Deal Reached to Avert New York Teacher Layoffs by Fernanda Santos - NYTimes.com

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The threatened layoffs of 4,100 teachers in New York’s public schools were averted under a deal that the Bloomberg administration, the City Council and the teachers’ union reached on Friday night.

Details were still being worked out, but the agreement calls for concessions from the United Federation of Teachers and money from the Council.

Under the deal, the union would agree to suspend teacher sabbaticals for a year and permit teachers without a permanent assignment to be used more regularly as classroom substitutes. In addition, the Bloomberg administration would concede that 2,600 teachers would be lost to attrition, 600 more than estimated, saving additional jobs. On one hand, the resolution spares Mr. Bloomberg from becoming the first mayor in nearly 40 years to impose mass teacher layoffs. On the other hand, though, it threatens to undermine his credibility, given that he has declared for two consecutive years that layoffs were inevitable, only to see them averted in a budget deal.

The budget plan also allows the Council to keep open 20 fire companies that the mayor had ordered closed, and it may be able to restore at least some of the cuts he planned for day care services and librarians.

Still, it appeared that up to 1,000 city workers — many of them in health care jobs — would be laid off.

In a news conference at the Education Department headquarters in Lower Manhattan on Friday night, Mr. Bloomberg said he was disappointed he could not avoid all layoffs. Still, he said, “this is a budget that will keep our city strong, but it is also a budget that faces fiscal reality.”

Asked whether he thought his credibility had been hurt, the mayor defended his approach, saying the city faced extremely bleak and unpredictable economic circumstances.

The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, standing by the mayor’s side, praised the deal. “New Yorkers can rest easy tonight knowing that our children will still have great teachers,” she said.

Mr. Bloomberg had taken an aggressive posture during the negotiations, emboldened over the past days by the victories scored in Albany and Trenton against public-sector unions and becoming more emphatic about his demands. But in the end, he and the teachers’ union, one of his most vociferous opponents, had to reach an agreement, helping to balance a $66 billion budget that had a $4.6 billion gap.

A different rescue proposal fell apart on Thursday, after the city rejected an offer from the Municipal Labor Committee, a group representing roughly 100 municipal unions, for $262 million to be taken from a health care reserve fund they jointly manage. By then, Ms. Quinn and the teachers’ union president, Michael Mulgrew, had been secretly meeting for days.

Once the other deal collapsed, talks between Ms. Quinn and Mr. Mulgrew moved into overdrive.

On Friday morning, officials of the city’s Education Department made their way to the union’s headquarters to determine what would and would not be on the table. By late afternoon, the two sides had come to an agreement.

Ms. Quinn, meanwhile, worked to sell the plan to Mr. Bloomberg, emerging as the crucial figure in the process.

The budget must be approved by the full Council by Thursday.

Javier C. Hernandez contributed reporting

Bloomzilla Shows No Remorse! - nycisnot4sale.com

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NYC Comptroller John C. Liu on the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2012 Executive Budget

New York City Comptroller John C. Liu today presented testimony before the New York City Council Finance Committee regarding Mayor Bloomberg’s Fiscal Year 2012 Executive Budget.

Comptroller Liu’s testimony as prepared for delivery is below:

Good afternoon Chairman Recchia and members of the Finance Committee, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to present testimony on the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2012 Executive Budget.

The Mayor’s FY 2012 Executive Budget totals $65.7 billion after various prepayments. The FY 2012 budget is the product of a series of actions which closed a $3.26 billion gap in the July 2010 Financial Plan stemming from a structural imbalance where expenditures exceeded revenues. The gap was further exacerbated by State actions that took place during the year.

While it is estimated that FY 2011 will end with a $3.217 billion surplus, when compared with the $3.646 billion surplus similarly transferred from FY 2010 to FY 2011, it becomes clear that in the current year, the City is drawing on more resources than it is generating. However, if past history is any indication we can anticipate that the year may end with a budgetary surplus.

