A Bright Spot for SYEP

Yesterday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, City Council Minority Leader James Oddo and others kicked off the 2011 season of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) at the Brownsville Recreation Center, bringing a little good news in the midst of some tough times for SYEP.

In our June 22 article, “,” we reported how citywide budget cuts has affected SYEP funding by more than 50 percent in the last two years, going from 52,000 available slots for youth in 2009, to only 24,000 available jobs this summer.

And local, Bedford-Stuyvesant teens were feeling the crunch. Some of them said that because they have had no success in securing employment through SYEP, they planned to just hang out around the neighborhood.

In response to these devastating cuts, the mayor’s office set up “Summer Youth Employment Partners” to push for private donations to the program through the Mayor’s Fund. Quietly, since May, more than 30 companies have made donations, and yesterday, the mayor’s office announced that the Walmart Foundation pledged an additional $5million.

The current total of private donations for summer jobs that has been raised now stands at more than $6 million. With Walmart’s pledge, the private-sector support for the City’s summer jobs program will hit its highest lever ever.

The $6 million pledge will expand the program by up to 3,400 jobs, increasing the number of summer youth jobs to more than 28,000 jobs. This number is fewer than last year, but still, much more than it would have been without the private-sector help.

”This timely investment in our city’s youth comes at a moment when many young people are struggling to find employment and will give thousands the opportunity to take that critical first step toward their career goals,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

“Young Brooklynites, particularly those in Central Brooklyn, are ready, willing and able to get the job done – all they need is the opportunity,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

According to the mayor’s office, approximately forty percent of SYEP participants work in summer camps and daycare centers, expanding the capacity of these programs to serve New York City’s working families.