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.. 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? 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. 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. 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. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? STOLEN? NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife "Can't Account For" $850 MILLION He said that a better measure of the funds success was the number of programs that it finances a number that has also fallen. [3] She has also published poetry and worked in politics as a speechwriter. . Not one to take all these humiliations lying down, she began to pour her anger into poems. Here they had to face extreme racism with the white residents circulating a petition that they leave the area. [11], In 1991, McCray entered politics. [20] In May 2018, The New York Times reported that McCray had last visited the offices of the Mayor's Fund in May 2017. In school, where for a time she was the only Black student, she had to face intense racism and endure bullying by her white classmates. The pace appeared to pick up last year, with 16 calls on the schedules and seven more in the first two months of this year. There are people who need supportive care. On Wednesday, councilmembers were huffing that de Blasio has been showering his wife with tax dollars with embarrassing results. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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Harris, who served as the previous fund chairwoman while she was the first deputy mayor to Mr. Bloomberg, to invite him to meetings to talk about donating to programs, like Mr. Bloombergs initiative to plant one million trees. #thriveNYC. [8], When de Blasio became mayor, he hired publicist Rachel Noerdlinger to be McCray's chief of staff. In 2013, Chiara suffered from depression and drug use, which has since been addressed. In 2004, she left Thompsons service to join Maimonides Medical Center, where she served possibly till 2009, trying to promote a culturally sensitive environment and make it attractive to a wider clientele. Theres no separation as a practical matter.. Eventually, she started an organization called Black Women in Publishing. Things happen. (Her spokeswoman, Kate Bernyk, estimated she spends 10 percent of her time on fund business.). She added, This is 2018; work can get done in all kinds of ways.. Certainly not the City Council, a legislative body comprising 50 stuffed cabbages and a speaker who wants to be mayor a fellow who stood by incuriously as the citys streets and subways slowly filled with insane people, many of them threatening and dangerous. The other two are immigration and youth work force. Chirlane McCray Bio, Affair, Married, Husband, Net Worth, Ethnicity Chirlane McCray's, perhaps? But there are other mysteries out there, too. 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. This story has been shared 119,457 times. Chirlane McCray Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life, Achievements That is bad news for the dollar. Photo by Spectrum News NY1. McCray and de Blasio were married in 1994 in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. But very soon, she realized that publishing was not her cup of tea. Ms. McCrays schedules show that last year she made three calls to Ms. Simons, in July, September and December. Born into a middleclass African-American family and raised primarily in an all-white locality, she suffered racial abuse both in and outside school. ThriveNYC, a Mental Health Initiative, Comes Under Scrutiny In 1991, I met the love of my life, married him. Ms. Baierlein was hired last year as director of development. 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. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. This story has been shared 375,122 times. Of the 78,000 newborn deliveries in the city annually, only 28,560 new mothers have been screened by the Thrive program. De Blasio's wife can't account for $850m given to mental health scheme https://t.co/gTEJcrCeob via @MailOnline, NYC Mayor De Blasio's wife spent $900 million in taxpayer moneywith no record of how it was used https://t.co/UGe8liu6L0, De Blasio and co-mayor wife have wasted $1.8B of taxpayer moneyFrankly Im surprised its not much more considering these two incompetent lazy stoners are at the helm. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Even as fund-raising has stalled, the fund has moved into larger offices which include a new, private office for Ms. McCray and the cost of running the operation has increased by more than 50 percent in the last two years. Bob McManus is a contributing editor of City Journal. But there are other mysteries out there, too. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. It is not, in the end, just about money. