Daily News from New York, New York • 36

36 Friday, February 4, 201 1 YEAR, NEW PUSH BOROWIDE City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) is pushing for legislation that would allow the city to give extra credit to city firefighter applicants who graduate from high schools in the five boroughs. Comrie said the change NEW BY CLARE TRAPASSO DAILYNEWSWRITER A QUEENS lawmaker is hoping that the third time's the charm when it comes to city schools honoring Lunar New Year. Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) was joined by two dozen Queens students to ask city and state officials for the third year in a row to close schools on the most important Asian holiday of the year. "We're going to do this every year until this becomes a reality," Meng vowed during Wednesday's rally at Public School 244 in Flushing.

"We just want the same right to celebrate our holiday at home, the same as other cultures." The Year of the Rabbit began school holiday observe the holiday in all cities in the state with more than 1 million residents, at least 7.5 of them Asian. She has also written to the mayor's office and the city Education Department. But her proposal faces an uphill battle. Education officials said the last holiday added to the school calendar was Martin Luther King Jr. Day California passed the legislation in 1 970, the first state to do so.

"With so many religions practiced throughout our city, we have to weigh additional school closings with the need to give our kids as much time in the classroom as possible," agency spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said. Students can miss class for religious reasons without being marked absent, she said. But that's not good enough for students like ChanyangKim, 12, of Flushing. "I believe all Asians deserve this holiday," said the seventh-grader at Junior High School 189. Christine Colligan, president of the Korean-American Parents Association of Greater New York, said not observing the holiday forces kids to choose between their heritage and school.

She noted that the "vast majority" of Asian students are absentthat day. "Nobody sends their children to the school on Thanksgiving," Colligan said. "Just like that, this is amajorholiday." Pol wants city yesterday, and the holiday is celebrated with large family gatherings. Alternate-side parking rules are suspended that day. Asians make up about 12 of the city's population and 22 in Queens, according to the 2009 American Community Survey.

A lot of children in the community question why their Jewish friends get to celebrate Rosh Has-hanah at home but they have to go to school, Meng said. "As a kid growing up in New York City, I actually wondered the same thing," she said. Since 2009, Meng has introduced bills calling for schools to Christine Colligan of Flushing celebrates would help make the FDNY more diverse. Albany would first have to pass legislation allowing the city to enact its Leroy Comrie own law to add the credit. Comrie said the five-point high school credit which would also extend to GED holders if they attended high school in the city for at least three years -would replace the current city resident credit for applicants.

Lisa L. Colangelo BOROWIDE Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-QueensLong Island) has helped ensure that institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy mortgages that pay fees to condos or co-ops when units are sold. The Federal Housing Financing Agency had proposed prohibiting these types of enterprises from buying mortgages with a private-transfer fee. But the agency unveiled a new plan on Tuesday that excludes co-ops, condos and homeowner associations from the ban.

The agency's proposal still needs to be formally approved later this year. Clare Trapasso HOLLISWOOD Council men James Gennaro and Mark Weprin will host a town hall meeting this month on the city's new automatic water meters. Residents who attend the event on Feb. 16 at Public SchoolIntermediate School 178 will be able to talk to customer service agents from the city Department of Environmental Protection about problems or billing issues. The event will run from 6 p.m.

to 9 p.m. at the school, located at 189-10 Radnor Road. Nicholas Hirshon Bronx Bureau (718) 822-1174 bronxboronewsNYDailyNews.com Brooklyn (718) 875-4455 brooklynnewsNYDailyNews.com Queens (718) 793-3328 queensnewsNYDailyNews.com Colorfully dressed Korean-American Lunar New Year outside PS 244 yesterday. Photo by Pearl Gabel Table tennis titan brings tournament to Roosevelt Island "It's a thinking man's sport," Braithwaite said. "There isn't much distance between you and your opponent, and the ball travels sometimes at very high speeds." A good game can evenbe a good form of aerobics, he said.

Braithwaite toured China in 197 1 as part of ping pong diplomacy, credited with thawing relations between the U.S. and the Communist nation. Forty years later, he's still going. He won two titles in his age group at the 2010 U.S.A. Table Tennis Nationals.

Leslie Torres, president of the Roosevelt Island Operating which is sponsoring the tournament, said the event should be "a lot offun." "Especially in this grim winter, it's nice to have an indoor sport activity," Torres said. "We have a very dedicated following of table tennis players." Kevin Ray, 30, is one of them. "A lot of people have a lot of misconceptions regarding ping pong," said Ray, a medical resident at North Shore-LIJ Health System who lives on the island. "They think the sport is just a bar sport, but there is just more to it." He said he has been training for the tournament under Braithwaite's tutelage for the last fewweeks. "I've been trying to go out to the club two or three times a week and practice a little more than I usually do," Ray said.

"I do a lot of car-dio, and a lot of pushups and pullups." Robert Chen, director of the New York Table Tennis Federation, said there should be more tournaments in the city for players to test their skills. "It's definitely needed," Chen said. "Competitions will bring more interest. pro-motingthe sport." Tomorrow's first match begins at 1 0 a.m. at the Sportspark Club Room.

BYCLARETRAPASSO DAILYNEWSWRITER A WORLD-RENOWNED table tennis star is bringing his passion for the sport home to Roosevelt Island just don't call it ping-pong. USA Table Tennis Hall of Famer George (The Chief) Braithwaite, 75, is the driving force behind tomorrow's inaugural Roosevelt Island Table Tennis Tournament. "In any sport, you could practice day in and day out for many years," he said. "But unless you compete, you are not really going to get the thrill of being able to match your skills against others." Braithwaite, a retired United Nations statistics clerk, founded a club last April on Roosevelt Island, where he lives. i He now coaches more than 70 members who meet three times a week to hone their paddling skills..