Nanny case prods pols
THE UPPER WEST Side couple who hired the nanny charged with murdering their two children were misled by a ginned-up reference letter written by the baby-sitter’s niece.
Now Albany lawmakers, with a big push from the slain kids’ father, Kevin Krim, hope to make providing fake references and lying on applications for child care gigs a felony.
Under “Lulu and Leo’s Law,” named for the children allegedly stabbed to death by 55-year-old Yoselyn Ortega (photo) in October 2012, nannies and baby-sitters could see prison time for pumping-up their résumés.
“People lied to these parents about who Ortega was, lied to these parents about Ortega’s experience and as a result they relied upon those references and that information and that factored into that decision to hire her,” said Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), who will sponsor the Senate bill to make it a felony to lie on child care applications. Lanza said that minus “those references, it seems clear they would not have hired her and as a result this would not have happened.”
Steven Otis (DWestchester) expects to be introducing a version of the bill to the Assembly this week.
“We cannot allow people to misrepresent themselves with the vulnerable treasures that children are, and we have to do something in New York law to provide protection,” Otis said.
Ortega is on trial in Manhattan for first-degree murder of the Krim children. She faces life in prison if convicted.
Summations in the case are scheduled on Monday. SCAFFOLDING encircling a Brooklyn Heights building came crashing down Saturday, injuring three people walking by, officials said.
Pieces of the scaffolding, which was in the process of being taken down, fell outside a Starbucks coffee shop and an entrance to the Borough Hall train station at the corner of Court and Joralemon Sts. at about 11 a.m.
The falling beams took out a corner traffic signal and struck three people, FDNY officials said.
All the injuries were considered minor, the department said.
Two of the three victims were taken to New York Methodist Hospital for treatment
A third refused medical attention at the scene.