N.Y. Acts to Ensure School Safety After Race Violence

Two weeks after a mob attack heightened racial tensions, officials said Friday that they were reviewing public school security to ensure safety when students return to class Monday after their winter holiday.

Schools Chancellor Nathan Quinones planned to meet Sunday with the heads of some school districts to discuss security, and principals have been in touch with police, authorities said.

Not an ‘Armed Camp’

“We will have all the security that is considered necessary,” said Bob Terte, spokesman for the city’s Board of Education. At the same time, he added, “We are not turning the schools into an armed camp.”

A group of whites chased and beat three black men in Howard Beach, a predominantly white Queens neighborhood, on the night of Dec. 19, and one of the blacks was killed by a car when fleeing from the assailants. Groups of blacks have subsequently attacked whites and a Latino man elsewhere in the city.

George Russo, president of School Board 27 in Howard Beach, said that, although police officers will be available to the schools, they generally will remain off campus unless called. “We want black and white students to feel as one,” he said.

Programs on Racism

A group of civic and religious leaders said Friday that tensions could be lessened by school programs on racism--one is planned for later this month--and by increasing funding for extracurricular programs to bring black and white students together.

The group, calling itself the Concerned Citizens of South Queens, said it sought to show that the attack in Howard Beach reflected a far-reaching problem in the entire city.