Essential to the first familys hopes of continued taxpayer support after term limits forces the mayor out of office, maybe. That makes a robust roster of 14 staffers double the amount she had in 2018. And we were fortunate to have an infrastructure of services that people could turn to, says McCray. Thanks for contacting us. The nonprofit was created in 1994 by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani to raise private-sector money to finance some of his pet projects, including a childrens book featuring his dog. Things happen. Even as the city has poured money into mental health . Thereafter from 1994, she served Carl McCall, the New York State Comptroller, as his speech writer. The board authorized its lawyers to sue Disney without explaining what the suit would allege, the latest salvo in the battle between the company and Florida Gov. The reason I say that all of Thrives budget is tailored to [all city residents] is because its very difficult to say [what] is the percentage of our population that is seriously mentally ill, concluded Mrs. Mayor without laughing. All rights reserved. The discovery shocked many of her dormitory mates. [10] Some of her poetry is included in Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. In 1991, I met the love of my life, married him. Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, a donor to the fund virtually since its inception, recalled receiving a brief phone call from Ms. McCray in 2015 when the foundation was considering a large donation to support a mental health initiative. That it should happen in a single week is worse its an embarrassment. While studying there, she became a member of a black feminist organization known as the Combahee River Collective. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. Chirlane McCray, shown at New York City Hall on Feb. 25, created ThriveNYC as a mental-health initiative. On Wednesday, councilmembers were huffing that de Blasio has been showering his wife with tax dollars with embarrassing results. 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. As the City navigates unprecedented challenges triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, these public servants continue to show up everyday to deliver solutions that reach into every neighborhood and family, and we owe them a debt of gratitude, Caraway said. Her performance left council members blinking. All these happened in front of their teachers. [6][12] At the time, de Blasio was an aide to a deputy mayor and McCray was a speechwriter. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? De Blasio is an Italian-American. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! When asked whether she plans to continue working with the national coalition once she leaves Gracie Mansion, McCray says she is too focused on the present needs of the Office of Community Mental Health to say what will happen once her husband leaves his post. All rights reserved. There is no limit to the size of donations to the fund, as there is for campaign contributions, and as a nonprofit controlled by the mayors office, the fund has routinely and legally raised money from donors who gave to Mr. de Blasios campaigns and his political causes. 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. Yet many staffers plainly arent doing crisis work. There are people who need supportive care. [12] During the Clinton administration, she worked for the New York Foreign Press Center as a public affairs specialist. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion! Shell be happy; the mayor will be delighted and the unions and nonprofits will be delirious. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. [18], In his second month in office, de Blasio named McCray chair of the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. On the citys website there is now a tool launched last year where you can see how many New Yorkers are using the programs. The ThriveNYC initiative, now three years old, is the signature effort of Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. But very soon, she realized that publishing was not her cup of tea. Make some of my familys favorite cookies with me: Ginger snaps! [6][9] McCray met Bill de Blasio in 1991, when they both worked at New York City Hall for then Mayor David Dinkins. Im the founder, I provide the strategic support, I hold meetings on behavioral health and I amplify things to the public.. Eventually, she started an organization called Black Women in Publishing. 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. Fourteen city workers assisting McCray cost taxpayers $2 million a year most of it buried in the payrolls of various city agencies until former Post reporter Yoav Gonen pulled together the details for online paper The City. Ms. McCray declined a request for a follow-up interview to discuss the funds activities in more detail. Such as, how did it happen that Thrive burned through more $565 million over four-plus years to no appreciable good effect with nobody noticing? Oh, and her staff is twice the size it was in 2018, further evidence that the mayor is using city resources to set his wife up to win next years race for Brooklyn borough president. Some of these were later published in 'Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology' (1983). We are measuring.. We did not say everything would be perfect, burbled the co-mayor as if anybody outside his immediate orbit expected an outcome