NEW YORK (PIX11) -- A PIX11 News initiative is saluting crossing guards throughout our community.
Sarah-Jo DeFelippo is one of them.
She has been a fixture at the corner of Cross Bay Boulevard and Sutter Avenue in Ozone Park for five years.
The crossing guard says every day on the job is different but extremely rewarding.
“You come on your corner, you check your areas - if the lights aren’t working, if a sign is down if there’s a hole in the street.”
“It’s chaos sometimes, total and utter chaos sometimes people are impatient especially on a Friday, everyone wants to get home and you do the best you can. you really do. Try to keep everyone safe.”
The 43-year-old used to be an EMT before she decided to stay at home with her daughter. She was then inspired to become a crossing guard and headed to her local precinct.
“They needed more crossing guards and I was thinking of my kid at the time and I thought I can do this.”
The Queens native says she loves many things about her job, but the biggest one is her ability to connect with the community, especially the kids.
“This whole entire thing. My community, my kids. I’m gonna cry. I’ve been here for five years, and I’ve watched them grow.”
And the community? It loves her just as much.
“She makes all the kids feel safe to the point where the kids come home and say, ms Sarah crossed me today,” Mom Tiffany Gonzalez says.
Dad Jesus Almodovar says, “She’s very friendly with the kids. They all say hi to her, and that connection is pretty amazing.”
And while the job has some challenges like its physical nature or the weather…
She considers it a privilege to represent the NYPD every day.
“To put a smile on someone’s face. You don’t know what someone is going through. As long as I am that safe place and I represent NYPD in a beautiful light, that’s great.”
DeFelippo says being a crossing guard brings her a world of joy..and there’s no job she’d rather do.
Article From:
pix11.com
English (US) ·