Stevens questions DYCD on last-minute NBA Finals watch party requests to providers

Providers reported that they received a last-minute request to host watch parties for Game 3, which I'm sure Dave is excited about, for the NBA Final Series.

Again,

And this becomes an issue.

Does the DYCD have a formal protocol or best practices around how much prior notice they give providers before making requests for these special events?

And are there additional compensation for these groups and things like that to have to get staffed?

Because this goes back to my staffing pattern.

When you only have one full-time person, then that person typically is the only one opening up these places.

So just trying to get a better understanding of those type of things.

So, you know, the Knicks, they won, and we worked really closely with our partners at the New York City Public Schools,

you know, to kind of collaborate on leveraging the fact that our corners, our beacons are already open extended hours during the school year.

And so we kind of, they were already in the building, they were already providing services.

And so we kind of leaned in on that ability to do that.

So they already had their staff.

And the thing that was unique and beneficial for us was that it was just one location.

And so the DOE helped us with security, making sure security was there.

They helped us secure custodial staff to make sure that the space and the school building was readily available for instruction the next day.

And so it was a collaborative approach to make sure that our communities.

had access as a community, like true beacons and cornerstones do, they created that space.

And so the win for me is that the school administration and New York City Public Schools saw this as like, oh, wow, look at our beacons.

They're core.

Part of our community and here's what they did for our community.

So that was, I think the timeline, we worked aggressively in identifying schools and we gave the providers a choice.

We basically said, hey, this is an opportunity, are you interested?

And so the ones that- I hate when we say that when a funder comes and asks a provider to do something.

And some do say no, but that's not often because, and the person saying no typically isn't, the person saying yes typically isn't the person opening the program either.

So, you know, I think it's kind of hard.

I just, because I remember those situations.

The ED is going to say, yeah.

The ED ain't opening the building.

So it just becomes hard.

And again, this goes back to my issue around the staffing, right?