Both City Hall and IBO suspect the Office of Management and Budget included fewer. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, former Post reporter Yoav Gonen pulled together. And while it sounds good to spend heavily on a mental health initiative, it appears that nobody has noticed any real benefits from that investment. In February, 2014, she was named as the chairperson of the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City. Sign up for our free email newsletter, and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop. Schedules and emails detail meetings in the years after he was a convicted sex offender. De Blasio is an Italian-American. City Hall later provided a list of 44 people contacted by Ms. McCray in 2015 and 2016. [5], When she was ten years old, her family moved to Longmeadow, Massachusetts, becoming only the second black family in the area. Living in a hospital, that model of institutionalizing people is kind of outmoded.. This story has been shared 132,852 times. Ms. McCray last stopped by in May 2017, Ms. Olson said. It was . Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. [12] During the Clinton administration, she worked for the New York Foreign Press Center as a public affairs specialist. That is, nobody appears to have kept receipts; the subways and street corners are still overrun with crazy people, and nobody in charge knows whats to happen next. Despite its ranks and generous salaries, the team hasnt posted an update to McCrays public schedule since last year. Same for her $65,000 associate director of advance.. Laura Ingraham has even called it a "scheme". The first spouse went before the City Council Tuesday tripping spectacularly over her own tongue while removing any doubt that her billion-dollar husbandly indulgence, ThriveNYC, amounts to an epic public policy swindle gussied up as a mental health program. She now had her own staff and a larger role to play. On Wednesday, councilmembers were huffing that de Blasio has been showering his wife with tax dollars with embarrassing results. And people did equate mental illness with homelessness, which is so wrong, says McCray. Social PROOF Trump Indictment Will Likely Win Him 2024! https://t.co/fqUIyfFc8Z. How many other big-bucks initiatives are in similar straits is unknowable mostly because bureaucrats never blow the whistle on themselves and also because Gothams formal watchdog, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, is among the most incurious individuals ever to hold the office. All these happened in front of their teachers. While the goals of ThriveNYC are lofty and are arguably needed, throughout its creation and expansion, many have questioned the inherent nepotism of the mayor placing his wife in charge of such a major overhaul. Officials for the citys ThriveNYC program, a mental health initiative, struggled to tell members of the New York City Council during testimony Wednesday how its annual budget of $250 million is spent and exactly how New Yorkers have benefited from the citys services. The Phantom of the Opera The Final Curtain, California Consumer Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information, California Consumer Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, McCray says the citys mental health hotline, NYC Well, logged 33,000 texts, chats and calls this January, Some critics have said that Thrive focused too little on those with serious mental illnesses, The mayors most recent budget deal includes another $115 million in mental-health spending. "I'm not sure anybody does.". New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to defend first lady Chirlane McCray against backlash on Wednesday after it was discovered she had private staff that's getting paid millions in taxpayer money. [22][23] ThriveNYC promotes a shift from a traditionally more reactive model, which can strain police, prisons, hospitals, and schools,[24] to an integrated public health approach focusing on awareness and early identification. We have elected officials or health commissioners or both, in more than 200 cities, who share information, share best practices, get together and talk about what they're doing so that they can duplicate each other's programs, says McCray. That is, reversing Bloomberg administration plans to shut down 100 miserably malfunctioning schools, thus saving the jobs of barely competent teachers and administrators and shutting up small bands of noisy parents who loved the schools despite their failings. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. But there are other mysteries out there, too. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. Outside school, she was excluded from boy-girl mixers. Spouse Bill de Blasio (m. 1994) Children 2 Education Wellesley College(BA) Chirlane Irene McCray(born November 29, 1954)[1]is an American writer, editor, and activist. But also mayoral spouse Chirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. However, of the 25 one-on-one calls identified on the schedules, in only three cases did the person or the organization they were associated with follow up with a donation, according to a list of contributions provided by the fund. But very soon, she realized that publishing was not her cup of tea. McCray says she believes history will judge her mental health programs more fairly, and counters that much of the opposition to the dollars spent on Thrive programming is rooted in ignorance and bigotry. But lets be clear: If your boondogglery sets the New York City Council back on its heels, you truly are soaring with the eagles. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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Besides the calls that Ms. McCray makes to donors, she has met with potential donors and hosted an annual Christmas fund-raiser at Gracie Mansion. Economic growth has slowed, but inflation remains persistent in key areas, raising concerns that the Feds balance-sheet size could force the Fed to take rates even higher. While studying there, she became a member of a black feminist organization known as the Combahee River Collective. or redistributed. Why start from scratch when other people are already out there doing work that has not up until now been championed by the federal government.. Well, he didnt actually say rathole, and the price tag has doubtless been lowballed but he also had no credible explanation for the debacle, nor did he apologize for it. That two such scandals should bubble to the surface unannounced is bad enough. On January 27, 2013, as her husband, Bill de Blasio, announced his candidacy for Mayor of New York City, Chirlane McCray took up a new role, accompanying him on his campaign. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, the fund raised $14 million, according to a spokeswoman, Cynthia Olson, putting the fund on pace for its lowest annual revenues in more than a decade. Think Stockholm syndrome, rolled into a big ball with the United Federation of Teachers. This is a disgrace! Ulrich fumed. "[2] She chaired the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and was appointed by her husband to lead a billion-dollar initiative called ThriveNYC. Visitors cite his wealth and connections. In 2013, Chiara suffered from depression and drug use, which has since been addressed. McCray is the proprietress of ThriveNYC, a mental-health-related something-or-other created four-plus years ago to give a little heft to the conceit that Bill and Chirlane were elected as co-mayors which is nonsense on stilts. Its wrong, and it needs to stop, Reynoso said. Anyway, for details the mayoral missus deferred to one Susan Herman, who does the day-to-day management and makes the decisions., Turns out that ThriveNYC director Herman had no more firm a grasp on detail than did McCray telling the hearing that her agency employs 400 benchmarks to measure effectiveness but that all of those metrics are being refined.. Given that nobody seems to know how many programs there even are, itll be a while before McCrays allowance is cut off. On November 23, 2015, McCray launched ThriveNYC, a $1.2 billion dollar initiative, with the aim of improving the citys mental health and substance abuse services. She/her. The couple honeymooned in Cuba in violation of a U.S . And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. Chirlane McCray is an American activist, writer and poet. This naked abuse of his public trust puts the lie to all de Blasios endless moral sanctimony. This story has been shared 375,122 times. As the wife of New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, she is also the First Lady of New York City since 2014. She was born eldest of her parents three children; she has two younger sisters named Cynthia and Cheryl. Things happen. They include the $70,000 videographer McCray brought on in February. Legal Statement. Not one to sit still, she continues to work on the project, lobbying with Congressional lawmaker, arranging for more funds, gathering signature, lecturing at seminars, thereby trying to change peoples attitude towards mental health. With a quarter of a billion dollars (!!) Essential to the first familys hopes of continued taxpayer support after term limits forces the mayor out of office, maybe. McCray says the citys mental health hotline, NYC Well, logged 33,000 texts, chats and calls this January up from 18,000 the year before, an 83% increase in use. [16] She also worked for Citigroup in its public relations department for six months before deciding it was "not a good fit". Whatever happened to the money from ThriveNYC? asked City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens). Does anybody know how well more likely, how poorly the co-mayors hugely expensive pre-K program is working, especially that portion consigned to the citys notoriously problematic not-for-profit sector? A year later, she announced the formation of the Cities Thrive Coalition with aim of launching a more consolidated nationwide mental health system. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. The previous February, Mr. de Blasio had announced plans to build a streetcar line along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront, in neighborhoods where Two Trees has developments. #MyDayNYC pic.twitter.com/e8LWu8jxh9, Chirlane McCray (@NYCFirstLady) April 2, 2020. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. It was reorganized and given its current name by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg after he took office in 2002, when the city was reeling from the Sept. 11 terror attacks. He said that a better measure of the funds success was the number of programs that it finances a number that has also fallen. Chirlane McCray's ThriveNYC has come under scrutiny following its creation in 2015. A spokesman for Mr. Fetner, Sam Spokony, said there was no link between the donations and the development project. In January, Ms. McCray announced that the program would become its own office, which now has 21 employees with a $2 million office budget, according to Susan Herman, appointed to lead the office. McCray says her hope is that the Office of Community Mental Health, created via an executive order, continues long after she leaves Gracie Mansion, but also admits the rebranding was an effort to move away from the negativity surrounding the ThriveNYC moniker. Some of these were later published in 'Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology' (1983). Executives are focused on repairing the damage from the 18-month effort to split the firms auditing and consulting operations. The mayors most recent budget deal includes another $115 million in mental-health spending, an effort McCray says to respond to the mounting mental health care needs of city residents after months of uncertainty and trauma brought on by the pandemic. Ms. Baierlein was hired last year as director of development. As the city pulls out of the pandemics fog, many of those critics point to what appears to be a growing number of homeless and mentally disturbed people wandering the streets and subways. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Mayor Bill de Blasio likes to say that there's plenty of money in New York City, but that it's in the wrong hands. Immediately, she began to work mainly on three issues, the chief among them being mental health. Paul Martinka / SplashNews.com ThriveNYC, which McCray launched in 2015, came under scrutiny by watchdogs. At its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC was a seemingly unwieldy 54 initiative program. .css-16c7pto-SnippetSignInLink{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;}Sign In, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This story has been shared 375,122 times. How many other big-bucks initiatives are in similar straits is unknowable mostly because bureaucrats never blow the whistle on themselves and also because Gothams formal watchdog, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, is among the most incurious individuals ever to hold the office. Though, data on what the program has accomplished is hard to find. Baking day! But the co-mayor made performance promises when he initiated the Renewal