Overall spending in the FY 2012 budget has decreased by 0.4 percent when compared to the FY 2011 budget. But these numbers mask the fact that while overall expenditures have been held flat, the City-funded portion of the budget has increased from 67.1 percent of the FY 2011 budget to 70.7 percent of the FY 2012 budget. The City-funded portion of the budget is $2.2 billion greater than the FY 2011 budget and $2.1 billion more than was planned a year ago. The Financial Plan assumes that by FY 2015 the City-funded portion of the budget will exceed 74.5 percent. This trend is a direct result of a reduction in State and Federal aid to New York City.

As we hear talk of layoffs and cutbacks it is critically important for the City to identify as many areas of savings as possible.

You are well aware of the outcome of my office’s work on the CityTime issue. As a result of our steadfast oversight, the project is now nearing completion without any additional cost to the taxpayers. While that may be good news, it does not make up for the fact that the costs ballooned from $68 million to more than $700 million. My office will continue to work closely with the investigative authorities on this issue in hopes of possibly recouping some of the money that has been allegedly funneled to subcontractors on the project.

In addition, it was a welcome sign that the Department of Education has decided to cancel a $43 million contract with another high priced consultant, Future Technology Associates, who have been suspected of utilizing subcontractors to overbill the City. My office has been conducting an audit into the vendor for quite some time and will continue to do so in order fully disclose what really went on.

While we are discussing the DOE, I would like to point out that a review of OMB documents within the past week has found that after years of looking the other direction, the Department of Education has decided to finally seek additional Medicaid reimbursement funding from the State for occupational and physical therapy and speech and language services. The Executive Budget assumes an additional $100 million in revenue as a result of increased Medicaid reimbursements on top of the previous estimate of $17 million presented in the Preliminary Budget.

My office has been working with the City’s Office of Management and Budget and the UFT to identify the actual value of funds eligible for the City. While the current estimate of $117 million is enough to significantly impact the cuts proposed to the classroom, we believe this to be a cautious estimate. The City may be eligible for greater reimbursements, which would free up funds for use elsewhere.

The $100 million in additional reserves have been allocated to cover various other expenses in the DOE budget, such as $48 million for general education non-personal service and $26 million for charter schools. These dollars and any additional Medicaid funds realized during Fiscal Year 2012 should be used to help offset the proposed teacher layoffs, which have a more direct negative effect on classroom services.

In the Executive Budget, the Mayor has allocated nearly $1 billion towards funding anticipated changes in the actuarial assumptions and methods used in computing pension contributions. The City actuary is currently reviewing an independent audit of the rate change and will offer his recommendations to the pension boards. While it is expected that the actuary will recommend a change in the assumed rate of return of the City’s pension funds, there is more uncertainty about what other modifications would be proposed. As such, the eventual cost of the any recommendations is unknown at this point. It is also uncertain as to when the recommendations and the eventual changes would take effect.

Another potential area of savings is through the City’s settlement of claims. My office is responsible for authorizing monetary amounts of settlement where we feel the City may have been at fault for personal injury or property damage. The City has indicated that they expect a rise in the cost of settlements to occur. However, my office anticipates that based upon historical data, the City is overestimating this total by at least $50 million.

As always, my office will seek the most fair and equitable results in our claims settlement process and continue to act in the best interest of the taxpayer when doing so.

We have also identified some risks to the Mayor’s plan. Most significant is the assumption that contract discussions with the UFT and CSA will not result in any additional cost to the City. These are placed as risk because the Mayor has not budgeted for raises consistent with those of other municipal unions, and has instead relied on a labor strategy that uses productivity initiatives to offset cost.

Another risk to the Mayor’s plan is his underestimation of overtime. In fact, my office has estimated that the overtime costs will be upwards of $195 million more than the Mayor anticipates.

As we gradually move out of this recession, it is important to note that the City is continuing on a steady but slow path to recovery. Despite mostly positive indicators for the City’s short-term economic condition there exist the possibility of negative externalities that could hinder the current expansion. Factors outside of the City’s control such as rising energy prices, the continued depression of the construction industry specifically within the residential construction sector, and the potential European debt crisis can be expected to produce additional drag on the US and local economies.

One area that has shown strength is our City’s pension systems. After posting returns of 14 percent last Fiscal Year, the most recent data show that the funds are up more than 20 percent in the current year. These gains will help offset future payment towards the pension systems.

