I’ve got two things on my
mind for the foreseeable
future, AKA until the end
of June.
First, professionally, as
CB6 District Manager, that’s
organizing the Community
Board portion of the Gowanus
rezoning ULURP review.
This paper has done a
good job of covering what’s
been happening and what
will be happening. Short
version, we at CB6 have four
meetings scheduled dealing
with it- May 27, June 3, June
17, and June 23 (bit.ly/gowanusmeetings).
As you may have guessed
from previous columns, the
second thing on my mind is
the race to be New York City’s
next mayor. The only certainty
I have about the race
is uncertainty. I’m not alone
or in bad company as just
the other day the New York
Times had a headline that
read, “Who’s Winning the
New York Mayor’s Race? Even
Pollsters Are Confused.”. Fortunately,
Certainty and clues
COURIER L 26 IFE, MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021
OPINION
or unfortunately,
we’ll only be uncertain for a
few more weeks as absentee
ballots have gone out, early
voting starts on June 12 and
ends, or ballots must be postmarked
by June 22.
Lately though, with some
more polling, more attention
from voters, and the media,
some narratives are taking
shape. The clearest of those is
that Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams is the current
favorite and Diane Morales’
long shot candidacy has
no shot after failing to pay
staff and other issues in recent
press reports. Also clear
is that Kathryn Garcia is now,
after receiving a Racioppo
bump (some say a New York
Times bump) is fi rmly a toptier
candidate; Andrew Yang
is starting to fall in the polls
from what seems to have been
a polling sugar-rush built on
name recognition.
I “hope“ as the city remains
amid a crisis, it is run
by someone who knows something
about it, but that doesn’t
mean it will be. Not only is
Yang unaware of its moving
parts, but he also doesn’t
seem to have any interest in
enlightening himself to make
it function as is much less
change it for the better.
The one instance in which
Yang seemed to acknowledge
this lack of understanding
was when he’d said he’d
“need” fellow candidate, Garcia,
in a Yang Administration.
He seems to have lost that belief
only hours after Garcia
took fi rst place in a poll. Perhaps
cynically he’s already
badmouthed her work as
DSNY commissioner, which
of course was the same work
that had previously found to
be so impressive that a Yang
Administration would need
her. Before his today into this
campaign, he’d not been to
a NYCHA property; he still
hasn’t been to a Community
Board meeting despite saying
they’re great, to say nothing
of the fact he’s never even
voted for mayor before.
If becoming mayor required
a normal job application
process, Yang wouldn’t
even get an interview. That’s
not just because of that lack of
civic knowledge. It’s also because
he doesn’t understand
what the city is and has been
through. I don’t begrudge
someone for having left the
city, as he and his family did,
at the height of the pandemic.
But not begrudging someone
is different than giving them
the privilege of living in Gracie
Mansion, and to think one
should be given such a privilege
takes some gall. When
discussing his living arrangements
during the pandemic’s
peak, Yang asked, “Can you
imagine trying to have two
kids in virtual school in a
two-bedroom apartment?”
Many New Yorkers don’t
have to imagine it — that
was and remains their reality.
Someone who can’t even
imagine it should have no
say beyond their fi rst vote
for mayor and that should be
someone who has a clue what
they’d do.
Mike Racioppo is the District
Manager of Brooklyn’s
Community Board 6 and has
been an adjunct professor at
Brooklyn College. Follow him
on Twitter @RacioppoMike.
MIKE DROP
Mike Racioppo
OP-ED
We need to stay invested in childcare
BY MILDRED AUGUSTIN
One of the enduring lessons of the
pandemic should be that childcare is
an essential service and those who
provide it have been undervalued for
too long. This is a reality I have known
fi rsthand, as owner and operator of a
home-based childcare business in the
Bronx for the past 18 years.
My business is licensed by New
York State to serve 16 children and
employ two staffers. Thanks to training,
technical assistance, and other
resources I receive from the nonprofi
t Women’s Housing and Economic
Development Corporation
(WHEDco), I have transformed my
home daycare into a school-like setting
where children learn and play
through exploration.
Thousands of childcare providers
like me across the city not only
create nurturing environments for
early learners; we give working parents
the opportunity to pursue employment
during daytime hours. As
such, we have always been essential
to our city’s economy, but that
became even more clear during the
pandemic.
When New York shut down, we
kept our doors open, caring for the
children of essential workers. We
even accommodated school-aged
children to give them safe places to
learn remotely when schools closed.
Yet, despite our critical work,
childcare providers barely scrape
by. Most children in home-based programs
come from low-income families
whose childcare is covered by
state subsidies.
Providers are paid based on enrollment
and attendance, but the
state-set rates do not refl ect the true
cost of providing quality full-day,
full-year care and education. This
reality, too, was laid bare during
the pandemic when enrollments and
revenues declined, overhead costs
for things like PPE and cleaning
supplies increased, and government
aid was insuffi cient. Sadly, many of
my fellow childcare providers were
forced to close.
Enrollment in my program declined
to just one child during the
height of the pandemic. Fortunately,
WHEDco stepped up with health and
safety resources, as well as virtual
trainings and connections to grant
funding for providers in its network,
allowing many of us to make it
through the darkest days of the pandemic.
Today, my enrollment is back
up to 10.
But nonprofi ts can only do so
much, and the already vulnerable
childcare sector was brought to the
brink by COVID.
I am encouraged that the 2022
New York State budget includes a
$5 billion investment in childcare
through state and federally funded
initiatives – with some directly supporting
childcare providers. It’s a
sign that our leaders have learned
how essential childcare – and those
who provide it – are. Hopefully, it’s a
lesson they never forget.
Mildred Augustin runs a homebased
childcare business in the Wakefi
eld section of the Bronx, as part of
WHEDco’s network.
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