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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 343-12
October 1, 2012

MAYOR BLOOMBERG DISCUSSES INNOVATIVE NEW CITY EFFORTS TO HELP STUDENTS RECEIVE A FIRST-RATE EDUCATION AND CREATE JOBS IN EVERY BOROUGH IN WEEKLY RADIO ADDRESS

The following is the text of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, September 30, 2012.

“Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

“Giving every child a first-rate education – and creating more jobs in every borough – are two of our Administration’s top priorities. And last week, we made important progress in each area. Let me take a moment to tell you how.

“First, in education – we’re working to make sure every child entering kindergarten starts off on the right foot. More and more research points to how important the first five years of life are in building a foundation for academic success – and high-quality prekindergarten has proven to help kids of all backgrounds excel in school.

“That’s why our Administration has increased pre-k enrollment by nearly 50 percent since 2002. And this week, we announced that we’ll add another 4,000 seats of full-day pre-k around the city next year. We’ll focus on areas of highest need, where rates of poverty are high and academic achievement low.

“We’re also going to build an innovative new pre-school to serve academically at-risk kids from six months to five years old. The school is based on a proven model of early childhood education services called Educare.

“There are already Educare schools in a dozen U.S. cities, and they’ve been very effective at reducing the academic achievement gap. And we’re taking it a step further: we’re going to build the first-ever Educare Leadership Institute to develop early childhood school directors and spread best practices in early education to schools around the city.

“Now, on the economic front – we made big news on Staten Island, where we announced our plans to build an outlet shopping center and a Ferris wheel next to the St. George Ferry Terminal. And it won’t just be any Ferris wheel – this is New York City, so we’re building the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. When it opens in the beginning of 2015, it’ll be more than 600 feet tall, offering more than 1,000 passengers at a time unbeatable views of the city. It’ll be one of the city’s premier attractions and most recognizable sights.

“These two great Staten Island projects will create lots of local jobs: around 1,200 construction jobs and 1,100 permanent jobs. On top of that, they’ll bring new customers to local businesses and spur additional economic growth by encouraging the 2 million tourists who take the Staten Island ferry every year to spend more time exploring the borough. And they’ll give New Yorkers great new shopping options, incredible views of our hometown, and two exciting additions to our newly revitalized waterfront.

“This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening.”







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