ALBANY — The state Assembly has transformed an Albany conference room into a free daycare center for legislators — without bothering to get approval from the state agency tasked with ensuring child safety regulations.
Democratic legislators have used the makeshift facility, which is inside the Legislative Office Building near the Capitol, for months with the support of Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), the Albany Times Union revealed Thursday.
But the state Office of General Services, which oversees state buildings, and the Office of Children and Family Services, which regulates daycares, have not authorized the operation..
“I only found out about it after I overheard a few Democratic members talking about it,” Assemblyman Jarrett Gandolfo (R-Bayport), who has a 1-year-old son, told The Post on Friday.
“We’re talking about an unregistered daycare being run by untrained legislative staffers. A few Democrats even carry bills to crack down on unregistered child care facilities. It’s hypocritical.”
Unlicensed child care facilities have been the subject of scrutiny in recent years following multiple tragedies, including the 2015 death of a baby at what appeared to be a safe daycare in Soho.
The Office of Children and Families has a long list of rules that facilities must follow in order to legally provide child care services, and the extent to which the Assembly operation meets them remains unknown.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie reportedly signed off on the idea of opening an unlicensed child care facility in the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Hans Pennink“This is a trial program. We continue to assess the needs of our members,” Heastie spokeswoman Kerri Biche told The Post on Friday.
At least two legislative employees reportedly watch the children, one as a full-time job, the Times Union reported.
Biche said Friday that both employees are “experienced childcare providers” who were “recertified in January” with regular administrative duties as well in the chamber, assertions at odds with what Heastie rep told the upstate newspaper.
“Earlier this year we were made aware that drop-off services would be offered to Assembly members,” Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R-Fulton) said. “We only have a few members with young children. To my knowledge, no Republican members have brought their children there.”
Representatives of Heastie told the Times Union that the speaker can evade the typical red tape because his position gives him the authority to provide benefits to legislators like the so-called “drop-in center.”
A security camera mounted on the door of the child care center is the most obvious sign that this is no ordinary room in the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Zach Williams
The makeshift daycare is located on the same floor as Heastie’s suite in the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Zach WilliamsSome state lawmakers expressed support for the facility considering the convenience of having daycare so near the Capitol.
“Nobody ask how Mama Legislators do it and simply accept that we just do. We can’t do it alone. Thank you for the supportive community David and I have found in and out of the halls of Albany!” Assemblywoman Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-Brooklyn) tweeted after ignoring a question from The Post about whether she had used the unlicensed day care for her own young son.
But Gandolfo said cutting corners with state rules hardly makes sense, especially considering how New York legislators made themselves the highest-paid in the nation just months ago.
“It’s a complete slap in the face to everyday families who struggle to pay for their own child care,” he said.
“The average middle-class family doesn’t have access to a free, taxpayer-funded daycare option, so why should we?”
