NYC NOW - March 22, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is once again heading to the southern border to talk about the ongoing migrant crisis. Plus, WNYC’s Michael Hill and Karen Yi discuss the federal Head Start program, which provides childcare relief to families who qualify. And finally, we’ll share the best burger joints in New York City.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is heading to the southern border to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis again. Adam says he's been invited this weekend by national leaders to speak about how the city has handled the influx. And 180,000 people coming into our city, not to support we should get from the national government like we deserve, we stepped up. It's not clear where along the border the mayor is going. This is his second trip to the southern border.

Adams visited El Paso last year and also took a multi-country trip in Latin America. The city recently amended its historic right to shelter mandate, which guarantees a bed to anyone in need. Under the New Deal, adult migrants are limited to 30-day shelter states that can only be extended under extenuating circumstances. Child care can be costly. Just ask any parent, but there's relief for families who qualify. After the break, we'll discuss the federal Head Start program, which provides care for up to 34,000 children in New York State. Stick around for that conversation and more.

A recent Sienna poll found nearly half of New Yorkers are spending more money on child care than they were two years ago. Now, more elected leaders are highlighting the spiraling cost of child care driving young, families, particularly black families, to leave the city. But child care experts say parents can find relief in a federally funded program that's been around for decades called Head Start. For more, my colleague Michael Hill talked with WMYC's Karen Yee. Head Start has been around a long time, but a lot of people may not still know about what it is. What is it? It's a federal program that's been around since 1965, and it serves pregnant people and children all the way up to the age of five. and it's a year round, so that includes summer.

It's free to families who qualify due to their income. And what's really unique about this program is that it provides comprehensive services. So it doesn't just educate the child, but it also makes sure they have access to mental health services or proper health care if they need it. They're getting their shots, getting screen for lead. And Head Start also very much involves the primary caretaker, whether that's a parent or a grandparent or another family member, to make sure that they're also getting the sorts of services they need. I spoke to Nina Piros, the early childhood director at Grand Street Settlement.

A family does not have enough food. The child may experience developmental issues because they're not getting enough nutrition so that we have nutritionists who will work with the family, but they may be eligible to receive benefits. Pieroes calls this approach a two-generational or multi-generational approach that, like I mentioned, really meets the needs of the whole family, not just the child in the program. So who exactly qualifies for this program? So since it's federally funded, the federal government sets eligibility requirements, and they're mostly based on income.

So if you're a two-person household, that would mean if you're earning less than $20,400 a year, you would qualify. And a four-person household would have to earn less than $31,200 a year to be eligible. But families earning above these thresholds can still qualify. So if you are someone receiving food stamps under the SNAP program or cash-estestown, your child can qualify. And there's also other criteria that may make you eligible. So if your child has a mental health issue or developmental concern, you can get into the program. Here's what Tanya Kreen, who is the vice president of early childhood education at the child center of New York had to say. A parent may not want to disclose that their child does not potty trained yet, but they're really

struggling because developmentally the child is not ready to be potty trained. They may see that as a reason to be excluded, whereas we look at that as more of a reason. to come to school because there's development that we need to work on. The only caveat is that only 10% of the slots in a Head Start program can be filled with children who aren't immediately eligible due to income or because of public benefits. But there are many Head Start programs in the city that do have room. Karen, what about a family's immigration status? It doesn't matter.

The program isn't allowed to ask a family about their immigration status or citizenship or their childs. And that's really meant to eliminate the barriers to getting the most vulnerable families the help that they need. And that is also particularly important now since we have so many thousands of migrants that have come to the city in the last two years. Many of them have young children and are here to work and are living in shelter, but they can't afford to pay care. And living in a homeless shelter is actually another way to automatically qualify for Head Start. How and when should families apply?

