Education advocates rally to save Bushwick early learning center
Elected officials and community leaders called on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration to thwart the eviction of a Bushwick early learning center Friday morning. The looming ouster of the center is the result of a number of procedural and paperwork errors by the city, and as a result, the space will likely be replaced by a luxury development, DNAInfo reported.
In a press conference convened in Williamsburg, Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, along with the staff and parents of Bushwick United Early Learn (BUEL), called on Commissioner Gladys Carrion of the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to allocate capital funds to purchase the property rented by the Early Learn/UPK Program so it can remain a community program in perpetuity.
“The closing of this Head Start [center] is a bigger issue involving the whole Williamsburg community,” Reynoso said. “These facilities are expensive because of gentrification. We should not have to lose services as well.”
The center, located at 152 Manhattan Ave., has an eviction set for Dec. 30, at which time services will cease.