On Wednesday, councilmembers were huffing that de Blasio has been showering his wife with tax dollars with embarrassing results. [25][26] In February 2019, Politico criticized ThriveNYC for having an "opaque budget" and "elusive metrics". They include the $70,000 videographer McCray brought on in February. Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire whose charitable efforts are well known, conceived the fund as a way for philanthropists, corporations and others to help subsidize city initiatives. [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. It was . Theres no separation as a practical matter.. That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. The number of programs the fund supports has also declined, from 123 during Mr. de Blasios first year in office to 97 the next fiscal year. Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [6][9] McCray met Bill de Blasio in 1991, when they both worked at New York City Hall for then Mayor David Dinkins. Not one to take all these humiliations lying down, she began to pour her anger into poems. (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.). of Social Services and $65,000 associate director of advance to the first lady. Most people who are homeless don't have a mental illness. They also mocked her, often contorting their mouths to make their lips look big. We have elected officials or health commissioners or both, in more than 200 cities, who share information, share best practices, get together and talk about what they're doing so that they can duplicate each other's programs, says McCray. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. With the aid of the citys First Lady, Mayor de Blasio launched a massive overhaul of the citys mental-health system in 2015. Still, City Hall spokeswoman Chanel Caraway on Tuesday defended the McCray team even as the mayor has said theres no money to pick up overflowing waste bins or maintain the citys parks. Even as the city has poured money into mental health . From her mothers previous marriage, she also has a half brother called Reginald Jackson. Thereafter, she worked briefly for the public relation department of the City Group, but could not fit in. We invite you to become a WeLoveTrump insider. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? How can she sleep at night hiring these hacks knowing so many other city workers are facing layoffs this fall? They met while they both were working for Mayor Dinkins' administration and t married in 1994. Instagram: @chirlane 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. But he said that he had no in-depth conversations with her about fund business. "I like the fact that money is going toward mental health, but when they say we're seeing a benefit in all areas, I take exception to that, because I don't see it everywhere," Queens Councilman Robert Holden told The Post. She also received books as Christmas gift. He also attended a meeting of philanthropic organizations at Gracie Mansion to discuss the initiative, at which Ms. McCray spoke. Nearly a third of New Yorkers may be out of work thanks to the pandemic and lockdowns, but first lady Chirlane McCrays staff is thriving. That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. 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. 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. 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. Seven mayors attended a 2017 national mental health conference in New York City. Oh, and her staff is twice the size it was in 2018, further evidence that the mayor is using city resources to set his wife up to win next years race for Brooklyn borough president. A company representative, David Lombino, said Ms. McCray did not solicit the donation, which went to an internship program known as Ladders for Leaders. There was little help from her parents, who had their own battles to fight. "I'm not sure anybody does.". Its a national effort to address mental health stigma. When asked whether she plans to continue working with the national coalition once she leaves Gracie Mansion, McCray says she is too focused on the present needs of the Office of Community Mental Health to say what will happen once her husband leaves his post. At its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC was a seemingly unwieldy 54 initiative program. Given that nobody seems to know how many programs there even are, itll be a while before McCrays allowance is cut off. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. Things happen. [8], When de Blasio became mayor, he hired publicist Rachel Noerdlinger to be McCray's chief of staff. 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 Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres criticized ThriveNYC, stating that there was "no evidence its working". 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. Another is a $143,000-a-year PR director whose job, by definition, is to boost her image, not to serve the public. McCray says she is not running the Office of Community Mental Health Susan Herman is. Thank you! Her public schedules indicate she spends even less: a total of 19.5 hours spent on fund activities in all of last year; 35 hours in 2016. .css-16c7pto-SnippetSignInLink{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;}Sign In, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [10] Some of her poetry is included in Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. In 1964, the family moved to Longmeadow, near Springfield. This naked abuse of his public trust puts the lie to all de Blasios endless moral sanctimony. Chirlane McCray is an American activist, writer and poet. Chirlane McCray can't explain where the $850m in funding has gone after it was given to the organization she runs, ThriveNYC. If theres a program thats been found to be effective, we should continue it.. Ms. Baierlein was hired last year as director of development. But this is 2019, and the general feeling at least in the deBlasio administration is that if theres not a lot of dough attached to the spousal sinecure, it doesnt really matter enough. As the City navigates unprecedented challenges triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, these public servants continue to show up everyday to deliver solutions that reach into every neighborhood and family, and we owe them a debt of gratitude, Caraway said. Laura Ingraham has even called it a "scheme". She defended her tenure and said that she frequently took part in activities outside the fund offices, like visiting programs that it had financed. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Office of Community Mental Health we are bringing mental health to the communities.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. U.S. Government Docket No. Her father, Robert Hooper McCray, a World War II veteran, was an inventory clerk at a military base while her mother, Katharine Clarissa Eileen ne Edwards, was an assembly worker at an electronics factory. This news comes as the mayor is consideringlaying off up to 22,000 municipal workers in the falldue to budget constraints related to COVID-19. 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. Then theres the $130,000 executive program specialist from the Dept. [6][32] Asked about her sexuality, McCray has stated that she hates "labels". Once a white construction worker spit on her while she was riding a bike. She says the Cities Thrive initiative was started in response to a lack of guidance coming from the Trump Administration, but she is hopeful there will soon be more mental health support for cities under the Biden Administration. . 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. 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. Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission. The First Lady manages a robust portfolio and her team works tirelessly to carry out goals and priorities on issues like mental health and domestic violence that will improve the lives of New Yorkers, she said. Yet many staffers plainly arent doing crisis work. Born into a middleclass African-American family and raised primarily in an all-white locality, she suffered racial abuse both in and outside school. Schedules and emails detail meetings in the years after he was a convicted sex offender. 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 other two are immigration and youth work force. This story has been shared 117,403 times. 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. McCrays office provided The CIty with names of eight full-time employees whose salaries added up to about $1.1 million. Eventually, she started an organization called Black Women in Publishing. Its an approach McCray says helped the city respond to the high demand for mental health services during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Mayoral Photography Office Nearly a third of New Yorkers may be out of work thanks to the. 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. Under Ms. McCrays leadership, the fund has made priorities of mental health, youth employment and immigration services. Other members of the shadow staff who participated in a Team Lunch in The Bronx in January 2019, according to McCrays public schedule, are a $143,000-a-year public relations director, also from the Department of Health, and a special assistant from the mayors office who makes $115,000. By 2017, the movement she started expanded to 200 cities. And we were fortunate to have an infrastructure of services that people could turn to, says McCray.
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