Child care providers say now. And that's especially true for families who have a child under three. You know, the city's free 3K and pre-K programs don't start until the child turns three or four. So there's really a need for this under-three population. And families can apply on the MySchool's Department of Education website, or if there's a provider they know in their neighborhood, they can walk in or call or look at their websites. And just to be clear about the types of programs that are available,

when we talk about Head Start, there's early Head Start, right? And that's for pregnant women and children up to three. and then Head Start, which is for children three to five, right? And there's also center-based care, which happens at a location. And then there's home-based care, which is a unique part of the program, where a provider actually visits a family in their home once a week. And that's available also for pregnant people. So usually to apply the last you for tax documents, pay stubs, a letter from your employer to prove your income or prove of your snapper cash assistance. But some programs will actually enroll a family and then sort of ask for the proof of eligibility later. What does demand for Head Start programs look like, Karen? It really varies by program. Some have a wait list and others are under-enrolled. Generally, what I'm told is center-based programs operate at much higher enrollment numbers and have a higher capacity and people are more interested in those than home-based

because families need child care, right? And the home-based program requires a parent or a caregiver to actually be present during services. Margot Simone is the vice president of early childhood programs at Children's. children's aid. Particularly in our Harlem site, we definitely see where we're not able to fill these home-based lots that we have. And not that many families in need of a home-based programming because most of the families here are working families. Child care providers say there are other factors for why some programs may be under-enrolled, especially at centers. And that's because it could be cumbersome or sometimes demeaning, right, for a family to have to demonstrate that they're

eligible or sort of poor enough to qualify. And there's a worker shortage issue too. A Head Start program may not be able to open if they can't retain and attract enough staff. If you don't qualify for a Head Start, what other options does a family have? There's a city voucher program that also is based on income that can help. I mean, there's 3K and pre-K like we talked about. And the option that's worked for many people in many years before, finding a friend or a family member to help you out while you're at work. That's WMYC's Karen Yee talking with my colleague, Michael Hill. New York City may be known for pizza, hot dogs, and bagels, but this is also a burger town. In fact, there's some truth to the claim that burgers were actually invented here.

There is no doubt that they were invented here. That's Robert Sitsima, senior critic with Eder, New York. Here's some burger history. As the story goes, in the 1820s, there were mobile vendors who set up along the docks around Chambers Street. At that time, a lot of the sailors that came off, the ships were from the North Sea. They were Germans or Poles. And one thing that they were familiar with was ground beef. So these carts would sell these burgers with no buns.

The bun had not been invented yet and wouldn't be for many, many decades. But the first restaurant that we know of to serve a burger was Delmonico's in the 1870s, and it cost five cents. You heard that right. Five since. Times have certainly changed, though. Eater, New York recently released its list of the best burgers in New York City. WMYC's David First talked with Robert for some of the burger highlights. So where should we start?

Let's mention a few of the best. Burger Joint is one of the most colorful places. It started out in behind a curtain at the Parker Meridian Hotel. It was a secret place. But now the New Moynihan Train Hall. has a burger joint, plus a lot of other amazing things. If you haven't been to the food court there, the burger joint is there. They do it over charcoal. They are smoky. They're juicy. And they come with great fries. What's next? Let's go down market. There's a new place called Hamburger America, run by this burger nut named George Mottz, who is like a professor of burgers, probably the only one in the country. And he actually stands behind the

yellow formic counter and smashes the burgers himself because the newest thing in the burger world, of course, is smash burgers. Now, I won't speculate as to why they're becoming so popular, possibly because there's less meat in them that they're selling you. But at Hamburger America, this has made it possible to sell burgers in Soho like really cheap. They're like seven or eight dollars. And he cooks them himself. And he has a spatula with his name engraved on it. This like crazy land. So how's the burger? The burger is fantastic. It's a delightful place and I hope it doesn't become more popular. So please don't go. Okay. So where's another place we should not go to, Robert? Let's zoom upscale for a moment. I recently tried the $35 hamburger at a reopened Delmonico's,

the city's oldest restaurant, really. It was founded in 1827 and has gone through several permutations, but the one that's at Beaver and South Williams Street is our current one. They have a burger available only in the bar room and at lunch. So, eat in the bar room, $35 may sound like a lot for a burger, right? But this is a big, thick, juicy burger, and the fries are fantastic. So if you really want an upscale burger, this is not a bad choice. Okay, it's a big difference from $7 for a burger, though, to jump up to $30. Yeah, but you're sitting in one of the city's fanciest restaurants where supposedly the burger was invented as a restaurant meal.

That's Robert Sitsima, senior critic with Eater, New York, talking with WNYC's David First. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Shout out to our production team. It includes Sean Bowdage, Amber Bruce, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcell, Wayne Schollmeister and Gina Volste, with help from the entire WMYC Newsroom. Our show art was designed by the folks at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrado. I'm Jene Pierre. Have a nice weekend. We'll be back on Monday.