My office released a study last week, the first of its kind, which revealed the past decade of fluctuation in the markets will cause pension costs to rise in the short term. However, due largely to already enacted benefit reforms that took place between 1995 and 2009 the long term costs to the City will steadily decline. These projections are sound and have been verified by independent professional actuaries.

The study shows that over the next 30 years City pension costs as a percentage of the City's budget will decline from 11.4 percent in FY 2016 to 5.1 percent FY 2040.

I hope I was able to be helpful today in presenting an accurate look at the City budget, as well as provide some areas worth exploring during phase of the budget process. As always my office is available to assist you in any way necessary.

Momentum Builds in Fight to Restore Child Care Cuts

Parents and Kids Confront Mayor on Cuts and Release Report on Impact of Lack of Child Care Options on Families

Elected Officials Spend Day as Child Care Providers

Less than a week after a super majority of Council members wrote to the Mayor decrying his so-called "solution" to child care in the City, which would leave thousands of kids without care, and days after 30,000 petitions were delivered to City Hall calling on the Council and Mayor to restore the money for child care, dozens of parents and children descended on the Mayor's house to ask "What should we do with our kids if there is no child care?" and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Borough President Scott Stringer spent the day as a child care provider to show their support for the issue.

Also, today, the Center for Children’s Initiatives, a nonprofit focusing on early care and learning, issued a report along with Wachs Family Fund of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, with findings on what happens to New York City working families that lose child care.

The report is based on 83 interviews with NYC families eligible for a child care subsidy but unable to obtain one because of capacity cuts over the last 3 years. Strikingly, it finds that several parents reported that 311, NYC’s information line, informed them that the surest route to a child care subsidy was applying for public assistance [Executive Summary and Page 8].

Other report highlights:

• Parents interviewed see care not only as necessary so they can work – but they increasingly cite the educational value of high quality early learning programs. Several cited how unfair it was that only families earning “six figures” have access to excellent care. [Report Executive Summary and Page 9].
• A parent anecdote from Claudette, a home health aide earning $7.75 an hour providing care for elderly clients and the sole supporter for her 15 month old baby. When the center closed that provided care for her 15 month old while she worked full time, she desperately searched for a new caregiver. She couldn’t afford full-time care, so settled for part-time care out of her neighborhood. Claudette now has more than 45 minute commute to her part-time provider. She’s often late for work – threatening her future employment. She knows that going on public assistance would give her higher priority for care - but she’s trying to avoid that. [Report Page 3 - Sidebar]

“Without child care, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Kim Sandy, a single mother whose 3-year old son attends The Educational Alliance’s Lillian Wald Day Care Center. “I won’t be able to keep my job and provide for my family. So many parents depend on this care – for the Mayor to continue to cut child care just doesn’t make sense.”

“With the Mayor’s cuts, 7,000 fewer children from low income working families will have access to child care next year,” said David Nocenti, Executive Director of Union Settlement Association. “These children are more than just numbers – they are our city’s future, and they deserve safe, affordable, educational care that will set them on a path to success.”

Also, today, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer took part in the United Federation of Teachers “Daycare Provider for a Day” program by visiting home daycare sites where providers educate and care for pre-school children.

"Seeing firsthand how childcare providers help our children learn and grow is all the evidence you need that the Mayor's budget has the wrong priorities," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. "Today I was proud to spend a morning walking in the shoes of Linnette Ebanks and tomorrow I will continue to fight for her and the thousands of working families that depend on child care."

“New York must never balance its budget on the backs of children and family, but that’s exactly what these cuts to child care and early education accomplish,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. “Despite the Mayor’s restorations, the child care system at large is still under siege, and next year 7,000 fewer children from low-income families will be able to access care. This administration has worked to gradually dismantle such a critical social safety net; in total, the city has lost 14,000 child care slots in the past four years due to cuts of this nature. New Yorkers deserve more than a half-a-loaf response from City Hall on an issue that impacts our most vulnerable constituents and their children.”

