City will no longer pay rent for five childcare centers including 50-year neighborhood center!
UPDATED on 02.19.25 to include: Adams administration reversed decision to close centers on 02.14.25
UPDATED on 02.04.25 to include: Nuestros Niños rally at City Hall on February 6, 2025 at 3 p.m.
At 10:30 a.m. in below freezing temperatures, parents, educators, elected officials, community members, and advocates filled the streets in front of Nuestros Niños’s 384 South 4th Street location to protest the NYC Department of Education’s decision to stop paying rent on this center and four others (three others in Brooklyn) on January 24. So many came out to speak up that supporters were shoulder to shoulder in the street.
In late mid-January, these centers were notified less than a day before applications for the coming year were open that they had lost their leases.
Reasons for the closures that have been reported are rent increases and that they are not reaching enrollment. Both of these are under scrutiny. The directors of two North Brooklyn schools, Nuestros Niños and Bushwick Child and Family Center, have stated their enrollments are solid, and the City gave no indication there was an issue until they pulled their support.
“Closing Nuestros Niños would only deepen NYC’s affordable childcare shortage. For 51+ years, it’s been a lifeline for Los Sures, and its closure would devastate families and staff,” stated U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez
On January 21, Mayor Eric Adams explained when they looked at the data Nuestros Niños had four children enrolled and the City was paying $1M rent per year, he said, “If we have our information incorrect or someone didn’t register in time for those seats, we’re willing to sit down and figure out how every child that wants a seat, every family, will have access to a seat.”
As it stands now, these child centers cannot enroll children for the upcoming year and will lose their spaces on June 30. If the decision is reversed the centers will have been hindered in next year’s enrollment as they will have less time.
“This institution has created leaders, leaders!” said NYS Assembly Member Maritza Davila as she pointed to Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso at the Nuestros Niños rally. “We cannot allow them to be priced out of existence. We are calling for a Board of Education audit to ensure public funds are being used fairly.”
Reynoso knows firsthand the quality care he received when he went to Nuestros Niños. “Right now the City of New York has decided they were going to abandon families on the south side of Williamsburg and three other sites in Brooklyn. They want to shutdown centers that have great enrollment rates. We have solutions we can figure this out and instead of having government as a partner we have government really trying to attack us,” he said.
On January 22, Brooklyn Community Board 1 held their executive board meeting, and authorized a letter to Mayor Eric Adams in support of saving Nuestros Niños. One section stated, “The decision to shut down the Nuestros Niños program at this vital location jeopardizes decades of meaningful service and denies families a reliable, trusted resource for early education. The impact of this closure will be devastating to our community, leaving families with no immediate alternatives, exacerbating already long waiting lists at other facilities, and creating financial and logistical hardships for working families who rely on Nuestros Niños.”
NYC Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, who recently welcomed her second child, said, “The potential closure of Nuestros Niños is a glaring example of this administration’s failure to think holistically about childcare and the needs of working families. It’s embarrassing to see the city turn its back on vital institutions like this one, relying on bad information and providing little to no heads-up or communication. We should be supporting these childcare centers, not dismantling them, especially when so many families depend on their services. This situation underscores the urgent need for a more thoughtful, collaborative and affordable approach to childcare in our city. I will do everything in my power to reverse this decision.”
Ingrid Matias Chungata, executive director of Nuestros Niños, offered her thanks on Instagram to the supporters and added, “Your support is invaluable. This is just the beginning of a long journey, but we are confident that with the support of you—our community—our voices will be heard. Together, we will persevere to keep Nuestros Niños open. United, we cannot be defeated.”
To help Nuestros Niños remain at South 4th Street sign this petition.
On Valentine’s Day the Adams’s administration showed the childcare centers some love by granting them a one-year extension.
Although grateful for the reprieve, Chungata is concerned by the information the City is currently negotiating rent on a month-to-month basis instead of longer term, which may put Nuestros Niños in the same jeopardy next year. The agreement is still to be finalized.
Reynoso cautioned that, “[T]hese centers are not yet saved.”
“We’re glad our persistent calls for the DOE to negotiate in good faith and keep our child care centers open have finally been heard. Families and providers at these four child care centers can temporarily breathe a sigh of relief—for now. The potential one-year extension for these sites is a step forward, but it fails to address the DOE’s own missteps that created this crisis. It is baffling that we are even justifying the removal of 50-year institutions with strong enrollment when New Yorkers are demanding more access to high-quality child care, not less. Here in Brooklyn – we fight for our people, and we win for our people. But let’s be clear—these centers are not yet saved – this is just kicking the can down the road, and we will spend every second organizing and preparing for the bigger fight ahead because our families, providers, and child care workers deserve better,” said local elected officials (Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and NYC Council Members Jennifer Gutiérrez, Sandy Nurse, Crystal Hudson, and Chi Ossé) in a signed statement on February 14.
The Greenline 