City Council Announces Free Universal Pre-Kindergarten Programs

The following e-mail sent by the NYC Council, relates to free Pre-Kindergarten programs available to the public. If interested please do review.

Gregory
*******

Dear New Yorker,

Spaces are still available for FREE Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK).

These programs are open to all four-year-olds who were born in 2007, regardless of their immigration status.

There are several ways that families can find a UPK program with available seats near them:

Call the Department of Education (DOE) at (718) 935-2009.

Neighborhood preschools, day care centers and public schools across the city offer UPK. You can find a list of open UPK seats at http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/PreK/default.htm.

There are also additional services that children in Administration for Children's Services (ACS)-contracted child care centers can receive if they qualify. Families interested in finding out if they qualify for subsidized services can use ACS's web-based Child Care Eligibility Wizard at http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/chidcare_eligibility/wizard.html to see if they are eligible.

Early childhood education has benefits across a child's lifetime, including raising academic achievement and increasing the chances that a child will successfully graduate from high school.

That's why the City Council is once again partnering with the DOE, ACS and child care advocates across the five boroughs to help enroll as many four-year-olds as possible in free UPK.

Please feel free to forward this information to any parents who may need help finding childcare services.

If you have any questions or have difficulty obtaining information about UPK programs from the resources listed above, please feel free to contact Mathu Subramanian in the City Council's Policy Division. She can be reached by phone at (212) 788-9194 or by email at msubramanian@council.nyc.gov.

Thanks and have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
NYC Council

Robert Jackson
Chair, Education Committee
NYC Council

Annabel Palma
Chair, General Welfare Committee
NYC Council

NYC Council Conducting Public Hearings Pertaining to the High Rate of Suicide Amongst Latino Teens

The following letter was e-mailed by NYC Councilwoman Quinn’s office. For some reason statistics show a high rate of suicide amongst Latino teens. The letter mentions that public hearings on the topic are set to begin Monday April 4th. Those wishing to go to the public hearings are encouraged to attend and voice their opinions on the topic. Those who cannot attend but have something to say can express themselves via the contact information provided below.

Gregory
*********

April 1, 2011

Dear New Yorker,

Our apologies for the last-minute notice, but we thought it would be good to pass along the following information.

In today's Daily News there's an article about the alarmingly high number of Latina teens in New York who have tried to commit suicide. (To read the article, click here.)

This Monday, April 4th, the NYC Council will be holding a public hearing on the availability of suicide prevention services for adolescent Latinas in New York City.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the 14th Floor Committee Room at 250 Broadway in Lower Manhattan and will bring mental health experts and youth advocates together to discuss ways in which New York City can better care for the mental health of the Latina population. (For more info, click here.)

All Council meetings are open to the public, and anyone who wishes to is welcome to attend this hearing.

If you can't make it but would like to weigh in, please feel free to e-mail your written comments to us at speakerquinn@council.nyc.gov, and we will be sure to include them in the official record for Monday's hearing.

Thanks for allowing us to share this important information with you. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
NYC Council

Julissa Ferreras
Chair, Committee on Women's Issues
NYC Council

G. Oliver Koppell
Chair, Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse & Disability Services
NYC Council

Debi Rose
Chair, Committee on Civil Rights
NYC Council

NYC Waterfront Plan Unveiled by City Council and Mayor Bloomberg

Here is a post received from NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, on the new waterfront plan unveiled by the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg. It is comprehensive city wide plan that will have ramifications in the Bronx. Various web sites posted below provide more information and as the plan progresses I am sure to have more posts on specifics.

Gregory
********

March 16, 2011

Dear New Yorker,

Folks will soon be able to enjoy more of our City's shoreline thanks to a new waterfront plan unveiled by the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg this past week.

You may recall, in 2008 the City Council passed Local Law 49, requiring the City to create a comprehensive plan for revitalizing and transforming New York's 520 miles of shoreline.

The finished plan, which we officially unveiled on Monday, includes two key components:

Vision 2020 – The New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, which establishes long-term waterfront goals for the next decade and beyond; and
the New York City Waterfront Action Agenda, which is comprised of 130 funded projects, including the development of more than 50 acres of new waterfront parks, the creation of 14 new waterfront esplanades, and the introduction of new commuter ferry service.

New York's greatness grew directly from our connection to our water. But at some point in our history, we both literally and figuratively turned our back on the waterfront.

With this plan, we've made a decision to more fully embrace the waterfront, in a way that's both thoughtful and strategic. And the great thing about this plan is that it doesn't just include recreation and open space, but also focuses on transportation and sustainability, as well as ideas to help preserve and grow our City's maritime industry.

We want to thank everyone, especially the Mayor, his Administration, and all the advocates, who worked so hard to help make this exciting new vision for our City's waterfront and waterways a reality.

We also want to thank everyone who took part in the public review of the plan. Your input and feedback were crucial to helping us develop this new vision for reclaiming New York's standing as a premier waterfront city.

You can read more about the City's plan by clicking on the links below:

WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576198582761112912.html?mod=WSJ_NY_MIDDLETopStories
NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/nyregion/14waterfronts.html?ref=nyregion
Post:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bloomberg_has_big_plans_for_waterfront_P118RAx0TVuUowxjZ4C0TL
NY1:
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/135489/city-to-unveil-revitalization-plan-for-520-miles-of-shoreline
Advance:
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/staten_islands_waterfront_is_g.html
AMNY:
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/nyc-to-focus-on-upgrading-its-waterfront-1.2756552

You can also download the full plan and keep track of the city's progress at www.nyc.gov/waves.

Thanks so much for allowing us to share this terrific news with you.

Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
NYC Council

Michael Nelson
Chair, Waterfronts Committee
NYC Council