The Village of Floral Park board of trustees reserved their decision at their recent meeting in regards to a proposed technical school that’s looking to be a part of the community.
Bellerose resident Kee Ma along with architect James Stout addressed the board about opening up Code Ninjas, which is a nationally known franchise, where the NY Crab Cake and Company deli once stood on 246 Jericho Tpke.
“Code Ninjas is actually a place where children can go and learn computer coding, which is something that we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of in the future,” said Stout.
Ma said he was motivated to open Code Ninjas because of his two children, who are 5 and 7, who constantly kept asking him to see his phone before their bedtime.
“Code Ninjas is something where it helps kids build their confidence,” explained Ma. “You build something, you see that it works and their confidence goes up. I’m not guaranteeing your child is going to be a coder. This is something for fun.”
Inside the technological dojo for kids who are between 7 and 14 years old, which will also be handicapped-accessible, kids advance to higher levels by receiving different colored bracelets. Being taught by senseis instead of teachers, kids will have the opportunity to build robots, drones and different apps. Ma is looking to hire high schoolers and college students as the center’s senseis. Every person that Ma hires will go through a background check.
Since the proposed location is close to the village’s schools and other villages such as Garden City, New Hyde Park and Mineola, Ma said that it would help better serve the community.
“These are simple codes that a child can do. Code Ninjas would be a good place to get kids off the streets,” Ma told the board. “It’s a hands-on facility for kids.”
The proposed hours for Code Ninjas is Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. Ma said that he would like to also be open on the weekends, more specifically Saturday, but can’t currently commit to anything until he sees there’s a demand for it.
Ma also told the board that he would like to host birthday parties at the establishment as well. In the process of explaining his idea about hosting birthday parties, Ma eased the board’s concern about garbage pickup saying that not much garbage will be produced from the parties.
Deputy Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald asked Ma if he would be using the business’ potential birthday room for parties for older children or adults.
“I don’t see why I would throw a birthday party for a 16 year old there,” explained Ma. “The franchise is very strict about their rules. You need to follow the rules.”
Trustee Lynn Pombonyo thanked Ma, saying that coding is a great idea since the village has robotics teams within its school district.
If Ma is successful in opening up Code Ninjas in Floral Park, it will be the island’s second location. There is currently a Code Ninjas establishment in Syosset.
