Appetizer
TRADITIONAL GERMAN HAUS SALAD
Salad of Mixed Greens with a Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette
Entrée
BAVARIAN SAUERBRATEN
Pot roast of Beef Marinated in Burgundy Wine, Vinegar and
Spices, Served with German Potato Pancakes and Red
Cabbage
GERMAN KNOCKWURST PLATTER
German Sausage Served with Sauerkraut Potato Pancake
and Mustard
PORK SCHNITZEL
Tenderized and Breaded Pork Loin, Pan Fried and Served
with Red Cabbage and Potato Pancake
GERMAN STYLE STUFFED CABBAGE
Served with Sauerkraut Mustard and Potato Pancake
BEEF GOULASH
Served with Traditional Egg Noodles
Dessert
HOMEMADE HOT APPLE STRUDEL
10 COURIER LIFE, OCT. 2-8, 2020
Families scramble as city
daycare program falls short
BY BEN VERDE
Parents who serve as essential
workers and have children with special
needs claim the city has left them
out to dry, as the Department of Education’s
program for providing daycare
services ended earlier this month
— sending parents on a last-minute
scramble to fi nd suitable childcare.
City honchos ended the Regional
Enrichment Center program in anticipation
of a return to part-time inperson
schooling, and launched the
“Learning Bridges” program to care
for young kids of essential workers on
days when they were not scheduled to
be in the classroom — but many parents
say they’ve been left in limbo,
with their students yet to receive a
seat while the city works out contracts
with individual schools.
Now, parents like Nicole Memoli —
a Staten Island paramedic continuing
to work through the ongoing coronavirus
pandemic, and whose daughter
Sarah is autistic — say they’re running
out of childcare options.
“When they really needed us, alright,
but even though they say we’re
still in a crisis, nobody cares,” said
Memoli. “It’s just very distressing.”
Memoli received an email from the
city confi rming that they’d received
her application, and they would contact
her as soon as her daughter’s
school has a Learning Bridges program
matched with it — but since
then, she’s heard nothing.
Since the REC program ended on
Sept. 11, and school began for Sarah
the next week, Sarah’s childcare has
had to come from family members and
babysitters on days she is not in the
building — but it’s an unsustainable
situation, Memoli says, as Sarah needs
around-the-clock, specialized care.
Remote learning also does not work
for Sarah, according to the mother,
who says her daughter “throws a fi t —
and that’s it.”
Making matters worse, the city has
given no indication about whether the
new Learning Bridges program will
be able to accommodate special needs
students, according to Memoli, whose
daughter attends a 4410 special education
school.
The city says it aims to build out capacity
of the program up to 100,000, with
only “some” availability at the start of
the school year. The program partners
with local nonprofi ts and community
centers to provide childcare space on
days when children of essential workers
are scheduled for remote learning.
Program reps told Bay Ridge mother
of-two Mila Cedono at the beginning
of the coronavirus pandemic
that she didn’t qualify for the original
REC program, despite being an essential
worker — leaving childcare up to
her father, who had recently suffered
a heart attack.
Now, with her fi ve-year-old autistic
son starting school, she has applied
for the Learning Bridges program, but
has yet to hear back — leaving her daycare
plans as a big question mark.
“It’s been a struggle, I’m not going
to lie, it’s been very hard,” she said.
A spokesman for the Department of
Youth and Community, which is heading
the Learning Bridges initiative,
said the agency is working to expand
the program and match families to
seats as the school year begins, including
special needs families.
“We continue to build out these new
programs and match them with designated
DOE schools, including schools
serving students with special needs,”
said Mark Zustovich. “More offer letters
go out to families every day, and
this will be ongoing through December
as the program grows.”
Memoli says if she’s unable to secure
a seat soon she may be forced to take a
leave of absence in order to avoid paying
for a private daycare — something
she thinks the city should pay for.
“The mayor made certain promises
that priority would be made to people
who are in the REC programs, because
they’re obviously the people who really
needed it before,” she said. “He’s
falling through, he hasn’t even tried.”
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