even close to competent. The chairwoman of the Mayors Fund to Advance the City of New York, Chirlane McCray, has largely been missing in action: She has attended less than half of the funds board meetings, and her outreach to donors has been sporadic. The program spearheaded by Chirlane McCray, wife of Mayor Bill de Blasio, has an annual budget of $250 million Chirlane McCray, shown at New York City Hall on Feb. 25, created ThriveNYC as a . It was . [8] McCray cites her early experience with racism and bullying as part of the reason she began to write, using her poetry as an outlet for her anger. Anyone can read what you share. With their house filled with books, she developed reading habit early in her life. He also attended a meeting of philanthropic organizations at Gracie Mansion to discuss the initiative, at which Ms. McCray spoke. Given that nobody seems to know how many programs there even are, itll be a while before McCrays allowance is cut off. She added, This is 2018; work can get done in all kinds of ways.. We've received your submission. This story has been shared 132,852 times. or redistributed. She is married to former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and had been described as de Blasio's "closest advisor. Chirlane always wanted kids, but it was a bit tough for her to adjust to the added responsibility and limited freedom. 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? With over 22,000 layoffs of city workers looming, the mayor cant seriously expect to keep funding full-time, highly paid speechwriters and professional videographers for his wifes political ambitions. U.S. Government Docket No. 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. First lady Chirlane McCray is assisted by 14 city workers, costing taxpayers $2 million a year. This story has been shared 375,122 times. Then theres the $130,000 executive program specialist from the Dept. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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The Times added: "A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes". Ms. McCray last stopped by in May 2017, Ms. Olson said. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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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. But the fund itself has become a much larger operation, adding employees and salaries. Chirlane McCray's, perhaps? Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. #MyDayNYC pic.twitter.com/e8LWu8jxh9, Chirlane McCray (@NYCFirstLady) April 2, 2020. [6][8], After graduating from college, McCray moved to New York City to work for Redbook. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This story has been shared 364,374 times. First lady Chirlane McCray has raised between $13 million and $28 million in donations for a City Hall-aligned nonprofit from people and entities with business before her hubby Mayor de Blasio, The Don't we want people to have a good quality of life? 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. That Stringer could sleep through it all is the real scandal; why does the city even have a comptroller, if thats the standard of performance? Her father, Robert Hooper McCray, a World War II veteran, was an inventory clerk at a military base while her mother, Katharine Clarissa Eileen ne Edwards, was an assembly worker at an electronics factory. [5], When she was ten years old, her family moved to Longmeadow, Massachusetts, becoming only the second black family in the area. Mayor Bill de Blasio likes to say that theres plenty of money in New York City, but that its in the wrong hands. The only friend that she had was her Spanish teacher, Michael McCarthy. With a quarter of a billion dollars (!!) And people did equate mental illness with homelessness, which is so wrong, says McCray. The organization spent $753,000 on management and fund-raising in the fiscal year that ended in June 2017, 50 percent more than two years earlier. Her mother, Katharine Clarissa Eileen (ne Edwards), was an assembly worker at an electronics factory, and her father, Robert Hooper McCray, was an inventory clerk at a military base. 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. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. Two Trees Management, a real estate developer that in 2015 donated $100,000 to the Campaign for One New York, gave $11,750 to the fund in April 2016, just weeks after Mr. de Blasio said he would shut down the Campaign for One New York. What Was In Those Bush Sr. Funeral Envelopes? It's so important that people don't have to search for what they need, especially when they're in crisis.. 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 interviews with more than a dozen donors and others who had contact with the fund, none said that they had substantive conversations with Ms. McCray. We want to make sure that the mental health services are embedded and all of our city agencies wherever it's appropriate so that people have the services, where they live, where they work, where they go to school, McCray says. The mayor argued that she would be exceptional and was uniquely qualified to connect government with for-profit and nonprofit groups. That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. Thereafter, she worked briefly for the public relation department of the City Group, but could not fit in. In fact, said Caraway, New Yorkers should be thanking McCrays staff for their contributions. In several cases, donations to the fund coincided with city action on a particular project, though donors dispute any effort to curry favor with the administration. 