Dear New Yorkers,
Now through May 9, public school parents have a chance to vote for the members of district panels who will represent their interests to local school superintendents.
As they cast ballots, one well-organized group, called Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, or PLACE, has become powerful in putting members on those Community Education Councils — and polarizing.
PLACE began in 2019 with its efforts focused on preserving and expanding so-called gifted and talented programs, and admissions testing in the city’s middle and high schools. And their message caught on. In Manhattan's largest public school districts, 2 and 3, THE CITY found that PLACE candidates now represent a majority or all of the members on the councils.
But opponents — and even some candidates endorsed by PLACE — say the organization has been veering to the right, turning CECs into forums for battles over issues such as critical race theory and the treatment of LGBTQ+ youth and making endorsements beyond local education council races. Last year, PLACE endorsed conservative congressional candidates Reps. George Santos (R-Queens/L.I.), Nicole Maliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin.
“It's so mind boggling,” said District 2 CEC member Guadalupe Hernandez, a mother of two who was endorsed by a rival group. “Sometimes even when I speak to residents that live in my building or just any New York City parents, and tell them what I’m going through, they're just like, ‘We're where? We're not Alabama, we're not Florida.’ They don't believe me.”
Read more here.
Some other items of note: - The operator of Interfaith, Brookdale and Kingsbrook Jewish hospitals in Brooklyn is for the first time acknowledging that a “cybersecurity incident” that knocked out its computer systems followed a data breach that accessed patients’ Social Security records, medical files and more. One Brooklyn Health System is now facing a class action lawsuit, filed Wednesday. The outage, first reported by THE CITY, started on Nov. 19, 2022 and stretched on until the end of the year.
- Albany lawmakers introduced new legislation to crack down on deed thieves, scammers who seek to steal properties, often from Black and Latino homeowners. Among the bills are measures that would: ensure the state attorney general has the jurisdiction to directly prosecute deed theft as a crime; extend the statute of limitations for victims and; pause eviction proceedings for homeowners who have evidence they may be caught up in possible deed theft.
- With a vote on rent hikes looming next week, tenants and landlords pled their case to the Rent Guidelines Board in a five-hour meeting Thursday — with one side asking for a rent freeze and the other for an increase at a rate the city has not seen in years. (And in case you missed it: Here’s THE CITY’s guide on what the RGB is and how it decides on rent levels.)
- The Bronx’s only motion picture and television production facility is seeking a major expansion: adding a 181,278-square-foot building with a 60-foot ceiling, plus opening an acre of Bronx River waterfront to the public during daylight hours. York Studios execs testified last week that the new building would “help draw big productions.” But plans to fence off the public-access area brought questions from local officials.
- May 31 is the last day to see the MISSING THEM photo exhibit in The Bronx and Queens honoring those who appear in THE CITY’s COVID-19 memorial project.
- See how New York City is doing with our newsroom’s economic recovery tracker.
- For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 hospitalizations, positivity rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker.
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