Grand Street is rallying to save Bushwick Child and Family Center from closing.
On Tuesday, January 7th, Grand St. Settlement hosted Governor Kathy Hochul at Bushwick Child and Family Center as she announced new investments that would move our state closer to realizing the dream of universal child care. She visited with the children and teachers onsite and shared that “I could sense immediately when I walked in that it’s so full of love, so full of life, and so full of hope.”
One week later as our parents were preparing to reapply for another year of school, the Department of Education (DOE) informed Grand Street that they would no longer negotiate a new lease for our program and that we would be forced to close the site effective June 30th. In doing so, dozens of families would be without vital child care services and 20 of our staff are at risk of losing their jobs.
This unilateral decision, which attempts to take away the love, community, and hope that our program provides to the children and families enrolled at Bushwick Child and Family Center, is wrong. As we began conversations with our elected officials and community partners, we learned that four other programs were given the same notice — Nuestros Niños, Friends of Crown Heights, Fort Greene Council, and All My Children Daycare and Nursery School.
The Mayor has made clear that he wants to make New York City the best place to raise a family, so why would his administration make a decision that will make our families struggle more?
The Department of Education provided little information about their decision, but claimed concerns about under-enrollment and the cost of rent. This site is at 98% enrollment, with one child who has been stuck in the bureaucracy of the DOE school portal for over a month.
The argument of rental costs is also lacking. Though the cost is high, it is no higher than the cost of rent for child care centers in more affluent neighborhoods where city-funded programs will continue to operate. It quickly becomes clear that this decision was made for other reasons. Instead of continuing to support children and families in underserved neighborhoods, other priorities are at play, whether those priorities are creating opportunities for developers to build newer buildings or to redirect money in the City budget away from working families.
In just under two weeks we’ve seen a swell of passion and support from parents, teachers, elected officials, and community members to stand up for our participants and fight for this decision to be overturned. We’re grateful to our coalition of elected officials including Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Council Members Jennifer Gutierrez and Sandy Nurse, Assembly Member Maritza Davila, State Senators Julia Salazar and Jabari Brisport, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Comptroller Brad Lander for taking up this fight alongside us.
In the words of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, “Do not agonize, organize”.
There’s more that must be done to get Mayor Adams and the Department of Education to do the right thing: negotiate our lease in good faith, and make sure that the working class families we serve are able to thrive.
We need your help. Please sign this petition and make it clear to Mayor Adams that preserving this child care center is vital to our community.
