WestView News
The Voice of the West Village
VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4
APRIL 2015
Nursery School Parents Sue Church Over School Closure
CHARITY SUCCUMBS TO CASH: Catholic church school moves to close West Village nurs-
ery for 55 as it considers $20 to $30 million real estate offers. Photo by Maggie Berkvist.
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Forty families, most based in the Village and Chelsea, have done the unthinkable— sued the nuns who run the Montessori nursery school their kids attend. If the nuns get their way, 55 kids will be without a school, all from families with working moms who can’t afford the cost of today’s private nursery schools. And the Sisters of Saint Francis, based in Syracuse, will be able to sell the two buildings that house the school for $20 to $30 million dollars. Nazareth Day Nursery was founded by Sisters of Charity, a Catholic Church entity, in 1901. Using a $5,000 donation, the Sisters purchased two townhouses on West 15th Street. On December 1, 1901, Nazareth Nursing was incorporated and the Nursery School opened in February 1902. (See sidebar on page 22 for more info on the original charter.) In 1914 a full daycare was added and “offered to selfsupporting mothers in need.” At present, Nazareth has 55 students serviced by 14 lay teachers. It is supervised and controlled by the Sisters of St. Francis, which took over responsibility in 1913. But in early December 2014, parents were
told that the school would close in June 2015. No reason was given. One key feature of the school is its low tuition. It runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.—a longer period than most schools— and the 2014-2015 school year tuition is $9,850, which is one-third to one-half of what most private and parochial nursery schools charge for a shorter day. To understand how seriously this closure would affect the parents and children involved, it is important to understand the nature of the nursery school application process. This process usually begins in the fall of the year a child turns one-year-old. Most schools, even ones charging $20,000 per year or more, have limited openings and close their applications out by the end of October, nearly eleven months before the school year starts. Parents generally choose a school with the intention of keeping their child in the same setting until they are ready to move into elementary school. Nazareth actually provides kindergarten classes and had been telling parents that they were considering expanding to offer first grade. Parents in every grade chose Nazareth because of its reasonable cost and because continued on page 22
$1.00
Legislating the Marketplace
By George Capsis “What am I going to write about?” I asked myself as I awoke still feeling the pain from the removal of a “calcified nut shell” from my lower intestines that had kept me in writhing, sleepless discomfiture on a too-small hospital bed at Lenox Hill Hospital for a week. And we were late, late, oh god, were we late, and then WNYC offered Leonard Lopate interviewing Manhattan Boro President, Gail Brewer, offering legislation that would stay the landlord’s hand from the new lease guillotine. I called her young press officer, who cheered me by expressing delight at knowing my name or at least that of WestView News . Yes, he said, he would e-mail the press release (although it still has not come) and, yes, he would call Gail to see if she wanted to make a news-worthy statement for the front page (for days no call—as I write this I finally get a call, but, alas, it
ONLY PUSH CARTS ARE FREE OF RENT INCREASES: WestView publisher George
Capsis comments on proposed law. Photo by Rinje van Brug.
is only “she is too busy today.”) Back in the hospital, Leonard opened asking Gail if she agreed “it is more than tax revenue and jobs that should make continued on page 13
Return of the Whitney
A NEW PRIME DESTINATION: Carrying out Gertrude Whitney’s original intention of
doing justice to American artists, the spectacular new Whitney Museum opens on May 1. Visitors are encouraged to purchase advance tickets at whitney.org. See page 12. Photo by Maggie Berkvist.
Exploding Rents Oust Aged Seniors —See Page 4