A Throgs Neck children?s program will soon close permanently, forcing hundreds of developmentally disabled youths to find therapy elsewhere.

Alphabet Zoo serves about 500 children five days a week. The agency is contracted under the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The department is closing Alphabet Zoo at the end of August and plans to transition children into other agencies. Parents are upset that the department has not given a reason for the closure.The Alphabet Zoo is exploring legal options to avoid shutting down. Parents, who rallied in the streets Wednesday, say they?re not going to let the program go without a fight.