'Shut The F-ck Up!': Sunnyside Woman Accused Of Tormenting Preschoolers For Waking Her Up In The Morning

Preschool students at the Amazing Magic Beans Learning Center in Sunnyside

A Sunnyside woman is allegedly bullying young children at a neighboring preschool by confronting them at recess and demanding they "shut the fuck up." The ranting routine, which the school says is a near daily occurrence, resulted in a harassment summons late last year. But that case was recently dismissed, leaving the Amazing Magic Beans Learning Center at an "impasse" with the neighbor, according to an online petition launched by the school.

Administrators at the pre-K center allege that Christina Basquez, a stand-up comic, has been harassing the children for years now. They say the alleged verbal abuse escalated this past winter, with Basquez frequently trespassing on school grounds to call the kids "animals" and shout at teaching staff. She also began filming the kids, who are between the ages of 2 and 5, from her window, school officials said.

"Over the past couple of years a young woman who lives in one of the buildings behind the church that overlooks our play area took it upon herself to yell at the children and the teachers, while the children were playing outside," reads the petition, which has over 500 signatures. "She works nights and sleeps during the day. She feels the children are too loud and should not be permitted to make so much noise outdoors."

The school's director, Lauren Travers, told the NY Post that the children are now "afraid of going outside" because of Basquez's verbal abuse. One parent provided the tabloid with a sketch of the woman drawn by her child, which reads: "'If you scream one more time I'll call Santa and you won't get any presents' — Screaming Lady, Dec. 2017."

Basquez, 38, is a stand-up comedian who has joked about her former career as a flight attendant. In a 2014 set at Caroline's, she described herself as a native New Yorker who moved to New Jersey for four years, and returned to Sunnyside to find it "yuppified, hippified, it's really ridiculous." In another video posted to YouTube, Basquez—who goes by the handle "tellitlikeitis88"—laments the end of "old New York," noting that "part of the appeal of New York is being scared of going into some places...nobody's scared anymore."

Basquez was previously arrested for disorderly conduct in Atlantic City—reportedly for yelling and cursing outside a Miss America pageant. Public records show that charge was dismissed.

Her alleged anti-tyke tirades attracted police attention a few months ago, after the school's attempt at a "mediation"—not sending the kids outside until 10 a.m., in exchange for the promise that Basquez would stop screaming at them—was swiftly violated by Basquez, the school said. In December, two plainclothes officers stationed at the school reportedly witnessed the haranguing for themselves.

"Our neighbor yelled and screamed at the children and she was issued a summons to appear in criminal court on the charge of harassment in the second degree," according to the petition. A judge dismissed that case on February 6th and Basquez resumed shouting at children the following day, the school maintains.

"The person who is threatening and harassing children at Amazing Magic Beans must be stopped," Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer told Gothamist. "No parent should ever have to worry that a deranged individual is going to hurt their child."

Van Bramer added that he'd called on the commanding officer of the 108th precinct to visit the school once again and hold Basquez accountable. The precinct did not immediately return Gothamist's request for comment.

"We are now at an impasse," the petition concluded. "Her abuse of the children and teachers and possible endangerment of the children needs to end."

Gothamist's attempts to reach Basquez were unsuccessful. On Tuesday afternoon, Basquez's father, with whom she lives, told the Post: “She’s just telling them to be quiet because they’re crazy. The school's got a bunch of animals in the back yard. They’re like the worst thing for a hangover, let me tell you."

The 39-year-old comic, meanwhile, claimed she was only shouting at the school because the children were unsupervised. "I'm screaming at the adults to watch the kids," she said. "I am not a mental case."