Jobs in Jeopardy
Battle Over Closing Day-Care Center

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum Jan. 2 joined union leaders, parents and religious leaders to call on the Bloomberg administration to prevent the planned Jan. 11 closing of the Lucille Murray Day Care Center in The Bronx.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang NO PLACE TO GO: Christina Castillo, who has worked at the Lucille Murray Day Care Center for 11 years, will be out of a job on Jan. 11, when the city plans to close the center. Her four-year-old is also in limbo. 'I have to look for a new job and for somewhere for my child to go to school,' she said.

Bad Conditions

Administration for Children's Services officials said that past financial mismanagement and the "poor physical condition" of the building prompted their decision to close the center, which serves roughly 200 children in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

The center passed the Department of Health inspection in August. The Department of Buildings has given the location three violations in the past three years, all related to its elevator.

ACS will have to continue to pay rent on the building until next fall under its lease, which it terminated in October 2007.

"I have to look for a new job and for somewhere for my child to go to school," said Christina Castillo, a Teacher at the center for 11 years whose four-year-old is a student there.

Dozens of workers will lose their jobs, with no severance pay or guarantee that they will be offered placement even if there are openings at other centers. They will be paid for unused vacation days but will lose unused sick days.

No Job Assurances

Even if ACS acquiesces and allows a new sponsoring board to take over managing the center, which Ms. Gotbaum called for, staff members are not guaranteed their old jobs back. Union officials are hoping to convince any new sponsor to offer the staff a 60- or 90-day probationary period to allow them to stay.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang PRESS TO KEEP CENTER OPEN: Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (center) joined DC 1707 Executive Director Raglan George Jr. (to her right), religious leaders and parents last week to urge the city to keep the Lucille Murray Day Care Center open and find the money to make necessary building repairs. 'This is one of the most impoverished areas of New York City,' Ms. Gotbaum said. 'There is no place for these children to go. What will their parents do?'

But currently, ACS officials say there is no plan to keep the center open. "Children's Services will not continue the program at the existing site under a different sponsor because the site is in poor physical condition and would require an extensive physical upgrade at a very high cost to the city," ACS Commissioner John B. Mattingly said in a statement.

Another ACS day-care center slated for closure, Children's Liberation on Manhattan's Lower East Side, received a reprieve after a deal was worked out last week to keep it open until June 30.

ACS officials have estimated that costs for repairs would be at least $650,000 but would not reveal what specifically was needed. Employees say the center's roof needs to be fixed, but according to maintenance staff at the center, those costs would total about $150,000 and should be borne by the center's landlord.

Ms. Gotbaum called on the city to spend the money to save the center. "The city has an enormous capital budget," she said during a press conference. "It seems to me that they could probably find the money for an emergency situation."

Parents Cite Hardship

ACS officials have promised to find places for all the children or give them vouchers for private day care. But several parents said they still had nowhere to send their children.

"I don't know why they're closing the school in January instead of June," said Samantha David, a single mother who has two children at the center. "They should have thought about the kindergarten class. Come September, my son's going to be behind when he goes to first grade."

Ms. David said she has called her neighborhood school for kindergarten placement but that there were no spots. Even if there were, she noted, the schools run from about 8:30 a.m. until about 2:50 p.m., leaving her with no coverage while she is at work. She currently picks up her children at 6 p.m. from Lucille Murray.

Staff members also questioned ACS's decision to close the center in January. "It's very hard to find a job in the middle of the year," said Carrien Bailey, an Assistant Teacher at Lucille Murray for 19 years. "I'll take part-time jobs or whatever I have to so I can make it. It's hard to talk about because it's causing everyone so much hurt inside."

Union officials are hoping that the added pressure will force a change of heart by the city. "I'm asking the Mayor to come into this situation and correct it," said DC 1707 Executive Director Raglan George Jr., who represents most of the staff. "If you shake them up enough, when something goes wrong, sometimes the Mayor steps in and says, 'You better fix that.'''