Ms. McCray with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz during a humanitarian mental-health initiative after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in March. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8, Continue reading your article witha WSJ subscription, Already a subscriber? But the co-mayor made performance promises when he initiated the Renewal program, few of which even remotely were met, and presently gravity prevailed: The program caved in on itself. [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. Chirlane McCray was assigned a $850million budget for her ThriveNYC program But records show scheme has failed to keep track of what it spent the money on The small amount of data that was. Most people who are homeless don't have a mental illness. 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. But under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the fund has not kept pace. Jane Meyer, a spokeswoman for the mayors office, said that Ms. McCrays public schedules listed fund-raising calls made on behalf of the fund, but an analysis of those schedules showed just three such calls in the first three years Mr. de Blasio was in office. [25][26] In February 2019, Politico criticized ThriveNYC for having an "opaque budget" and "elusive metrics". Ms. McCray declined a request for a follow-up interview to discuss the funds activities in more detail. 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! In 2013, Chiara suffered from depression and drug use, which has since been addressed. 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Chirlane McCray, shown at New York City Hall on Feb. 25, created ThriveNYC as a mental-health initiative. https://t.co/fqUIyfFc8Z. First lady Chirlane McCray is assisted by 14 city workers, costing taxpayers $2 million a year. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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And it's only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. (Her spokeswoman, Kate Bernyk, estimated she spends 10 percent of her time on fund business.). 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.. On the citys website there is now a tool launched last year where you can see how many New Yorkers are using the programs. She defended her tenure and said that she frequently took part in activities outside the fund offices, like visiting programs that it had financed. This story has been shared 110,413 times. All rights reserved. Chirlane McCray Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life, Achievements This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All rights reserved. Its not necessary for me to sit through them if I can be raising thousands of dollars to actually pay for fund programs. Fellow contender, City Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), slammed the spending. 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. The discovery shocked many of her dormitory mates. 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. We launched Thrive long before the pandemic. Don't we want people to be healthy? That is bad news for the dollar. How much taxpayer money will the mayors wife pilfer before leaving office? Theres no separation as a practical matter.. [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". Ms. McCray last stopped by in May 2017, Ms. Olson said. or redistributed. The administration has said their approach to mental health has never been done before at this level anywhere in the country. In early 1990s, she found a job with the New York City governments press office, eventually being appointed a speechwriter for Mayor David Dinkins, serving in this capacity possibly till December 1993. Trump threatens to send federal agents to New York City if Bill de Blasio can't stop the violence, Oklahoma governor makes performing 'irreversible gender transition surgeries' on children a felony, Texas Gov. The couple has two children, a son called Dante and daughter called Chiara. 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. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! 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. This story has been shared 375,122 times. [6][12] At the time, de Blasio was an aide to a deputy mayor and McCray was a speechwriter. She published an essay in Essence in 1979 entitled "I Am a Lesbian". There are people who need supportive care. 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. .css-16c7pto-SnippetSignInLink{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;}Sign In, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Here they had to face extreme racism with the white residents circulating a petition that they leave the area. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. Despite its ranks and generous salaries, the team hasnt posted an update to McCrays public schedule since last year. 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. 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. Council members learned Tuesday that only $30 million of Thrives $250 million annual budget an anemic 12 percent is spent on the seriously mentally ill, with the remainder of that enormously expensive burden shunted off to the citys more traditional social services agencies. The Times added: "A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes". Things happen. [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. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. Chirlane McCray was born on November 29, 1954 in Springfield, Massachusetts into an Afro-American family that had migrated from Barbados and St. Lucia. She is considering a run for Brooklyn borough president during the mayors last year in office. The First Lady has also been working with local leaders from municipalities across the country, part of the Cities Thrive Coalition. But another pattern is revealed by the calls: almost half of those contacted by Ms. McCray were contributors to her husbands mayoral campaigns (the Simonses each gave the maximum donation to Mr. de Blasios re-election campaign last year). Since then, the program, known as ThriveNYC, has been a lightning rod of criticism for the de Blasio administration from critics who say its accomplished little while costing taxpayers millions of dollars. (And dont forget the Department of Correction: A huge but ultimately unknowable percentage of New Yorks mentally ill reside on Rikers Island and in other lock-ups.). This work is about the needs of the people of this city especially in this crisis, de Blasio said this week, pointing to her running of his racial equity task force as well as (hes so shameless) the universally criticized ThriveNYC mental health debacle. Much of that focus has been on communities of color, where many New Yorkers often lack safety nets, specifically the money and resources to cope in the face of mental illness. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. [6][7] During a portion of her high school years, McCray was the only black student in her school. Both City Hall and IBO suspect the Office of Management and Budget included fewer. Bill is the mayor of New York City since 2014. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. Chirlane McCray, de Blasio's Wife, Is Questioned Over His DE BLASIO EXTENDS STATE OF EMERGENCY IN NEW YORK FOR ANOTHER 30 DAYS, "That article [referring to The City story]didn't take into account the work that's being done," de Blasio said. She discovered Black writers like Toni Morrison, which convinced her that she too had a story to tell. From her mothers previous marriage, she also has a half brother called Reginald Jackson. While writing articles, she also continued to write poetry, trying to bring about a social change through them. 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 rejection by her friends sowed the seeds of social and political activism. The City Hall budget shows $594 million in spending since ThriveNYC's inception. On November 23, 2015, McCray launched ThriveNYC, a $1.2 billion dollar initiative, with the aim of improving the citys mental health and substance abuse services. I bet you're never seen this story reported on the nightly newsbut don't worry, we'll show it to you! Chiara was born seven months after the wedding in December 1994. 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. Its wrong, and it needs to stop, Reynoso said. Think Stockholm syndrome, rolled into a big ball with the United Federation of Teachers. 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. [8], McCray enrolled at Wellesley College in 1972. 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. It's all sizzle and no steak. Concurrently with working for Redbook, she continued with her social activities, being acutely aware about the condition of black women in a big city like New York. 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? The first spouse went before the City Council . 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. 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. [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. How can she sleep at night hiring these hacks knowing so many other city workers are facing layoffs this fall? Chirlane McCray (@Chirlane) / Twitter We invite you to become a WeLoveTrump insider. It was reorganized and given its current name by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg after he took office in 2002, when the city was reeling from the Sept. 11 terror attacks. We have statistics from the very beginning. [6][32] Asked about her sexuality, McCray has stated that she hates "labels". A year later, she announced the formation of the Cities Thrive Coalition with aim of launching a more consolidated nationwide mental health system.