Stop Bloomberg’s Budget Cuts For NYC – nycisnot4sale.com

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Child Care Advocates Respond to Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Hearing

CALL ON MAYOR AND COUNCIL TO FIND THE MONEY TO REALLY “SAVE” CHILD CARE

DECRY GAME OF “MUSICAL CHAIRS” THE ADMINISTRATION IS PLAYING WITH CHILD CARE FUNDING

As the City Council General Welfare Committee heard testimony from the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), child care advocates called on Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council to fully restore money to child care in the final budget.

The Executive Budget still makes significant cuts to child care, leaving thousands of low-income children without access to care next year. New York children – many of whom live in communities with high unemployment, high unmet needs for child care, and low achievement on standardized tests – are at risk of losing the care they deserve and that hard-working families rely on.

“The Mayor’s Executive Budget still contains significant cuts to child care. How can child care be “saved” when 119 child care centers around the City are at risk of closing their doors?” said Council Member and Chair of the General Welfare Committee Annabel Palma. “Our children deserve more than a game of musical chairs – they deserve access to safe, affordable, educational child care."

“This budget still means that children around the city will be deprived of care, parents will be forced to choose between child care and going to work, and child care teachers and providers will lose their jobs,” said The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund – New York. “The City Council and the Mayor must ensure that no child loses child care and that we maintain critical early childhood capacity in our most under-resourced communities.”

The Emergency Coalition to Save Child Care, made up of organizations representing thousands of city residents, says it will continue fighting for all children from low-income, working families who are in danger of losing child care. The Coalition, which released a report last month detailing the unequal impacts of the Mayor’s cuts, maintains that the city can’t afford to cut a single child care slot. This care allows working parents to keep their jobs, stay off public assistance, and provide their children with a strong foundation for school success.

“Without child care, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Kim Sandy, a single mother whose 3-year old son attends The Educational Alliance’s Lillian Wald Day Care Center. “I won’t be able to keep my job and provide for my family. So many parents depend on this care – for the Mayor to continue to cut child care just doesn’t make sense.”

“As they negotiate the budget, it is imperative that the Mayor and the City Council ensure that child care centers and family day care providers remain fully funded and that capacity remains in place for future generations of children,” said Jennifer March-Joly, Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children.

“The city already has high unemployment, and cutting child care means more people out of work,” said Raglan George Jr., Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 1707. “Parents without a safe place to leave their child while they work would be forced to quit their jobs, and child care professionals would be laid off. The Mayor and the City Council must protect working families by restoring the cuts to child care in the final budget.”

ABOUT CHILD CARE

Despite what some are saying, child care has not yet been saved. The Executive Budget still contains significant cuts to child care. New York’s children deserve more than a game of musical chairs. In this budget, 7,000 fewer children from low income working families will have access to child care next year, estimates the Emergency Coalition to Save Child Care. If these cuts are implemented, there will be 29% less child care and after school slots for working families in this coming Fiscal Year than there were in 2007. These cuts are a dramatic reversal of the City’s promise to expand early learning opportunities for our children.

IMPACT ON CHILDREN

Children will pay the biggest price for this cut in child care services. According to many studies, including The Productivity Argument for Investing In Young Children, early childhood learning opportunities lead to more positive outcomes later in life. Children who attend quality early childhood programs are more likely to graduate from high school, less likely to be involved in crime and less likely to become teen parents.

IMPACT ON WORKING PARENTS

Child care is the single most important factor keeping single mothers in the workforce. Research has shown that child care subsidy programs increase employment rates for single mothers. Federal welfare reform was accompanied by a massive ramp up in support for child care which was a key part in moving more New Yorkers from welfare to work. Many parents, especially single mothers, have reported that they would be unable to work without child care assistance. The costs of child care are prohibitive and for many, without a subsidy, it does not pay to work. Despite all of the rhetoric about helping people become employed and stay self-sufficient, these cuts will lead to many parents leaving the workforce and becoming more reliant on government supports, such as health insurance, food stamps, unemployment or public assistance.

IMPACT ON NEW YORK ECONOMY

Studies have shown that every $1 cut from child care leads to a $1.86 loss in economic activity, and that child care and early learning programs save hundreds of millions of dollars in future costs for remedial education and lowered high school graduation rates.

