By Amy Eley

Kyrie Vickers, 25, spends weekday afternoons playing with the 1-year-old boy she cares for in an Upper West Side apartment. Vickers and the boy play only blocks away from the apartment where a nanny allegedly killed two children last year.

“I think it’s affected me more than my employers, to be honest,” Vickers said. “To know that I’m in the same position that woman was in. I cannot imagine having that state of mind.”

Since nanny Yoselyn Ortega allegedly stabbed her two young charges to death on the Upper West Side last fall, parents throughout the city have been more anxious about childcare.

“The world is watching,” said Valerie Gerstein, a mother of two who runs a blog for families on the Upper West Side. “If something’s going to happen, it should be in this community.”

Ortega worked for Kevin and Marina Krim for two and a half years as a nanny, watching their three children, Lucia, Nessie and Leo. On Oct, 25, Marina came home to the family’s apartment at 57 W. 75th St. with Nessie to find her other two children dead and Ortega allegedly trying to commit suicide. Ortega survived and has since been charged with murdering the two children. She is awaiting her court hearing, scheduled for May 6.

The Jewish Community Center (JCC) is putting together a series of nanny support programs to help nannies with stresses related to the murders, their jobs and personal lives.

“As a community center, we realized we needed to create support programs for the caregivers,” Erica Werber said, the senior director of public relations at the JCC. “And make sure they know that they have access to resources if they ever needed help.”
The first class is a “Caregiver Chat” with Jean Schreiber, an early childhood educational consultant. The class is open for any nanny and is meant to serve as a support group where caregivers can discuss various aspects of the job, including ways to communicate with employers, positive discipline for children and more.

Schreiber oversees several programs at the JCC for parents, but after the Krim murders she recognized the need for nanny support.

“Caregivers are a huge part of the community here,” she said. “We are focused on them as people.”
For nannies like Kyrie Vickers, these programs come as a welcome relief. In the months since the murders, Vickers feels like parents have been scrutinizing nannies.

Jenna Crandall, a mother of three, agrees that nannies have been watched more closely. Crandall encourages other mothers to use hidden nanny cameras in the home and has asked friends to watch how her nanny interacts with Crandall’s kids at the park.

“She didn’t know they were my friends but they would look out and watch,” Crandall said. “It makes you second guess your own nanny and what could happen.”

One Upper East Side mother, who asked her name be withheld, decided to put her child in daycare rather and leave her alone at home with a nanny. “I interviewed nannies but never felt comfortable,” she said.
Nanny agencies throughout the city have been helping soothe parents’ anxieties since the Krim murders. Joan Friedman, co-owner of A Choice Nanny, remembers one mother in particular who expressed nervousness over the decision to hire a nanny.

“She said, “I know this is a silly question, but in light of the tragedy, I just want to hear again what you do,”” said Friedman.

Vanessa Wauchope, founder and president of nanny agency Sensible Sitters, oversees one family that makes home visits to their nanny routinely to maintain a pulse on her personal life.

“They really want to know what’s going on,” said Wauchope. “In a situation where someone is being brought into your home, parents want to go that extra mile.”

For Blake Levine, this meant running her own background checks on nanny applicants for her two-year-old daughter.

“Some people do hire background investigators,” she said. “There’s no way to prevent what happened to the Krim family other than trying to find the best people. You hope that will suffice.”

“Yoselyn Ortega is charged with taking the lives of two innocent children who were incapable of defending themselves,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. “This crime shocked and horrified parents around the city, many of whom entrust their children to the care of others both by necessity and by choice. My heart goes out to the family of those beautiful young children, and I hope that, with time, this family will heal.”

Ortega pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree. Her exact motive for the stabbing has yet to be determined. She is currently undergoing psychiatric examinations and will return to court on Jan. 16.

BRAZILIAN SCULPTURES ON BROADWAY
Sculptures by Brazilian artist Saint Clair Cemin are now on display on Broadway between West 57th and 157th Streets. The public art exhibit, organized by the Broadway Mall Association, features seven surreal pieces at various intersections along the avenue, such as “Portrait of the Word ‘Why’ ” on West 73rd Street and “Aphrodite” on West 117th Street. The exhibit continues through January and includes a dial-in audio tour in English (212.901.3310) and Spanish (212.901.3311).

FIRE DAMAGES APTS. IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS
An early-morning blaze in a Morningside Heights building displaced tenants of five apartments on Thursday, Nov. 29. The fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. on the fifth floor of 200 W. 109th St., a 40-unit apartment building, when a machine that pushes steam out windows ignited in a young tenant’s bathroom. The flames spread and severely damaged five apartments, as well as caused water damage to more apartments below. No tenants were injured.

CASTING CALL FOR BAKERS; SOUTINE BAKERY CLOSES
An upcoming competitive baking show on CBS is seeking skilled amateur bakers, and its casting producers are holding an “open call” audition on Saturday, Dec. 15, on the Upper West Side. All non-professional bakers are welcome, so aspiring television stars should bring their best baked good to Flatotel at 135 W. 52nd St. between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. “Whether you’re an athlete, teacher, truck driver or retiree,” the casting call’s promotional flyer says, “as long as you have a zest for baking, we want to hear from you!” More details can be found at cbsbakingshow.com.

In other UWS baking news, Soutine Bakery, the tiny shop at 104 W. 70th St., just closed on Friday after 30 years of business. The shop faced a rent increase, so it sold its lease to Muffins Cafe, according to the West Side Rag. Perhaps local amateur bakers can look here for work if they don’t make the cut for CBS?

Local residents pass by the memorial set up outside the Krim's apartment building

As police continue to try and discover the motive behind nanny Yoselyn Ortega’s recent stabbing of two Upper West Side children, the victimized family’s neighborhood faces the challenge of coming to terms with a tragedy that is the realization of every parent’s nightmare.

