By Akosua K. Albritton
In the wake of the NYC Comptroller’s Office’s June 24, 2016 audit that uncovered the Health Department’s Bureau of Child Care (BCC) flouted the permit application requirement to submit water lead testing results, the Health Department assured the public in the same week of the audit’s release that all 2,279 center-based group day care (GDC) programs operating throughout the five boroughs would have true information about their water lead testing in the CCATS system for July 2016. The Our Time Press article, NYC Dept. of Health Flouting Its Own Lead Test Requirements, described the NYC Comptroller audit department’s procedure of selecting for review 119 permit applications from group day care centers in the five boroughs that were submitted between August 29, 2012 and August 29, 2014.
On July 20, 2016, the BCC’s Child Care Connect website was visited to review data for GDCs in “Bedford-Stuyvesant”. Without specifying zip codes, Child Care Connect provided 34 records located in the 11216 zip code which covers parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Northern Crown Heights. Data on 15 of 34 GDCs were studied.
Our Time Press readership can benefit from this data; therefore, the results are below:
Bambi Day Care Center, 138 Hancock Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-230-3487
Inspected 9/18/15, passed initial annual inspection. Water lead test completed; no elevated lead levels in water.
Bedford-Stuyvesant Early Childhood Development Center, 262 Lexington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-453-0760
Inspected 4/15/16, passed initial annual inspection. Water lead test completed; no elevated lead levels in water.
CAMBA Elite Summer Camp, 50 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 347-598-1448
Inspected 8/19/15, passed inspection with no violations. No statement about water lead test.
ConstructionKids, Inc. Summer Camp, 40 Brevoort Place, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-522-2902
No inspection date given, no statement about water lead test.
Dr. C.R. Johnson Christian Day Care, 600 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-732-1531
Inspected 7/6/16, passed initial annual inspection. Water lead test completed; no elevated lead levels in water.
Little Sun People, Inc., 1360 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-789-7330
Inspected 4/8/16, passed with no violations, monitoring inspection non-routine.
Water lead test completed; no elevated lead levels in water.
MOVE, Inc., 141 Macon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 917-600-9632
Inspected 7/31/15, monitoring nonroutine, re-inspection is required. The violations requiring immediate correction were corrected. No statement on water lead test.
Reach for the Stars Academy, Inc., 1200 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718 773-4600
Inspected 7/8/16, reinspection required, fines pending. Water lead test completed; no elevated lead levels in water.
The Salvation Army Bedford Day Care Center, 110 Kosciuszko Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-552-2690
Inspected 7/12/16, previously cited violations were corrected. Water lead test completed; no elevated lead levels in water.
Stuyvesant Heights Christian Church, 69 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-783-5383
Inspected 2/4/16, reinspection required, violations corrected. Water lead test completed; elevated levels of lead found in water.
St. George Day Camp, 800 Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-789-6036
Inspected 7/15/16, passed initial annual inspection. No statement on water lead testing.
Woodwind Your Family Camp, 344 Monroe Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-783-0842
Inspected 8/12/15, previously cited violations corrected. No statement on water lead testing.
Wynn Center Day Camp, 495 Gates Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 718-230-8477
Inspected 6/10/16, no comment on inspection results. No statement on water lead testing.
YMCA Bedford Academy, 1119 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; 212-912-2284
No inspection found. No statement on water lead testing.
This small sample of 15 GDCs reveals six have not tested the drinking water for lead. Two GDCs had not been inspected by BCC, two others require re-inspection and one GDC has no comment on the inspection results. In zip code 11207, which covers parts of East New York, for one GDC no inspection is noted and for another one, neither an inspection date or permit number is given. These findings support NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer’s statement: “It should not take an audit to ensure that a city agency is doing its job to protect our kids.”
Parents and guardians of preschool-age children are urged to visit the Child Care Connect web page within the NYC DOH website to know whether the GDCs their children attend have permits, the drinking water has been tested for lead and the other nine points required for permit issuance are in order.