Queens Assistant Principal with Swine Flu Dies; More Schools Close

Though he was in a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator, his family held out hope as recently as this weekend because his condition had stabilized, but he passed away Sunday evening. Medical details are not yet forthcoming, but Wiener was said to have been receiving treatment for gout, and some corticosteroids and other drugs used to treat gout suppress the immune system. Wiener worked at I.S. 238, where he was apparently well-liked, for over 30 years. Mayor Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein issued condolences.

Three schools were closed on Saturday, two in Queens and one in Brooklyn, in response to swine flu cases and suspected cases; five more schools in Queens were closed today, bringing the citywide total to 11. Saturday's closings were Junior High School 74Q, aka Nathanial Hawthorne School in Bayside, P.S. 107Q aka Thomas A. Dooley in Flushing, and Intermediate School 318K aka Eugenio Maria De Hostos in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Today's closings are Middle School 158 in Bayside, Our Lady of Lourdes in Queens Village, and Intermediate School 25, World Journalism Preparatory High School, and Special Education School 233 in Flushing.