Local businesses band together to make parents with young children feel more welcome in Astoria.
About 20 stores and businesses have posted signs reading "breastfeeding welcome here". It's all a part of a movement to make the area more accommodating to pregnant women and families with children. The initiative is sponsored by UP-STAND, a Queens-based company that raises awareness about women's and children's issues.
Participants say although breastfeeding in public is legal in 49 states and Washington DC, many mothers still feel uncomfortable feeding their children in front of others.
“Some people travel. They come from 36th Avenue. They come from 30th Avenue and, you know, they're embarrassed to feed their kid. That's terrible,” said Pauline Zammit, a ceramics teacher at Gym-azing, one of the businesses displaying the signs.
“To actually put something up that says 'You are welcome here, we support you to do this' is so crucial,” said Christine Serdjenian Yearwood, Founder and CEO of UP-STAND.
The signs are $5 each. To learn more, log on to their website at up-stand.com.