These cuts will lead to a higher need for other government programs such as health insurance, food stamps, public assistance and unemployment benefits. Many parents determine that the high cost of child care exceeds their income, and they are unable to go to work because they have nowhere safe for their children during the day. More than a thousand early childhood professionals will lose their jobs and the availability of employment in this sector will be drastically reduced.

ON MAY 12 Announces Days of Action and Rally.

An Open Letter on Behalf of Public School Parents to Chancellor Dennis Walcott by Bill de Blasio - Huffington Post

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To Chancellor Walcott:

For the past nine years our schools have been run by a top-down bureaucracy that too often alienates public school parents. To your great credit, you have said that you want to engage parents and communities more than in the past. But you have also said that you plan to stay the course on the Bloomberg administration's education policies and practices. I believe you have the background and experience to finally bring parents into our school system, but I know you will not be able to do it by maintaining the status quo.

I am a public school parent and I have talked with parents all over our city who are tired of the Department of Education treating them like problems instead of partners. They are looking for a chancellor who has the independence to bring real change to our school system. To accomplish this goal, I believe you must immediately take on three pressing issues facing our schools today: reforming the DOE's closed off, bureaucratic process for closing and co-locating schools; fully supporting the parents of students with disabilities; and most importantly, saving the over 4,600 teachers who will be fired under Mayor Bloomberg's budget.

As our growing student population has required more and more schools to share space through co-locations, the DOE has resisted listening to parents' concerns and suggestions at every turn. Last year my office produced a report exposing how the DOE's top-down policies completely left parents out of the process, an approach that can result in critical school spaces being lost and students being squeezed into disjointed schedules. The DOE initially agreed to adopt several of our recommended reforms, including engaging more thoroughly with parents and community members when a school is being considered for co-location or closure, but so far they have not fully followed through. The Brandeis complex on the Upper West Side houses four schools, including the Frank McCourt high school, which was brought in by the community this past September. Now the DOE is threatening this progress by forcing a new schoolinto the building, a decision that could cost Frank McCourt students their science labs, classroom space and music programs. Going forward, you should be willing to adjust the DOE plans based on legitimate concerns on the ground, including finding alternate locations when a co-location simply does not work.

Every year the DOE closes and co-locates dozens of schools, upending educational environments for thousands of students. Far too often these major decisions are conducted in a vacuum, where the views of parents are treated as an obstacle to implementing policy decisions, instead of important feedback worth serious consideration. The DOE nearly shut down P.S. 114 in Brooklyn after failing to remove its principal, Maria Peñaherrera, who had driven the school into debt and reduced its academic performance. Led by PTA President Crystal King, the parents fought back, joining local elected officials and my office, which produced a report tracing the DOE's history of ignoring concerns from parents about Principal Peñaherrera for years. At the eleventh hour the school was saved, but this last-minute reversal would never have been necessary if the DOE had just been willing to listen to the P.S. 114 community from the start. Continuing a policy of closing schools first and asking questions later will only widen the gap between your agency and parents. Instead, I urge you as chancellor to use closure as a last resort, following a real effort to give struggling schools support, including teacher training.

There are over 165,000 students with disabilities in public schools. Their parents face greater challenges than many others, but instead of being helped by the DOE they too are often forced to fight against its bureaucracy. Elisa Gravitch from Staten Island has a ten year-old son named Kyle who is on the autism spectrum. At his elementary school, Kyle was in an Autism Spectrum Disorder NEST program, which creates a balanced and supportive learning environment. As his elementary education came to an end, Elisa wanted the DOE to put Kyle in a middle school that would provide the same educational and social supports. But for over a year the DOE repeatedly ignored or dismissed requests from Elisa and other parents with children in the program. It took public intervention by local officials and my office for the DOE to finally hear these parents out and put their children in the school that best fit their needs. With everything parents of students with disabilities already have to deal with, it should not take a year-long lobbying campaign for their voices to be heard. Under your leadership, the DOE will be implementing an important reform effort to make all community schools more inclusive to students with disabilities. In order to make these reforms work, you must be more supportive than your predecessor of parents of students with disabilities and willing to take their input.

