Carroll Gardens Woman Will See Nanny Brought to JusticeA busybody mom seeks punishment for a nanny she thinks left a kid unattended in Carroll Gardens, New York ‘Press’ commenters lose their lunch over a Harlem-gentrification story, and a snarky Greenpoint blogger goes soft, all in today’s neighborhood news.
City Council: Beware of Nanny AgenciesIt’s nerve-racking enough to find a nanny in this city — well, at least so we’re told — and now it seems you can’t even trust the agencies that are supposed to help ease the process. The City Council released a study last week showing that about half the nanny agencies surveyed break the law: A four-month survey of 37 out of the city’s 52 nanny agencies (as well as interviews with a handful of nannies) turned up infractions running from the bureaucratic (leaving license numbers off public advertisements) to the dubious (overcharging both parents and nannies for services; operating without a license).
intel
How’s My Strolling?
Because it’s not enough for New York parents to obsess merely over the right preschool and the right language lessons and all the other right things to do to get little infant Susie into Harvard, now there’s one more way to indulge neurotic obsessions about your child’s well-being: stroller license plates. Slap one on, as demonstrated in this photo that appeared in our inbox, and now every other nosy New Yorker becomes your eyes and ears, able to report your nanny (or perhaps your spouse) for maternal malfeasance. Speaking of which, doesn’t it seem there are a whole bunch of cars ready to speed up the avenue, at that stroller? Bad parent! Bad photographer!
The Swarm of the Super-Applicants [NYM]
the morning line
Kids These Days
• New York parents keep their kids from starting kindergarten until they’re nearly 6, or even older, all in hopes of ensuring their kid isn’t the “runt of the class.” We suggested last November it might not be the worst idea. But remember: It also increases the chance your daughter is the one who’s first to bring tampons to school. [NYT]
• In other kid-related news, a New York City prosecutor wants parents to put “license plates” on their kids’ strollers so that bad nanny behavior can be reported. But what if you’re the one reported, on nanny’s day off? Awk-ward! [NYDN]
• The debate over nightlife security got even uglier yesterday, with, first, the Bloomberg administration backing away from the City Council proposal to install I.D. scanners and security cameras at nightclubs; second, the New York Nightlife Association raising a hue and cry over the entire thing; and, third, NYNA and NYPD fighting over whether off-duty cops should be allowed to do security. Sit back, get comfy, and watch the fight. [NYS]
• Moynihan Station is officially dead for now, thanks to Shelly Silver. He thinks the current plan to turn the main post office into a new train station isn’t comprehensive enough. He added that he’ll never let Bloomberg build a plan he wants on the West Side, ever. Then he said nanny-nanny-poo-poo. [amNY]
• Rangers lost; Devils won; nobody cared. Those Mets, on the other hand… boo-yah! [NYP]
