48.0°,
Light Rain A haven for 'backstretch babies'
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Fulltime backstretch workers typically earn $16,500 to $20,000 a year. Some make more, some less if they’re part-time. Anna House, which is supported by private donations and Nassau County Department of Social Services funds, gives backstretch employees a safe place to leave their kids, ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, while they’re on the job. Meanwhile, the children, affectionately called “backstretch babies,” receive a proper preschool education, with two certified teachers in each classroom and regular field trips.
Working the backstretch
The majority of the backstretch’s 2,000 workers come from Latin America. They receive 10-month work visas, at the invitation of Belmont trainers, who are independent contractors and report to the horse owners. Visas must be renewed annually.
“Almost all of the workers come from other countries –– usually the poorest of the poor countries. Many have never seen a dentist,” said Paul Ruchames, a licensed clinical social worker and the executive director of the nonprofit Backstretch Employee Service Team, which runs a medical clinic for employees amid the maze of stables that forms the backstretch.
To keep their jobs –– and their visas –– backstretch workers pull long hours, reporting to their jobs before dawn and remaining with the horses into the afternoon, with few complaints. “They work hard to keep their jobs because there’s a line of people behind them,” said Jenna Samuelson, Anna House’s education coordinator.
Some 1,500 backstretch employees live for free at Belmont Park, in small dorms attached to the stables. Outside, laundry is hung on stairwells, and bicycles rest against cement-block walls. The smell of manure lingers in the air.
Workers with children are not permitted by New York Racing Association rules to live at Belmont Park, so they have a harder time than their counterparts without kids reporting to work by 5 a.m., as nearly all trainers require.
Enter Anna House. At the preschool, which operates on a $1 million annual budget, tuition is based on a sliding scale, depending on what parents can afford. Three families pay as little as $4 a month.
Working the backstretch
The majority of the backstretch’s 2,000 workers come from Latin America. They receive 10-month work visas, at the invitation of Belmont trainers, who are independent contractors and report to the horse owners. Visas must be renewed annually.
“Almost all of the workers come from other countries –– usually the poorest of the poor countries. Many have never seen a dentist,” said Paul Ruchames, a licensed clinical social worker and the executive director of the nonprofit Backstretch Employee Service Team, which runs a medical clinic for employees amid the maze of stables that forms the backstretch.
To keep their jobs –– and their visas –– backstretch workers pull long hours, reporting to their jobs before dawn and remaining with the horses into the afternoon, with few complaints. “They work hard to keep their jobs because there’s a line of people behind them,” said Jenna Samuelson, Anna House’s education coordinator.
Some 1,500 backstretch employees live for free at Belmont Park, in small dorms attached to the stables. Outside, laundry is hung on stairwells, and bicycles rest against cement-block walls. The smell of manure lingers in the air.
Workers with children are not permitted by New York Racing Association rules to live at Belmont Park, so they have a harder time than their counterparts without kids reporting to work by 5 a.m., as nearly all trainers require.
Enter Anna House. At the preschool, which operates on a $1 million annual budget, tuition is based on a sliding scale, depending on what parents can afford. Three families pay as little as $4 a month.
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