A flier lies on the sidewalk outside of 242 Hoyt St. in Brooklyn, where two city-funded day cares face closure in a budget-cutting measure. Photo: Will Holloway

Reported on: July 12, 2010

Ederly Gonzalez doesn’t want to hear about alternative day care centers. She likes her 3-year-old son David’s current day care center.

David is one of 53 children enrolled at Strong Place Day Care, a city-subsidized program near the Gowanus Houses in Brooklyn. Strong Place is one of the 16 day care centers citywide scheduled for closure in less than a month by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services in a budget-cutting measure.

“They feel it’s not a necessity, but it is to this community,” Gonzalez, 38, said earlier this week. “People think it’s just a day care, but to these children, this is like a second home.”

Of the 16 programs slated for closure, 11 are in Brooklyn. Four are within Community Board 6 – one of the city’s 59 community districts – and two, Strong Place and Bethel Baptist Day Care, share the same building at 242 Hoyt St.

“We made the decision to consolidate centers with high-priced leases and where there are nearby alternative child care programs,” Laura Postiglione, press secretary for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, wrote in an e-mail. “ACS has completed a comprehensive analysis of each of its directly leased facilities, identifying sites where we will be terminating the city’s lease agreements.”

“These closures will achieve significant cost savings,” Postiglione added. “ACS will work with parents of children in affected programs to ensure the continuity of care in their communities.”

According to Postiglione, 837 children citywide would be affected by the closures.

As children were dropped off on a recent weekday morning, parents and administrators alike noted that Strong Place and Bethel Baptist are crucial to families seeking a nurturing environment for their children.

Luvy Tavera, 22, lives in a shelter with her three children. She brings her 3-year-old daughter to Strong Place before heading off to her housekeeping job.

“This is my daughter’s second home,” she said. “She is very shy, but since coming here she is more open and likes to play. When she is here, she forgets that we are in a shelter.”

Lorraine Pennisi is the director of Strong Place, which has been operating for 40 years. “The mayor thinks we are babysitters,” she said. “But we are educators. This is about building people. We’re teaching them a sense of community and responsibility.”

At Bethel Baptist, Luz Santiago, 60, dropped off her niece, whose mother died three months ago. Marilyn Curry, 22, brought her 2-year-old daughter. Curry works two jobs and goes to school online.

“It’s like snatching a lifeline that links families to that sense of security,” said Joan Morris, director of Bethel Baptist, which currently serves 48 children. “It’s their shining star. It’s the safety zone for their kids.”

With July 1 rapidly approaching, parents’ frustration is only growing.

“How am I going to tell my son that he can’t come here anymore?” asked Gonzalez. “That he’s not going to see his friends anymore, he’s not going to see his teachers anymore – how do you explain that to a 3-year-old?”

In an effort to save the centers, Andrea Anthony, executive director of the Day Care Council of New York Inc., recently asked the affected landlords to consider rent concessions.

“The landlord of 242 Hoyt is willing to do whatever he has to do to keep these child care centers open,” she said. However, Anthony noted that in a meeting Thursday with City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn’s staff, six landlords – including a representative for the building at 242 Hoyt St. – stated that they have not had any communication with either ACS or the Department of Citywide Services.

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