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. [37], "Chirlane McCray in sling after birthday injuries", "De Blasio gripes about rules barring spouses from paid gigs in government", "Chirlane McCray, de Blasio's Wife, Is Questioned Over His 'Revolutionary' $1 Billion Mental Health Plan", "NYC'S New First Lady Makes Barbadians Proud - Caribbean and Latin America Daily News", "Chirlane McCray: From Gay Trailblazer to Politician's Wife", "Once Alienated, and Now a Force in Her Husband's Bid for Mayor: Chirlane McCray Plays Key Role in de Blasio Campaign", "Ancient History: The Lesbian Past of Bill de Blasio's Wife", "Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, on the "fluidity of love" and the political spotlight", "Pioneering Black Feminist Makes History Again", "The Family Bible Is a Guest for the Oath, but Not a Participant", "Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, opens up on her role as the mayoral race's most visible spouse", "At City Hall, Backstage Player Is Cast in Main Stage Uproar", "Rachel Noerdlinger, former Chirlane McCray aide, kept ex-con boyfriend updated through controversy", "De Blasio Appoints Chirlane McCray, His Wife, to Lead Nonprofit Group", "Once-Thriving City Nonprofit Sputters Under Mayor's Wife, Chirlane McCray", "NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray Weighs in on Federal Mental Health Reform", "ThriveNYC: A Mental Health Roadmap for All", "Chirlane McCray and the Limits of First-Ladyship", "With opaque budget and elusive metrics, $850M ThriveNYC program attempts a reset", "There's too much money in Chirlane McCray's hands", "First Lady Chirlane McCray considering run for office in 2021", "Chirlane McCray's latest hires hint at run for public office", "Family in the Spotlight: De Blasio's Wife, Children Provide Multiracial Backdrop to Likely Mayoral Bid", "Bill de Blasio's wife recalls him first learning that she was a lesbian", "When Bill de Blasio's Wife Was a Lesbian", "De Blasio Finally Settles Down at Gracie Mansion", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chirlane_McCray&oldid=1144515944, This page was last edited on 14 March 2023, at 04:47. Almost every single one of our programs continued throughout the pandemic.. He also made maximum contributions to Mr. de Blasios inaugural fund in 2013 and to his 2017 re-election campaign. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. I know what goes on, Ms. McCray said, adding that she was justified in skipping board meetings. Essential to the first familys hopes of continued taxpayer support after term limits forces the mayor out of office, maybe. 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. I first saw the story online under the title: "Bill DeBlasio's Wife Reportedly Loses $850 Million of Taxpayer Funds! It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. 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. of Social Services and $65,000 associate director of advance to the first lady. Baking day! [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. The first lady was a similarly infrequent presence at board meetings, attending just five of 12 since being appointed, according to the meeting minutes. If you love what we do, please consider a $1/month donation to keep us live! As the wife of New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, she is also the First Lady of New York City since 2014. The couple donated $260,000, earmarked for Ms. McCrays mental health initiative, in 2015 and 2016. Its wrong, and it needs to stop, Reynoso said. .css-16c7pto-SnippetSignInLink{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;}Sign In, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Untold Truth Of Bill de Blasio's Wife, Chirlane McCray [35] The family lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn,[6][12] until their 2014 move into Gracie Mansion,[36] the official residence of the Mayor of New York City. 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. At its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC was a seemingly unwieldy 54 initiative program. With the aid of the citys First Lady, Mayor de Blasio launched a massive overhaul of the citys mental-health system in 2015. We know as little about the program after the hearing as we knew before the hearing, said Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx). 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. or redistributed. She discovered Black writers like Toni Morrison, which convinced her that she too had a story to tell. Outside school, she was excluded from boy-girl mixers. Another is a $143,000-a-year PR director whose job, by definition, is to boost her image, not to serve the public. It's just the kind of small, yet crucial revolution that drove Chirlane McCray into public service in the first place, and this week, she saw it realized . Im the founder, I provide the strategic support, I hold meetings on behavioral health and I amplify things to the public.. Right up there with co-Mayor Bill, who started the week on his own sour note announcing that his signature Renewal school program was closing up shop after pounding $773 million down a rathole. 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. There is no evidence its working.. And Mayor Bill de Blasios excuse for it is beyond laughable. This is a disgrace! Ulrich fumed. 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. Chirlane McCray can't explain where the $850m in funding has gone after it was given to the organization she runs, ThriveNYC. With a quarter of a billion dollars (!!) ThriveNYC website reveals $1.25B program's empty boasts - New York Post Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. A year later, she announced the formation of the Cities Thrive Coalition with aim of launching a more consolidated nationwide mental health system. Chirlane McCray, shown at New York City Hall on Feb. 25, created ThriveNYC as a mental-health initiative. Right up there with co-Mayor Bill, who started the week on his own sour note announcing that his signature Renewal school program was closing up shop after pounding $773 million down a rathole. 