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. [3] As of March 2019, nearly $850 million in funding for McCray's mental health program was unaccounted for; furthermore, the program was on track to spend $1 billion over five years. Baking day! First lady Chirlane McCray's ThriveNYC unveiled a splashy new website Monday purporting to show the $1.25 billion plan has "dramatically improved the landscape of. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. There is no evidence its working.. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Almost every single one of our programs continued throughout the pandemic.. And Mayor Bill de Blasios excuse for it is beyond laughable. Ron DeSantis. The 1984 ruling, known as the Chevron deference, directs courts to defer to a federal agencys legal approach when Congress has left the statutory language ambiguous, which some conservatives have come to oppose. McCrays office provided The CIty with names of eight full-time employees whose salaries added up to about $1.1 million. The mayor's 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. Still, City Hall spokeswoman Chanel Caraway on Tuesday defended the McCray team even as the mayor has said theres no money to pick up overflowing waste bins or maintain the citys parks. Its an approach McCray says helped the city respond to the high demand for mental health services during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. 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. 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. Legal Statement. Heres What Theyre Trying To Distract You From With The Trump Indictment. They met while they both were working for Mayor Dinkins' administration and t married in 1994. .css-16c7pto-SnippetSignInLink{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;}Sign In, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Bob McManus harshly assessed the program's effectivenessfor the New York Post: The NY Post reports that among multiple failed programs and "bad accounting", the figure is actually not $850 million but rather $1.8 BILLION! This story has been shared 119,457 times. With over 22,000 layoffs of city workers looming, the mayor cant seriously expect to keep funding full-time, highly paid speechwriters and professional videographers for his wifes political ambitions. 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. In 1974, she became a member of The Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist organization that looked into the issues relating specifically to the Black lesbians. She is considering a run for Brooklyn borough president during the mayors last year in office. Inside there is a small desk with a computer; a bookshelf is adorned with bibelots and certificates of appreciation with her name in fancy script. 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. She published an essay in Essence in 1979 entitled "I Am a Lesbian". This is a disgrace! Ulrich fumed. But under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the fund has not kept pace. Other families in the neighborhood circulated petitions demanding they leave. Social PROOF Trump Indictment Will Likely Win Him 2024! [8] During her husband's campaign for mayor of New York City in the 2013 election, she edited his speeches and helped interview candidates for staff positions. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/chirlane-mccray-50935.php. One is a $70,000-a-year videographer (paid via the Health Department!) However, from her maternal grandmothers surname, Quashie, she believes that part of her family had originally come from Ghana. Another sign of corruption: The mayor imposed a hiring freeze early this year but McCray still got to bring on a new $150,000-a-year senior adviser in April, who somehow got classified as an essential worker. This principally is on the co-mayors, of course, but it is also on Stringer who wants to be mayor, but who shrinks from demonstrating that he deserves the job. Here they had to face extreme racism with the white residents circulating a petition that they leave the area. Once a white construction worker spit on her while she was riding a bike. "This work is about the needs of the people of this city. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, former Post reporter Yoav Gonen pulled together. Legal Statement. 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. Nearly a third of New Yorkers may be out of work thanks to the pandemic and lockdowns, but first lady Chirlane McCrays staff is thriving. [6][9] Essence later described the essay as "groundbreaking", asserting that it was "perhaps the first time a Black gay woman had spoken so openly and honestly about her sexuality in a Black magazine". 