Friday, February 21, 2014

Anna Wintour latest tony New Yorker to OK pre-K taxes

Anna Wintour outside the Boss Fall 2014 fashion show in New York.

Timur Emek/Getty Images



Anna Wintour, shown Feb. 12 outside Boss’ Fall 2014 fashion show in New York, has become the latest local celebrity to support raising taxes on those earning more than $ 500,000 to fund universal prekindergarten programs in the city.




Vogue editor Anna Wintour is putting her manicured stamp of approval on Mayor de Blasio’s ambitious plan to tax the rich to fund universal prekindergarten across New York City.


The impeccably dressed Brit is joining a growing roster of stars — including Sarah Jessica Parker, Julianne Moore and Alicia Keyes — who announced their support for the UPKNYC campaign lobbying Albany to hike taxes on Big Apple residents earning more than $ 500,000 to pay for preschool.


Also joining the cause are actresses Rosie O’Donnell and Kathy Najimy, feminist activist Gloria Steinham and Children’s Defense Fund president Marian Wright Edelman.


RELATED: SARAH JESSICA PARKER BACKS DE BLASIO FOR MAYOR


Wintour, an ardent Democrat who was close to Mayor Bloomberg, seems to have warmed to de Blasio after the two met for the first time earlier this month, days before Fashion Week began.


The next day, in in a noticeably sharper suit, the mayor announced $ 3 million in grants for city-based fashion manufacturers and praised the “iconic” industry.


It wasn’t de Blasio’s newly discovered sense of fashion that persuaded the bevy of big Hollywood names to join his cause, which faces steep opposition in Albany.


RELATED: WINTOUR’S KID: MOM THREW OUT XMAS TREE!


Parker, whose “Sex and the City” co-star Cynthia Nixon has already pledged her support, said she joined the boldfaced bandwagon because it was a “a real investment in New York City’s children and families.”


“We need universal prekindergarten and expanded afterschool programs, and we can’t afford to wait,” she said in a statement.


Keys, a New York native whose Big Apple anthem “Empire State of Mind” was played at de Blasio’s inauguration, said the tax would support programs that help put kids on the right path to the future.


RELATED: DE BLASIO COMPLIMENTS, THEN CRITICIZES CUOMO ON PRE-K


“Our children are everything,” the songbird said.


New York First Lady Chirlane McCray, who has been making an active push for her husband’s plan, said she was proud that such an “incredible group of women” had joined the fight.


“All mothers know that raising kids is hard enough without having to worry about whether you can afford to provide them with the educational opportunities they need to succeed in school, work and life,” she said.





Yahoo Local News – New York Daily News




http://ift.tt/MHut3E

via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1

No comments:

Post a Comment