Stringer touts daycare proposal New push for
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Comptroller Scott Stringer and
state Senator Brad Hoylman
stopped by the Jacob Riis Early
Childhood Learning Center in the East
Village on Monday as part of a tour of
the city’s daycare centers.
After briefl y playing with toddlers,
both elected offi cials held a mini-round
table discussion with parents and childcare
workers — at a toddler-sized table
with copies of the Comptroller’s NYC
Under 3 plan fanned across it.
“We think it’s a game changer,” said
Stringer. “I always say, Mayor Bill de
Blasio, job well done, but now we have
to take it to the next level.”
De Blasio made universal pre-K
central to his 2013 campaign, and he
Pre-K for All initiative in 2014, the
fi rst year of his administration. About
70,000 children are now enrolled in
universal pre-K, according to The New
York Times. That led to a second phase
launched in 2017, including pre-K for
three year olds.
NYC Under 3, which Stringer proposed
in May, is an effort to expand
affordable childcare to families with
young children up to age three. In the
plan, families of four that make less
Photos by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
City Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Senator Brad Hoylman with
some tots at the Jacob Riis Early Childhood Center in the East Village
on Sept. 23
than $25,750 a year would qualify for
free childcare. Families making up to
$103,000 would be able to have some
of their childcare costs covered based
on a sliding scale.
During the tour, the comptroller
emphasized that the plan was not
only benefi cial for the New York city’s
children but also for the parents, the
economy, as it would allow for 20,000
people, mostly women, to re-enter the
workforce, and childcare providers.
According to the report, the program
will take six years to implement. Within
the fi rst fi ve years, $500 million will be
dedicated to the construction and renovation
of childcare facilities.
Read more at thevillager.com
Soho eatery feels heat over noise
BY GABE HERMAN
While Soho residents have
complained of excessive
noise and crowds at the restaurant
Piccola Cucina Estiatorio, as
was recently reported in The Villager,
locals have similar complaints against
two sister locations of Piccola Cucina
in the neighborhood.
One of those other eateries — Piccola
Cucina Enoteca, at 184 Prince
St. — went before Community Board
2 this month for a review of its method
of operation.
At a September meeting of the State
Liquor Authority (SLA) Licensing Committee,
the manager of the Prince St.
restaurant, along with an attorney for
the owner, R & G Soho LLC, appeared
at the committee’s request to discuss its
daily operations and “negative impacts”
on the surrounding community, according
to a resolution passed at the meeting.
Fed-up neighbors showed up to the
meeting as well.
“A large number of residents,” the resolution
read, “including a building manager
representing multiple residential
buildings in the immediate area, were in
attendance and their statements provided
detailed examples of unwanted behavior
that in some cases represented violations
of their method of operation on their onpremise
Photo by Tequila Minsky
On a weeknight in September at 75 Thompson St., crowds were on the
sidewalk and windows were open.
license.”
The most serious complaints included
the 184 Prince St. location functioning
more as a lounge than a restaurant,
with up to ten loud parties and birthday
celebrations per night.
Along with the loud music — which,
according to nearby residents, blasts out
to the street and nearby residential buildings
— patrons are allowed to dance on
tables and chairs, and are encouraged to
bang on pots and pans.
Alcohol is sold past the allowed time
by the liquor license, local residents
complained, and the place never closes
before 1 a.m.
Other issues raised included customers
drinking alcohol outside on the street,
with no effort to stop them, and the operation
of an illegal sidewalk café.
At the meeting, the restaurant manager,
who manages all three locations,
acknowledged the banging of pots
and pans for birthday celebrations,
but said the severity of complaints
was exaggerated.
The SLA Committee and the owner’s
attorney agreed that the owner
would appear in person at next month’s
committee meeting.
Read more at thevillager.com
14th busway
Photo by Alejandra
O’Connell-Domenech
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Two days after the United Nations
held its climate summit,
representatives from the
New York League of Conservation
Voters called on Wednesday for the
implementation of the 14th Street
Busway, which was stalled for a second
time in August.
“Breaking car culture and fi ghting
climate change start right here
at home,” said Danny Pearlstein,
policy and communications director
at Riders Alliance during the
Sept. 25 press conference at the
noisy intersection of 8th Avenue
and 14th Street bordering Chelsea
and Greenwich Village.
The busway is the Department
of Transportation’s 18-month pilot
program that would only allow for
buses and trucks to use 14th Street
between 3rd and 9th Avenues with
local cars able to make drop offs
and deliveries.
The transit and truck only
throughway, was a means to mitigate
the effects of the L-train shut
down and increase transportation
times along the Ave. With the busway,
the DOT planned to turn the
M14 bus route into a SBS route.
The plan was put on hold after
attorney Arthur Schwartz fi led a
lawsuit against the MTA arguing
that eliminating 12 bus stops on
the M14 route creates an unnecessary
burden for disabled residents
nearby dependent to the bus route.
This was the second lawsuit fi led to
prevent the busway.
The original lawsuit was fi led by
several Manhattan block associations,
represented by Schwartz, arguing
the DOT did not go through
a comprehensive environmental review
before deciding to implement
the busway.
Read more at thevillager.com
4 September 26, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
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