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. She/her. Save up to $15 with TurboTax coupon May 2023, Epic Bundle - 3x Expert Stock Recommendations, 15% Off DIY Online Tax Filing Services | H&R Block Coupon Code, 10% TopResume Discount Code for expert resume-writing services, Exclusive Groupon Promo Code - 30% OFF Local Experiences. We have statistics from the very beginning. 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. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. Don't we want people to have a good quality of life? 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. Bill de Blasio's pathetic excuses for his wife's $2 million-a-year staff It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. Kathryn Garcia has 'no idea' what happened to $1B for ThriveNYC An almost decadelong runup has left the greenback heavily overvalued, some analysts say. 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. The Times added: "A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes". 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. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. First Lady Chirlane McCray sat down with our National Health Reporter, Erin Billups, to defend the program and discuss some of its achievements. 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. Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Under Ms. McCrays leadership, the fund has made priorities of mental health, youth employment and immigration services. [15] She worked for five years at Maimonides Medical Center. 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. Entitled, I Am a Lesbian, it tried to dispel the myth that there was no gay in Black community and also to assure Black lesbians that they were not alone. By this fall, every public school will have at least one full-time social worker on hand or school-based mental health clinic, and when 911 calls are made for a mental health disturbance, EMTs are now accompanied by social workers police are often called in to assist. 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. Chirlane McCray, de Blasio's Wife, Is Questioned Over His [30][31], McCray published an essay in Essence in 1979 entitled "I Am a Lesbian". [18], In his second month in office, de Blasio named McCray chair of the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. From her mothers previous marriage, she also has a half brother called Reginald Jackson. Yet many staffers plainly arent doing crisis work. 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. 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. The discovery shocked many of her dormitory mates. [5], When she was ten years old, her family moved to Longmeadow, Massachusetts, becoming only the second black family in the area. 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? She now had her own staff and a larger role to play. In February, 2014, she was named as the chairperson of the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City. In at least two cases, a person made a campaign donation to Mr. de Blasio within days of one of Ms. McCrays calls on behalf of the fund. Legal Statement. On the citys website there is now a tool launched last year where you can see how many New Yorkers are using the programs. First Lady Chirlane McCray says the citys mental health hotline, NYC Well, logged 33,000 texts, chats and calls this January. She makes calls to share what our priorities are and to get attention and interest from others, said Mr. Bloch, describing Ms. McCray as a key part of the organizations fund-raising. Heres What Theyre Trying To Distract You From With The Trump Indictment. Chirlane always wanted kids, but it was a bit tough for her to adjust to the added responsibility and limited freedom. 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 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. [6][7] During a portion of her high school years, McCray was the only black student in her school. But under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the fund has not kept pace. Immediately, she began to work mainly on three issues, the chief among them being mental health. 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. First Lady of New York City. 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. The council redeemed itself only slightly Tuesday, asking McCray too politely for the circumstances to explain herself, and then settling for a non-answer answer for the ages: ThriveNYC was my idea, she said. In May 2017, Fetner Properties was named by the city as the developer of a project to build affordable and market rate apartments on New York City Housing Authority land in Harlem. [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. [8], McCray enrolled at Wellesley College in 1972. Glenn Youngkin declines 2024 White House bid 'this year'. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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