The proposed state budget agreement announced yesterday is not sitting well with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
At an event at City Hall this morning to talk about taxi fuel efficiency, Bloomberg slammed the $132.5 billion spending plan, saying the city has been shortchanged.
“I think proportionally, the cuts that have been inflicted on New York City are an outrage,” said Bloomberg. “We got cut 100 percent everybody else got cut three percent. We have an education system that takes care of more special ed kids and English-language learners. We are the jewel of the financial crown, if you will, of New York State. We’re the one that’s generating the money and if we don’t keep making investments and improving the quality of this city: bringing down crime, improving our schools, investing in infrastructure; then we aren’t going to provide the monies that the rest of the state depends on.”
While city officials do not have many details about the deal, they believe New York may get about $200 million in restorations. That is far short of the $600 million the city had requested.
The mayor has said 6,100 teacher positions would have to be eliminated even if that money came through. Now even more positions could be at risk.
Bloomberg is also angered that the state did not act on pension reform or last in, first out – the policy whereby teachers are laid off based on seniority, not performance.
Lastly, the mayor is upset that the city did not receive any money through a state revenue sharing program.
(Source: NY1)
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2 Responses
Very simple reason: The Senate Republicans — for whom he campaigned — protected their suburban constituents, particularly in Long Island. Even ONE Senate race going the other way would have changed this. He is smart enough to know that this would happen and should not complain.
This guy has got some nerves, when he cut all the programs which he decided are not important for the NYC people, then of course you can’t survive if you don’t cut it back. But, if the same thing is done to him, by someone with way a bigger budget, then he becomes a cry baby. What goes around comes around. You keep on laughing at those dummies (the way he calls the albany guys) and they’ll give you some change.