Toddlers finally freed from city's mask mandate

 

NY Post 

 Mask-wearing will finally be optional for toddlers in city schools soon, Mayor Adams announced Thursday — about two weeks before the end of classes.

The controversial face-covering mandate for youngsters ages 2 to 4 in public schools, daycare centers and other city-run settings will be lifted beginning Monday, according to a press release. The last day of class is set for June 27.

“I have always said that the science will guide us out of the pandemic, and because we have followed the data, which shows that cases are steadily falling, we‘ve beaten back the latest COVID-19 surge,” Adams said in a prepared statement.

The mayor had initially announced the impending end to the policy two months ago, before reneging amid increased spread of the virus.

In the announcement Thursday, Adams said City Hall continues to “strongly” recommend that “New Yorkers of all ages continue to wear masks indoors.”  The city will keep providing masks at DOE schools for those who want to wear them, according to the press release.

Daniela Jampel, an outspoken advocate for lifting the toddler mask mandate, told The Post she was “overjoyed” that little ones would get the same “freedom of choice” as other New Yorkers to not wear masks.

“Toddlers were masked for far too long in this city, and today’s announcement is a step in the direction of restoring normalcy to our youngest residents,” said Jampel, a mother of a 4-year-old and former former city Law Department staffer who in April crashed an Adams press conference in City Hall to demand he lift the rule. 

Asked why Adams had opted to lift the mandate now as the school year comes to a close, a mayoral rep referred The Post to a series of tweets in which the city’s top doctor declared that the Big Apple is “finally past the peak of this wave.”

“Cases have fallen since May 23, giving us confidence that we have passed the peak and we are heading into a safer environment,” wrote Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan.

  They wait til the end of the school year to do this. That's the real safety metric they are basing this on. Vaccine extortion worker mandates remain intact.

 

Board of Education comes up way short in daycare services in Holden's district

 

 

Queens Post

Council Member Robert Holden is calling on the city to make good on its promise to offer free daycare to working parents on days their children attend school remotely.

Holden penned a letter to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza last week, calling on the Department of Education (DOE) to expand the child care program to more schools within his 30th Council district.

He said his office has received complaints from parents who don’t have access to the program known as “Learning Bridges,” which offers free daycare for public school children in 3-K through eighth grade on their remote learning days.

“The communities I represent are filled with essential workers and first-responders who worked hard during this pandemic…” Holden wrote in the Oct. 20 letter. “I find it inconceivable that so many families in my district seemingly have no access to such a critical program like Learning Bridges.”

The Council Member listed six public schools in his district — which covers Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale, Woodside and Ridgewood — where parents don’t have access to the program. Many are in School District 24, he noted.

Daycare center will be scrapped because of Glendale homeless shelter

 

Queens Chronicle

 
As the homeless shelter for 200 single men moves ahead at 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Glendale, a day care center planned for 79-40 Cooper Ave. could be pulling out.

“Right now, we’re actively considering whether we want to pull out of the site altogether,” said Ted Hockenberry, CEO of Children of America, the would-be operator of the center.

A decision on the future of the site will be made by the company within the next 10 days, he told the Chronicle Monday.

Hockenberry, located in Florida, said he might visit the location himself or send someone from the company to check it out.

Jim Perretty, chairman of the board for the company, has already been there.

“It’s a great area. I’m actually surprised that they’re considering putting that type of facility in on that main road,” he said, referring to the homeless shelter.

The day care center, a 15-classroom facility, would hold approximately 167 children, consisting of two infant groups, two toddler groups, seven preschool groups, a pre-K group and one school-age group.

“The demographics do support having early child care solutions in the area and we think it would be a complement to the families that are in that area but we don’t want to be not successful and have families fearing going to the school, picking up, dropping off because of the proximity,” Hockenberry said.

The proposed shelter, at the site of a shuttered factory, has been on-again and off-again for years. 

Opposed by many in the community, it would be the first in Community District 5. The developer of the day care center was requesting a special permit from the Board of Standards and Appeals to build the center and went to Borough Hall after Community Board 5 voted 39-0 in favor of the move in April.

Last August the Department of Homeless Services announced the planned shelter was on again.

“That’s really prompting us as we’re coming down to the 11th hour,” Hockenberry said.