Sept. 28 closure, which would leave 75 pre-schoolers without daycare; Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, state Sen. Adriano Espillat are pulled in to find a fix
By Douglas Feiden / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Photo: Mariela Lombard | NY Daily News - Teachers and kids at the Washington Heights Childcare Center. The childcare is set to close on Sept. 28 at 610 West 175th. St. in Mahattan.
The Washington Heights Childcare Center was fighting for its life on Thursday night.
The popular daycare center on W. 175th St. could be forced to close its doors on Sept. 28 in the community it has served for 42 years.
A cut-off in funding from City Hall, announced in May and set to take effect at the end of this month, is expected to wipe out 75 daycare seats and 17 jobs — and leave dozens of parents with nowhere to send their kids.
“This is a low-income community, and our parents can’t afford to pay a babysitter $300 a week,” said Carmen Touma, the center’s assistant educational director, noting that the shutdown would force some parents to give up their jobs and stay home to care for their children.
“It’s unacceptable,” said City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who represents the neighborhood. “This is a place that has invested in good, quality early education for working-class families in northern Manhattan for more than four decades.”
Rodriguez and state Sen. Adriano Espaillat met on Thursday with the center’s brass in a last-ditch effort to save the beloved institution, which operates from the basement of a synagogue at 610 W. 175th St.
Read more: Washington Heights Childcare Center to shutter, barring late lifeline – NY Daily News.
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