The city puts young children living in homeless shelters in danger by failing to properly screen child care workers, an audit by the City Controller found. Scott Stringer’s inspectors checked out 43 on-site child care centers in city shelters and found 82% of the staffers had not undergone a criminal background check.

By contrast, all public child care centers funded by the city must have their workers fingerprinted and screened through the Statewide Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. “This investigation reveals that New York City has created two standards of care — an inferior system for homeless children and one for everyone else,” Controller Scott Stringer said. “We found a lack of oversight in shelters that we inspected, as well as conditions that would give any parent nightmares — and that is not acceptable.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

Listen, if you are hating on a bodega cat, you are not a real New Yorker.

Don’t just take that from me, but from Gary Mann, who flew in from Miami just this morning and headed straight for the SK Deli on Second Avenue for two New York staples: a bacon, egg and cheese, and a deli cat named Star. “I see this, and I know I’m home,” said Mann, quickly clarifying that he was talking as much about the white-pawed puss as the breakfast sandwich. “A deli cat is a great New York thing,” he said.

Mann didn’t know it when he got off the plane, but he was heading straight into the epicenter of today’s Gotham controversy, just hours after the news broke that an SK Deli customer had complained bitterly in a Yelp post. “To my dismay,” posted Diane D. and first reported by Patch.com, “there was a cat, perched upon some cases of Budweiser in the middle of the store!!”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

HAVANA- United Nations agencies submitted a report to the Gener al Assembly on the damage inflicted by the US economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba as the international community readies to vote the island´s resolution today demanding the lifting of the unilateral and extraterritorial US policy.

According to PL news agency, more than 30 UN entities submitted their views in the report they addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon particularly in their fields of interest.

The World Health Organization, after praising the high health indicators reached by Cuba, alerted on the hurdles posed by the blockade on the island´s efforts to access medical products, equipment and technologies. The World Trade Organization on its part questioned the US policy aimed at promoting brain drain by inciting Cuban doctors to abandon their international missions in other nations.  The UN Children Fund, UNICEF, regretted the difficulties posed by the blockade on Cuban kids, particularly in the health and education services. This agency explained about the problems faced by a Havana children hospital specialized in heart diseases which cannot access biological materials for implants of high quality.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization described the impact of the blockade on its field by saying that Cuba cannot export to the United States, which increases   costs to reach far-away markets. The agency also explained about the hurdles faced by the island to purchase machinery, fertilizers and other resources necessary for agriculture. Cuba cannot yet use the US dollars in its transactions, despite a recent announcement on that issue by the White House, said the Economic Commission for Latin America, ECLAC.

Other agencies that joined the report to the UN secretary general included UNESCO and UNDP. The agencies welcomed the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington and the packages of initiatives adopted by US president Barack Obama to modify the US blockade. For the 25 year in a row, the UN General Assembly will vote today the Cuban resolution demanding the end of the US blockade of the island. Last year 191 out of all 193 UN member states backed the Cuban resolution, only the United States and Israel voted against. ( ACN)…[+]