Finally, the most immediate issue facing our school system today is the mayor's proposal to fire over 4,600 teachers. This threat is not a new one; this is the second budget cycle that the mayor has threatened to eliminate thousands of teachers, and then changed his mind seconds before the clock ran out. But while this year's budget dynamics make the prospect of serious layoffs far more real, the mayor has made it abundantly clear that his agenda puts the repeal of Last In/First Out before everything else. I believe we need a new system for evaluating teachers that accounts for student performance, but prioritizing this political fight over keeping teachers in the classroom is too great a risk to take. You need to show independence from City Hall by working first to stop thousands of teachers from being laid off instead of pursuing the mayor's political agenda.

You will most likely be the last DOE Chancellor of this administration. This is a real opportunity to improve upon Mayor Bloomberg's education legacy and to finally end the history of tension between parents and our school system. Giving parents a real voice in policy decisions, providing them with the support they need and asking them to contribute to their children's education will make our schools better. I hope you will join me in working with parents and all education stakeholders to make this vision a reality.

Bill de Blasio is Public Advocate for the City of New York.

Senator Addabbo: "Our Seniors Should Not Be Used As Tools of The City & State Budget Negotiations...

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens), a member of the Senate’s Committee on the Aging, today released the following statement on the proposed transfer of Title XX funds from senior centers to children’s programs:

Our growing senior population has enough to worry about these days, and I believe it was wrong for the mayor to release the list of possible senior center closures and use our seniors as tools of the budget negotiations with the state.

Our senior centers do not have to close, regardless of the amount of money the City receives from the state budget. If the City collects the outstanding liens and judgments owed to it and alters its outside contracting practices, it would have more than enough money to keep the senior centers open. By simply utilizing our city workers more efficiently, the realized savings would more than pay for the centers. For example, if the City used its sheriffs more than the outside marshalls, it would witness significant savings.

I also intend to continue my efforts to ensure that the Title XX funding in our state budget is used for the purposes of retaining our senior centers.

We have a growing senior population that should be respected, not used as victims by the City or State during budget negotiations.

At Budget Hearings, Marshall Believes Queens ‘Shortchanged’ by Thomas Cogan - www.qgazette.com | Queens Gazette

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Borough President Helen Marshall said she understands that during these difficult fiscal times cutbacks are necessary, in her borough as well as elsewhere. But, she said at the annual public hearing concerning capital and expense budgets held at Borough Hall February 23, she also believes Queens is being shortchanged.

Some 60 speakers, representing 14 community boards and nearly every college and community college, arts group, hospital and health group, social services agency and museum that the borough contains, along with Queens Borough Public Library officials, also testified at the hearings.

The borough president’s understanding of cutbacks encompasses a realization that thousands of teachers will be dismissed; several firehouses will close; the library will take a significant cut this fiscal year and a larger one next, and in the meantime has stopped buying books; programs for the aid of both children and the aged will be shrunk, and parks improvements will be lamented for their lack. Out of that partial list of funds reduction and from lists unmentioned she would like to take back some small amounts that she believes

Queens deserves.

It is the duty of their district managers to speak for community boards at budget meetings. At the February meeting, they came to the rostrum in numerical order, so the first was Lucille Hartmann of Community Board 1. She said that chief among the concerns of her board is the seawall along the East River, and anyone who has seen it slowly fall into the water beneath the Queensboro Bridge for years and years knows what she means. A parking lot at Astoria Boulevard and 35th Street is needed for everyone from commuters to 114th Precinct police officers, she said, and local curb reconstruction has been stalled as long as has seawall repair. Debbie Markell-Kleinert of Community Board 2 began by giving thanks that the Queens West Library is to be built on Parcel 8 in Hunters Point, but went on to say that repair of catch basins and sewers in her district has been delayed repeatedly. Construction of a new 108th Precinct headquarters building is certain to occur only in her dreams, but the problem of 44-02 Vernon Blvd. is of great urgency. This huge excavation next to the Con Edison Learning Center was abandoned when the developer went bankrupt, and now stands, filling with water. Markell-Kleinert said the Department of Housing Preservation and Development should seize it, with an eye to building affordable apartments there.

