| | | | |  | | By Madina Touré | Presented by the 5 Borough Housing Movement | | 
The city's Department of Education on Wednesday outlined the growing interest in families enrolling their children in pre-kindergarten for 3 year olds. | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images | The New York City Department of Education has received more than 40,000 applications for 3K — early childhood education for three-year-olds — amid parent demand for the program, the agency told the City Council on Wednesday. There were 42,000 3K applications, compared to 33,000 in 2021 — a 27 percent increase, according to Kara Ahmed, the DOE’s deputy chancellor of early childhood education. Pre-K applications are also up, approximately 54,000 applications, compared to 50,000 last year. Schools Chancellor David Banks said they’ve allocated roughly $4.5 million to support early childhood marketing. Ahmed said outreach is being done in a variety of ways, including emails, robocalls and community events as well as paid ads in low turnout communities in all five boroughs. “There’s a robust marketing campaign to spread awareness of early childhood programs,” she said at the hearing on the city’s 2024 preliminary budget. The deadline for families to apply was Monday. The DOE had extended the deadline from March 10 to March 13 after getting feedback from parents that they needed some more time. There are currently roughly 55,000 3K seats, but Ahmed said that for fiscal year 2024, those numbers will fluctuate. “We are consistently looking at what unmet need is, where there's an oversaturation of seats, where there needs to be resources that need to shift,” she said. “And so we're constantly either increasing or adding seats or reducing seats where there isn't a need.” This comes as Mayor Eric Adams shifts away from former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s universal 3K goal on the grounds that mismanagement of the program led to empty seats. But Banks maintained Wednesday that the early childhood sector is “critically important” with respect to the DOE’s priorities. “We didn’t come here to destroy the early childhood programming,” he said. “When we came…what I inherited was a great idea that had a lot of implementation challenges. We are very much in the process…trying to rightsize early childhood.” Education officials hired a consulting firm to see how many seats should be in each neighborhood next year. IT’S ONLY WEDNESDAY: Stay with us each afternoon as we keep you updated on the latest New York news in Albany, City Hall and beyond.
| | A message from the 5 Borough Housing Movement: New York City is facing a housing supply crisis that’s harming outer borough communities of color. That’s why a diverse and growing coalition is calling on State lawmakers to support converting unused office space to new housing, create an incentive to maximize affordability in conversions, and lift the FAR cap to unlock more affordable housing. Learn more at https://5borohousing.org/ | | | |  | From the Capitol | | MINIMUM WAGE: The Senate and Assembly rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposals for minimum wage increases in their one house budgets, calling for wages to be increased prior to indexing them to inflation. But Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins did not say Wednesday when talking to reporters about what number they are looking to hit. The Raise the Wage legislation sponsored by Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens) seeks to increase minimum wage to $21.25 per hour by 2026 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester. The rest of the state would see minimum wages hit $20 per hour in the same time frame. When asked if she would push for the amounts in Ramos’ bill, Stewart-Cousins said she does not have a specific rate to share. “We do know that we need to raise the wages of the lowest paid New Yorkers and then index it,” Stewart-Cousins said. “So we will be discussing what that is.” — Katelyn Cordero HELP WITH CHILD CARE: Hochul on Wednesday announced the launch of a new online screening tool to help families check to see if they are eligible for child care services. "As a mother who put her career on pause due to a lack of affordable child care, I understand firsthand how important this lifeline is for families," Hochul said in a statement. The new online screening tool will help parents determine their eligibility for financial aid from the state's Child Care Assistance Program for low or no-cost child care. — Joseph Spector