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. This story has been shared 117,403 times. A year later, she announced the formation of the Cities Thrive Coalition with aim of launching a more consolidated nationwide mental health system. The U.S. economy no longer looks so exceptional. The number of programs the fund supports has also declined, from 123 during Mr. de Blasios first year in office to 97 the next fiscal year. Early in her youth, Chirlane McCray identified herself as a lesbian and continued to do so till 1991 when she met her future husband, Bill de Blasio, at that time working as an aide to David Dinkins. Fast-forward to Wednesday, when the City Council was startled to discover that McCray and Team Thrive are closing in on having spent an eye-popping $900 million since the programs inception and nobody seems to have a clue on what. The nonprofit was created in 1994 by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani to raise private-sector money to finance some of his pet projects, including a children's book featuring his dog. This story has been shared 375,122 times. I first saw the story online under the title: "Bill DeBlasio's Wife Reportedly Loses $850 Million of Taxpayer Funds! That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. The Thrive program, which had its budget raised to $250 million per year in 2019, has produced some underwhelming numbers in terms of how many people it impacts. Once she returned home from school to find their house scrawled with racist graffiti. [6][7] During a portion of her high school years, McCray was the only black student in her school. Thereafter, she moved to New York City, where she got a job as a low-level editor, writer and market researcher at a women's magazine called Redbook. [6][32] Asked about her sexuality, McCray has stated that she hates "labels". She was born eldest of her parents three children; she has two younger sisters named Cynthia and Cheryl. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. This story has been shared 110,413 times. Bill is the mayor of New York City since 2014. Sometime in late 1960s, she wrote a column in the school publication, in which she called out on her classmates for the cruelty they had inflicted on her. This news comes as the mayor is consideringlaying off up to 22,000 municipal workers in the falldue to budget constraints related to COVID-19. This story has been shared 119,457 times. She also edited his speeches and helped in interviewing staffs. As the wife of New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, she is also the First Lady of New York City since 2014. Mr. de Blasio had to seek permission from the citys Conflicts of Interest Board to name his wife to chair the fund, because city rules barred him from giving the job to a relative. Insight from Dr. Oscar Odom, former NYPD detective. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. McCray argues that Thrives impact could not be easily measured early on because there was no data to compare it to a problem she says the program has worked to rectify. Visitors cite his wealth and connections. 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. An almost decadelong runup has left the greenback heavily overvalued, some analysts say. McCray says they are working to help those very people, by connecting them to services rather than placing them in psychiatric wards. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? The rescue deal will see JPMorgan take on all of First Republics $92 billion in deposits and buy most of its assets, heading off a collapse that threatened to reignite the recent banking crisis. The IBO budget shows $816 million. Only anti-Trump hysteria allows for denial of Paterson's m Laurie Metcalf on getting directed by 'triple threat' Ray Romano, Academia's twisted reasons for shelving the SAT, Spring Break, Paris, Coachella: Gen Z is willing to go broke for luxury vacations, Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, All the red carpet highlights and star-studded fashionfrom the Karl Lagerfeld-themed Met Gala, Bride killed, groom seriously hurt by drunk driver just minutes after leaving reception, Katy Perry will be temporarily replaced on 'American Idol' amid drama. There were 85 programs at last count, according to Ms. Olson. 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. After a brief rise, the number declined again. #thriveNYC. The couple has two children, a son called Dante and daughter called Chiara. Why do we get this kind of criticism? says McCray. But that doesn't mean a hospital. . 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. Market data provided by Factset. The shooter, who is listed as a Department of Health employee in city records, filmed the first lady making ginger snaps on April 2 during the coronavirus lockdown. The first lady was a similarly infrequent presence at board meetings, attending just five of 12 since being appointed, according to the meeting minutes. Other members of the shadow staff who participated in a Team Lunch in The Bronx in January 2019, according to McCrays public schedule, are a $143,000-a-year public relations director, also from the Department of Health, and a special assistant from the mayors office who makes $115,000. But again, I think the most important feature of the renaming is that, what is Thrive? People dont know what Thrive is. New York is supposed to be better than that. We've received your submission. Office of Community Mental Health we are bringing mental health to the communities.. There was little help from her parents, who had their own battles to fight. ", CHIRLANE MCCRAY ENJOYS $2M STAFF OF 14 AMID NYC BUDGET CRISIS, He added, "The mental health crisis is much deeper because of the coronavirus, across the whole city, that's one of the things she's been working on intensely, but also as the co-chair of the internal task force this extraordinary task force on racial inclusion that has been moving big policy changes.".
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