Results tagged “births”

After looking across the pond for his congestion pricing scheme (London introduced congestion pricing in 2003 and extended it westward this February), Mayor Bloomberg is travelling south of the border to Mexico on a fact-finding trip to fight poverty. The subject of the mayor's journey is a program dubbed Conditional Cash in the U.S., but called Oportunidades in Mexico. Oportunidades pays poor Mexican women unrestricted cash bonuses for behaving in a manner that officials hope will break that country's persistent cycle of poverty. Goals that must be met include regular school attendance by a family's children, showing up for scheduled medical appointments, and following dietary guidelines that may include feeding children necessary dietary supplements. Compliant women must then travel once a month to a distribution center where they are paid an amount of money dependent on their circumstances, such as how many children they have. Oportunidades is not an employment program, but an effort to increase people's social capital by inculcating self-beneficial values and behavior.

For all you Census-population counting nerds, check out the NY Sun story about the city's challenge to the U.S. Census. Some new Census information says that the population of NYC "grew by a total of 587 people between 2005 and 2006," which the city thinks is a ridiculous understatement. What's the big deal? Well, money, of course, since funding comes on a per capita basis.

Babies who just can't wait to become born and bred New Yorkers are being delivered more and more frequently by cesarean section these days, reports the Daily News. C-sections are most common at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia, where almost 40% of all births are via the scalpel. Other hospitals with high rates include St. Vincent's in Staten Island, Cornell on the Upper East side, and Flushing Hospital in Queens.

Did you see the insane article about how NYC parents are going nuts over getting their kids into good nursery schools? Okay, parents who can afford $10,000 a year on nursery school, and this makes Gothamist realize we should have gotten a masters in early childhood education so we could start our own money-printing nursery school business, as we do enjoy graham cracker, apple juice, and fingerpaint. And the NY Times explains who's at fault with the epidemic of babies who need some learning:

Part of the problem is that the number of twins and triplets born to women in New York City has increased, according to city Health Department statistics.

Continue reading "Homeschooling is Looking Really Good"

On Sundays, Gothamist prints opinion pieces related to life in New York. If you want to submit one, email us! The opinions expressed below belong to the author, not to our site.

First, the boring forecast. A little sun, a little cloud, mostly pleasant, high in the mid to upper 70s today. Coolish tonight. Very pleasant tomorrow.

Sometimes we have to do a little research. Yesterday, we got this question:

Super fertile pandas are producing many baby pandas. The new world record is Qing Qing (pictured), who has given birth to 13 baby pandas in nine births. Damn!