| | | | A message from the 5 Borough Housing Movement:   | | | | | From City Hall | | INAUGURATION FIXATION: The New York City Campaign Finance Board put off making a decision Wednesday on whether to penalize Adams’ transition and inauguration team for three alleged campaign finance violations, including accepting thousands of dollars from individuals with business before the city. Lawyers representing the transition team raised the eyebrows of Frederick Schaffer, the chair of the board, when they asked to submit new documents, including 57 previously unreported checks. "I'm troubled by the request to submit information now at the very, very last moment and long after it was due," Schaffer said. "There are some very significant, very large discrepancies here that we have on the record." NYCCFB lawyers accused Adams’ transition and inauguration team — which raised $2 million in total, not accounting for refunds — of accepting prohibited donations and failing to “properly wind down” its activities after the election. NYCCFB Press Secretary Tim Hunter said in a statement that the situation is not unique and the board would postpone any decision until it reviews the new documents. The board will take the matter up again sometime in the coming weeks, Schaffer said. — Zachary Schermele SHARPTON AND KAVANAGH: Amid internal turmoil at the New York City Fire Department, the Rev. Al Sharpton is slated to throw his political weight behind Commissioner Lara Kavanagh at a rally Saturday. He will recognize her for her efforts to diversify the historically male and white department during an event at the House of Justice, the headquarters of his civil rights group, the National Action Network. Kavanagh, the department’s first female commissioner, has come under criticism in recent weeks after several former assistant chiefs filed a lawsuit against her in February alleging that they were unfairly demoted after she took office. Adams has since stood by his appointee. “Anyone would tell you that anytime you bring in new leadership, there’s a level of change,” he said of the situation in an interview on PIX11 last week. — Zachary Schermele | | A message from the 5 Borough Housing Movement: TELL STATE LAWMAKERS: SUPPORT CONVERSIONS AND LIFT THE FAR CAP!
A growing number of advocates and community groups are joining the push to convert New York City’s unused office space into affordable housing and lift the FAR cap.
Supporters include:
● Borough-based chambers of commerce and local business improvement districts
● Community boards and neighborhood-based non-profits
● Racial and social justice advocates
More elected officials are joining the effort too, including State lawmakers, City Council members and members of Congress.
See all of our supporters and recent announcements from elected officials at https://5borohousing.org/.
We can’t afford to miss this opportunity to help address the City’s housing shortage. State lawmakers must act now to support conversions, create an incentive for affordability and lift the FAR cap.
If State lawmakers fail to act, they will be failing the New Yorkers who are relying on Albany for answers to our housing supply crisis.
Learn more at https://5borohousing.org/ | | | | | | IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: Lawmakers on Wednesday called for the state budget to include the first in the nation Access to Representation Act that would establish a right to counsel in immigration court proceedings. The Campaign for Access, Representation & Equity is seeking a $120 million fund to help the immigration court system in New York, which it says faces a backlog of more than 190,000 deportation cases. The bill would help legal service providers and provide relief to the estimated 65,000 individuals who currently lack access to representation in immigration court, advocates said. Immigrants who can’t afford to hire an attorney are being forced to represent themselves in court, regardless of age or language abilities, lawmakers said. “Our system is not built to protect the constitutional rights of people, of immigrants, because many times we are deemed second class or, worse, third-class citizens,” Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, (D-Queens) the bill’s sponsor, said a news conference on the steps of the Million Dollar Staircase in the state Capitol. She added that, “Once you're in the state of New York, we're going to protect your constitutional rights -- whether you got here 20 minutes ago or 20 years ago.” — Joseph Spector HEALTH CARE: At a City Council hearing Wednesday on Adams’ proposed appointees to fill four vacancies on the Board of Health, lawmakers questioned the nominees on their stances on the city’s supervised injection sites, Adams’ directive to send more people with serious mental illness to the hospital, vaping regulations and other public health issues. (Two of the four nominees also enthusiastically plugged their books.) The four nominees — Michael Lindsey, Angelo Acquista, Maida Galvez and Judith Salerno — all expressed support for supervised consumption facilities. Lindsey, dean of the NYU Silver School of Social Work, who was specifically asked about involuntary commitments, said he applauded the city’s efforts to ensure unhoused people with mental illness are connected to needed services and said the workforce carrying out the directive must be properly trained. — Maya Kaufman | | | — The Syracuse City School District ranked first in a state study reporting the number of homeless students in Central New York school districts. (Upstate New York) — After hundreds of civil claims related to child sexual abuse and cover-ups, the Diocese of Albany filed for bankruptcy. (Times Union) — It’s been more than a year since the NYPD had a permanent inspector general. (THE CITY) — Federal prosecutors accused a Chinese billionaire of financial conspiracy. (The New York Times) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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