program, few of which even remotely were met, and presently gravity prevailed: The program caved in on itself. The fact that we've added more services, the fact that we now have an Office of Community Mental Health is in direct response to what people have been asking for, and that is more, more and more more mental health providers, especially mental health providers of color, says McCray. Contributions are stagnant, if not falling, and now support fewer programs. [7] The purpose of the essay was to "dispel the myth that there are no gay black people". Uncovering The Satanic Panic: South Dakota. This is 2018, Ms. McCray said, work can get done in all kinds of ways., and given its current name by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Bill de Blasio, Chirlane McCray, Chiara de Blasio and Dante de Blasio Chirlane is the loving mom of Chiara de Blasio and Dante de Blasio. An almost decadelong runup has left the greenback heavily overvalued, some analysts say. How can she sleep at night hiring these hacks knowing so many other city workers are facing layoffs this fall? Things happen. So, ipso presto, co-Mayor Bill coughed up enough cash to break a pack mules back and sent it off to co-Mayor Chirlane who then went forth to cure Gothams mental-illness problems. McCray has a core team of eight staffers, according to a recent list provided to The Post following a Freedom of Information Law request filed in October 2019. Thanks for contacting us. Thereafter from 1994, she served Carl McCall, the New York State Comptroller, as his speech writer. The three largest programs, according to the most recent tax filing for 2016, were federal grants for antipoverty initiatives, civic service programs and a Bloomberg-era effort known as the Young Mens Initiative aimed at supporting black and Hispanic men. DE BLASIO EXTENDS STATE OF EMERGENCY IN NEW YORK FOR ANOTHER 30 DAYS, "That article [referring to The City story]didn't take into account the work that's being done," de Blasio said. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. We understand were working at a sensitive intersection of civic investors and public projects, so we try to be sensitive to it, Mr. Bloch said. Mayor Bill de Blasio likes to say that theres plenty of money in New York City, but that its in the wrong hands. The U.S. economy no longer looks so exceptional. https://twitter.com/davej08/status/1101441406667771904, https://twitter.com/WNYGeek81/status/1101500859299627008, harshly assessed the program's effectiveness. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/chirlane-mccray-50935.php. Shell be happy; the mayor will be delighted and the unions and nonprofits will be delirious. Well over a billion dollars has been spent on these mental health programs, and one of the main criticisms lobbed at the de Blasio Administration and McCray particularly. Once-Thriving City Nonprofit Sputters Under Mayors Wife, Chirlane McCray, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/nyregion/city-nonprofit-that-thrived-after-9-11-lags-under-mayors-wife.html. [8], When de Blasio became mayor, he hired publicist Rachel Noerdlinger to be McCray's chief of staff. But it was quickly turned into rejection when a classmate found her in an intimate embrace with another woman. He also attended a meeting of philanthropic organizations at Gracie Mansion to discuss the initiative, at which Ms. McCray spoke. After a brief rise, the number declined again. Her public schedules indicate she spends even less: a total of 19.5 hours spent on fund activities in all of last year; 35 hours in 2016. In 1991, I met the love of my life, married him. The programs at issue ostensibly are meant to assist particularly challenged people the helpless, often homeless, mentally ill and small children whose futures are forfeited because they landed in shamefully nonfunctional schools, an experience from which they will never recover. This work is about the needs of the people of this city especially in this crisis, de Blasio said this week, pointing to her running of his racial equity task force as well as (hes so shameless) the universally criticized ThriveNYC mental health debacle. But this is 2019, and the general feeling at least in the deBlasio administration is that if theres not a lot of dough attached to the spousal sinecure, it doesnt really matter enough. He said that she does not typically make direct requests for money, which is a task that he or another staffer will do in follow-up calls. New York is supposed to be better than that. But the fund itself has become a much larger operation, adding employees and salaries. [33] In 2012, when asked about her 1979 essay, she commented: "In the 1970s, I identified as a lesbian and wrote about it. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. Trump threatens to send federal agents to New York City if Bill de Blasio can't stop the violence, Oklahoma governor makes performing 'irreversible gender transition surgeries' on children a felony, Texas Gov. It is not, in the end, just about money. [19] Since then, the Fund has focused on mental health, immigration, and youth workforce projects. But there are other mysteries out there, too. In December, the Simonses made another donation, of $250,000. Office of Community Mental Health we are bringing mental health to the communities.. She says the Cities Thrive initiative was started in response to a lack of guidance coming from the Trump Administration, but she is hopeful there will soon be more mental health support for cities under the Biden Administration. Refined through trial and error and a global pandemic, the mental-health effort is now focused on 30 services and has been rebranded as the Mayors Office of Community Mental Health. The couple donated $260,000, earmarked for Ms. McCrays mental health initiative, in 2015 and 2016. I think it's safe to say that Bill DeBlasio's presidential prospects are dead in the water before they even started. One can only imagine what a mad scramble those meetings are. Several people on the list, when asked about the call, either did not remember the interaction or did not recall discussing donations. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, De Blasio and McCray's pathetic NYPD meddling, The suite life: Debt-ridden de Blasio spending thousands to live large at Brooklyn hotel, Taken for a ride: De Blasio still gets NYPD security, despite misuse pay refusal, Not thriving: Rebranded mental health agency needs leader, says critics. northumberland tennis academy, dream of hair growing long in islam,
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