3rd Graders Visit Safety City - 2017

Ms. Schwartz class (Class 301) pays close attention to the pedestrian rules at Safety City.

Have you ever been to Safety City?  Third grade students at PS4 have been visiting Safety City, Located at 672 W158th Street, for seven years!  Special thanks to Renso Vidal, NYC DOT - Safety and Outreach for choosing our school to partner with during this annual celebration of safety on International Walk to School Day. 


Safety City uses both traditional classroom education and hands-on practice in an outdoor realistic yet protected street and intersection. At Safety City's Indoor Learning Center, participating students from community schools take part in activities designed to build self-esteem and strengthen their ability to make safer choices. The classroom experience includes informational videos and up-to-date learning materials. Outdoors, students practice their safety skills on a fenced-in street and intersection. The area has realistic pavement markings, traffic and pedestrian signals and street signs. The children practice crossing the street safely in a variety of situations. Access Safety City on West 158th Street in Manhattan also serves older adults and people of all ages with special needs.

Safety City's instructors are specially trained traffic safety experts from DOT's Office of Safety Programs. Police officers, traffic enforcement agents, health care providers and school crossing guards also instruct the children at Safety City, reminding them to use their safety skills. For more information about Safety City, click here.

Renso Vidal, Instructor with NYC DOT Safety and Outreach shows students how to wear a helmet.

3rd Graders Go To Safety City

Ms. Schwartz poses with her 3rd grade students as they prepare to walk to Safety City.

Once again, PS4 students partnered with the NYC Department of Transportation to educate students on pedestrian, bicycle and car passenger safety!  The fundamental message of Vision Zero is that death and injury on city streets are unacceptable and that we will no longer regard serious crashes as inevitable.  The goal is to reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities in NYC to zero in ten short years.  Visiting Safety City on W157th Street plays an important role in reaching this goal.

For the 6th year in a row, FedEx and Safe Kids sponsored National Walk to School Day!  On October 6th all 3rd grade students walk with family members, teachers and special guests to Safety City!  Safety City is a traffic safety program for school children that uses a simulated New York City street to teach children about traffic safety through hands-on experience.  The program teachings students how to make safer choices as pedestrians, on bicycles, on skates, on scooters and in cars.

Special thanks to Renso Vidal, NYC DOT - Safety and Outreach for choosing our school to partner with during this annual celebration of safety.  For more information about Safety City, click here.

Assistant Principal, Ms. Martin looks on as students celebrate National Walk to School Day

DOT Safety Educator Renso Vidal gives safety tips before walking to Safety City with 3rd graders.

PS4 and FedEx Walk To Safety City

Once again, students from 3rd grade participated in National Walk To School Day!  This year, three classes participated in this annual event where volunteers from FedEx walk to Safety City with our students.  Safety City is a traffic safety program for school children that uses a simulated New York City street to teach children about traffic safety through hands-on experience.

Special thanks to Renso at Safety City for making sure PS4 students know how to be safe as they cross the street.  Take a look at photos and a video from the exciting event and click here to learn more about Safety City.

Collage made with Smilebox

3rd Graders Celebrate 'International Walk to School Day'!

On October 7th, the boys and girls of the third Grade, including students from Mr. Nycz and Ms. Bonilla's class, traveled to Safety City, at 222 W134th Street in Harlem. They learned important lessons about crossing the street safely in New York City. The lessons taught students how to cross the street, how to look at a driver in their eyes and how to signal to a driver when crossing the street. Students were also able to honk the horns of Fed - Ex trucks and buses! Fed-Ex volunteers, in red T-shirts, celebrated International Walk To School Day by visiting our school and walking with our students and teachers to Safety City! "This is a good example for kids", said Ms. Nieves, teacher of class 323,"now they will have a clear understanding of the proper way to cross the street."

Special thanks to the men and women of Safety City and Fed-Ex for spending time with us and using our wonderful students to show the world how important it is to cross the street safely. Check out a video from Federal Express highlighting the event!