Marina Krim found Leo, her 2-year-old son, and Lucia, her 6-year-old daughter, bleeding in their bathroom’s tub on Thursday, Oct. 25. She came home with her third child after Ortega failed to meet her with Leo and Lucia at the dance studio where Lucia had a scheduled lesson. According to police, the family’s apartment at 57 W. 75th St. was dark when Marina arrived, so she asked the building’s doorman if Ortega and the kids had left, then returned to her home to check again. Ortega waited in the bathroom with the unconscious children, and plunged a kitchen knife into her own throat when Marina entered the room.

Multiple neighbors reported hearing Marina’s screams. The doorman dialed 911, and medics rushed Ortega and the stabbed children to the hospital, where Leo and Lucia were pronounced dead. Marina’s husband, CNBC executive Kevin Krim, was told of the events when he landed at John F. Kennedy Airport that evening.

Ortega fell into a coma over the weekend, but recovered shortly thereafter. Police finally were able to question her last Saturday, and a police official told the New York Times that she said she resented the family because they were always telling her what to do. She did not confess to the stabbing, but told detectives, “Marina knows what happened,” the Times reported. After the interview, police charged her with first-degree murder.

The question on the minds of most passersby in front of the Krims’ apartment on Friday, Oct. 26, was “why?”: How could a 50-year-old nanny caring for a family that was by neighbors’ accounts happy and healthy, that reportedly loved Ortega, and even spent time visiting her own family at her former home in the Dominican Republic—how could someone so immersed in their life commit such a violent act?

The question was far from disinterested speculation for many Upper West Side families. A large number of parents throughout the neighborhood employ nannies, who are sometimes hired through an agency and submitted to background checks, but just as often paid under the table and recommended by word of mouth alone. (Ortega was referred to the Krims a few years ago by her sister, Celia Ortega, 53, who told the Daily News on Friday that she would “like to die” if it would make the children come back.)

Locals were forced to look at their own beloved caretakers in a way most never had: How could they make certain that such a thing never happened to their own children?

“After this, parents should never leave their children with anybody—not alone,” said Juana Vasquez, an Upper West Side mother of four. “Take the children to a public place, like daycare. But don’t leave them in the house. Even after a background check, you can never totally trust anybody.”

A neighbor across the street from the Krims was more sympathetic to nannies’ importance in the community. “People need nannies,” she said, and contended that the murder would not significantly hurt the job prospects of local domestic workers. Still, she added, the incident would affect how they are hired: “I think people are going to open their eyes and say we’ve got to check them out. They are going to realize that if you don’t have a background check and you don’t ask questions, then you are risking your family and your life.”

A Midwesterner named Bill, whose daughter in the area employs a nanny, took a philosophical perspective on the issue. Any time you leave your kids in the care of someone else, “There’s a possibility of a tragedy like this,” he reflected. “Here in the city, the unknown is everywhere. You can’t be afraid of life because bad things can happen. I’m not sure if that’s a healthy way to live.”

Bill noted that while his daughter was shaken by the tragedy, she is very comfortable with her nanny and has no intention of letting her go.

Many locals stopped by 57 W. 75th St. with flowers or cards during the afternoon on the day after the murder, Oct. 26, to add to an already-abundant memorial of these items piled up against the building’s stone pillars. Some people came with friends, some stopped and stared at the memorial in silence. “We weep with you at your horrible loss,” said a note from Sharon and Rob Taylor, residents of a nearby building. “There are no words that can express our sadness. We pray for you and your beautiful children.”

With wiggling toddlers in strollers, nannies came to the memorial, too. They shared condolences for the family, and attempted to make sense out of the tragedy along with the rest of the community.

“I can feel the difference when I’m walking,” said one of a group of four local nannies, all of whom agreed that the Upper West Side’s domestic workers maintain a strong social network, though none knew Ortega personally (or wanted to give their names to the press). “Normally no one acknowledges you. Now everybody’s looking in your eye.”

“Now it’s like they look really hard to see if they could remember a face when something happens,” agreed a second woman.

The four said they felt secure in their jobs and would not act differently around their employers, but they thought that many nannies in the area will now have a difficult time finding jobs.

“Families are going to be scared of hiring new nannies,” said the second woman.

“They’re going to be put through a fine-toothed comb,” said the first.

“And I don’t blame them,” added the third. “This is your most precious thing,” she said, pointing to the sleeping child in the stroller in front of her. “This is what you live for.”

But when is surveillance too much? The women weighed the importance of security against Ortega’s still-largely-inexplicable attack, which even an intimate relationship with the Krim children failed to stop.

“I don’t feel comfortable with cameras,” said the first woman. “That’s too much. I did not come to do this job because I want to pay my rent. If a person doesn’t love kids, go and clean the park.”

“Are parents going to put cameras in their children’s school?” agreed the second. “They have to let go of the child at some point.”

She added that she suspected Ortega had some sort of mental disorder. “Ninety-nine point nine percent of nannies don’t have health insurance, so if there’s something wrong with them, they’re not going to go to a doctor to get it treated.”

“Well, something snapped,” the fourth woman said. “No one who is healthy in her mind does that. If somebody [else] did not walk in there and do this, then something snapped in her.”

“Snapped,” in fact, is the same word Celia Ortega used to rationalize her sister’s behavior to the New York Post. “We don’t understand what happened to her mind,” she said.

What drove an unhappy person to commit a crime that very few unhappy people do, however, remains a question that Upper West Side families, nannies included, still want more-fully answered. A clear motive, no matter how twisted, at least provides an explanation. Without one, locals are left with only Juana Vasquez’s uncomfortable maxim: “You can never totally trust anybody.”