to do that."

Dromm said the freedom that kids have on the Play Street helps them express themselves.

"[They] become more creative in terms of the games that they play, and how they interact with other human beings rather than just sitting home in front of a television," Dromm said. "That creativity transfers into other areas in terms of painting, drawing and sculpting."

Dromm is trying to secure additional funds to further promote arts on the Play Street.

Parents agree, saying that it gets kids off the couch.

"It gets their minds working," said Flor Reyes, the mother of Noemi and Miguel. "They learn more here so that they're better prepared when they go back to school."