Press

By Dale W. Eisinger and Erin Durkin

Locked up at Rikers Island, Estefania Solano said the hardest part is being separated from her three young daughters.

“Every day in jail is like a year when you’re away from your kids,” said Solano, 28.

Solano was one of three mothers incarcerated at Rikers who got a chance to leave the jail Monday and reunite with their children at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — part of a new visit program being tested by the city.

Solano has been in jail since March, serving a three-month sentence for a grand larceny charge dating back five years. After she gets out in June, she hopes to become a substance abuse counselor.

Her partner Eduardo has visited religiously twice a week — but typically does not bring the three little girls for a day-long schlep with multiple levels of security. But on Monday, daughters Adele, 1, Erin, 2, and Ederlyn, 3, were there to meet their mom at the museum in matching red plaid outfits and buns in their hair.

“Jail makes you appreciate the outside world that much more. And I try to take all the opportunities I can for a learning experience,” Solano said. “I’m really excited to see them in this museum, where we get to play together.”

The pilot program will let incarcerated women with good behavioral records spend a few hours at the upper West Side museum with their kids while it is closed to the public. The kids’ guardians will get free memberships to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, which the mothers will be able to renew when they get out of jail.

With correction officers standing watch, the children ran into their mothers’ arms Monday. “Mommy, mommy, I love you so much!” one little boy shouted.

Free Rikers bus line starts up with service from Harlem, Brooklyn

Eduardo, who asked that his last name be withheld, said he was happy to use his day off from work to bring his daughters to see their mom at the museum.

“Nothing brings me greater joy than seeing my children with their mother,” he said. “It’s hard to get them to the island, and this is a really important time, especially the little ones. For them to see their mother in that inmate uniform and all these police officers around — that’s just not what I want for my daughters.”

First Lady Chirlane McCray read to the tots from the classic children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

“You can see that these kids miss their moms,” she said. “And it’s so important for their development to be with their mothers. To have a place like this that is fun and safe and with all these activities is making memories for them so they’ll have an association with their mothers that is positive, and not scary and unpleasant.”

http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/rikers-moms-reunited-kids-museum-test-program-article-1.3964679