Giovanna Reid of Community Board 3 observed that her district (Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst), with a population of 200,000, has a large number of recent immigrants. As far as schools are concerned, “our chief objective is additional seats”, she said, adding her gratitude for the addition of I.S. 230 on Northern Boulevard, between 110th and 111th Streets. She said the local libraries are “totally overused”, and funds for the Jackson Heights branch must be restored. Richard Italiano of Community Board 4 said the problem of flooding and sewers inadequate to handle it is of grave importance in his district, as it is for Board 5’s Gary Giordano, who said they are collapsing in Maspeth, Glendale and Ridgewood. Giordano said he has toned down his fiscal requests lately but still insists that the 104th Precinct’s current strength of 152 officers should be more like 170. He added that closing a firehouse in a district full of wood frame houses is a dangerous way to save money. He described the Glendale Library as an underfunded “stepchild” lacking accessibility for the handicapped. Frank Gulliscio of Board 6, covering Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Rego Park, said that the special study of Woodhaven Boulevard, a thoroughfare affecting five districts (Boards 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10) has been proceeding too long and should be completed. He said the new Bob’s Discount Furniture at 72-25 Woodhaven Blvd., where Woodhaven Lanes bowling used to be, is welcome as an enterprise but the consequent traffic increase needs better management.

Fear of fires and floods bothered several of the remaining district managers, especially when they considered their dilapidated sewers and shuttered firehouses. Libraries, they said, should be built or refurbished, not closed for half the week. Sea walls besides that in Board 1 are deteriorating; and in Board 14 on Beach Channel Drive, the bulkheads are gone and water from Jamaica Bay is getting under the roadway, while in Bayswater it is said to reach residential lawns when the moon is full. Susan Seinfeld of Board 11 mentioned a shore road in Douglaston that she said is “falling into the bay”. Work goes uncompleted on island malls in the middle of 111th Street, while island malls on Union Turnpike have rebars sticking out of them.

Who can pay to have these things completed or repaired? Regarding run down medians and a carousel in Forest Park, Board 9’s Mary Ann Carey said she has thought of turning to Donald Trump for help. She even suggested she might ask him to subsidize restoration of Frederick Macmonnies’s “Civic Virtue,” the marble statue beside Borough Hall in bad shape after 90 years outdoors. Councilmember Karen Koslowitz interrupted to say that restorations would cost $20 million. (Congressmember Anthony Weiner, not an admirer of the statue, on the following day suggested that it be sold on Craigslist and removed.)

Representatives of the many institutions that followed specified the amounts they needed and the related projects. Queensborough Community College needs $1.7 million toward repair of its Humanities Theater. CUNY Law School will move into a new home next year at 2 Court Square in Long Island City, but needs $864,000 to furnish all its classrooms with audio/visual equipment. Queens Theatre in the Park needs $400,000 to refurbish its lobby and other parts of the building. Queens Botanical Garden needs $1 million to repave its cobblestones and an unstated amount to replace its parking lot blacktop with permeable pavement. Mount Sinai Queens needs $177,206 to equip a state-of-the-art ultrasound suite. Peninsula Hospital needs $132,000 for a digital mammography system to supplement its older analog system. Make the Road New York needs $3 million toward moving into a Center for Immigrant Opportunity in an old church in Jackson Heights, near where immigrant laborers constantly gather in search of day work. Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) spokesperson Marian Lewek said that while SNAP provides “the best food in any senior center”, more than $130,000 is needed for three new vans to replace vehicles that date from another century. Tom Finkelpearl of the Queens Museum, like others, moderated requests his institution might otherwise have made in acknowledgment of the economic recession.

Major Mid-Year Budget Cuts Avoided in Deal Negotiated by the City Council « News from CM Melissa Mark-Viverito

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The City Council has negotiated a deal with the Bloomberg administration to avoid mid-year budget cuts to core services, from case management for seniors to shelter beds for homeless youth, as well as to defer increases in recreation center fees and parking meter rates. This deal only applies to the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

By proposing alternative cuts, such as a reduction in the Department of Education’s private contracting budget, the Council was able to:

• Defer proposed nighttime fire company closures
• Restore funding for nearly 200 ACS staff positions in the areas of child welfare and child protective services
• Fully restore case management services for seniors
• Fully restore runaway and homeless youth programs and preserve the number of available slots in other afterschool programs
• Defer parking meters increases above 86th Street and outside of Manhattan
• Defer the doubling of recreation center membership fees

The City still faces a $2.4 billion deficit for the next Fiscal Year and the Bloomberg administration is already proposing over a billion dollars in cuts for Fiscal Year 2012 (which begins in July). Melissa strongly maintains her position that the only way to fully address these recurring budget deficits is to ask thewealthiest New Yorkers to put in their fair share through progressive taxation.

Mayor Bloomberg to Unveil Massive Layoff Plan Today for City Workers by Sally Goldenberg - NYPOST.com

CROWLEY CONCERNED OVER PLAN FOR NIGHTIME FIREHOUSE CLOSURES
 

"I am deeply troubled by the Mayor’s proposed nighttime closures because they will put our public safety at risk," said City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (D-30, Queens), Chair of the Fire & Criminal Justice Committee. "Only five months ago the Mayor made an agreement with the City Council to keep all fire companies open and fully operational.  We go through the budget process to lay out our priorities for the entire fiscal year-- that included the $37 million allocated from the City Council to avoid closing fire companies.” 

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Mayor Bloomberg today is expected to order thousands of layoffs next year in bruising budget cuts intended to close a massive gap, sources told The Post last night.

Bloomberg will announce the widespread job reductions and service cuts as he tries to close the nearly $3.3 billion budget deficit the city is facing next year.

In September he directed all agency heads to cut 5.4 percent from their current budgets and 8 percent from their spending plans for next year.

The cuts were lower -- 2.7 percent this year and 4 percent next year -- for the Department of Education and the four uniformed agencies, the NYPD, FDNY, Sanitation and Correction.

The total cuts over the next 18 months will total at least $1.5 billion.

The Department of Finance is expected to take a steep hit of about 100 layoffs, several sources said.

The mayor will also announce reductions in staff through attrition.

When asked about layoffs yesterday the mayor replied, "Doing more with less always means fewer people because 80 percent of your budget is spent on salaries and benefits."

One source familiar with what the mayor will announce today said Hizzoner will drop the budget ax hard on services for seniors, libraries and cultural centers, while trying to spare the NYPD and Department of Education.

The mayor also is expected to propose closing 20 fire companies at night -- a tempered plan after his suggestion to completely shutter 20 fire companies last year faced resistance.

The City Council ultimately restored funding for those companies.

Additional reporting by David Seifman

City Budget's Impact on Ulrich's District by Tonia Cimino - The Queens Courier

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After the passage of the city’s budget, and despite the proposed cuts to various agencies, City Councilmember Ulrich announced funding for dozens of local community groups and programs throughout the 32nd District, along with 18 capital projects totaling $4.2 million.

“Unlike Albany, the City of New York has once again passed an on-time, balanced budget that does not include any tax increases,” said Ulrich. “Thanks to years of responsible budgeting and smart planning, the city’s strong fiscal position has allowed us avoid drastic cuts to areas that would have had a devastating impact on the lives of nearly every New Yorker.”

Capital projects funded within District 32 include:

● Installation of guardrails along Cross Bay Boulevard’s southbound approach to Broad Channel;

● Improvements at London Planetree Park, including a skate plaza, fitness equipment and refurbishment of the old basketball courts;

● Resurfacing and new fencing at the Rockaway Beach handball courts;

● Fifteen security cameras at John Adams High School;

● Sidewalk repair and tree planting throughout the district totaling $1.2 million.

Ulrich has also secured funding for technology projects at the following public schools: John Adams H.S., M.S. 137, M.S. 202, M.S. 210, P.S. 108, P.S. 146, P.S. 317, P.S. 60, P.S. 63 and P.S./M.S. 47. In addition, electrical upgrades at P.S. 207 and funding for a new science lab at P.S. 232 are included in the budget.

Through discretionary spending allocations, funding is also earmarked for many community groups and programs that serve the district and borough, including Bridge to Life, Inc., Forest Park Trust, Franklin K. Lane H.S., Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation, Lindenwood Community Volunteer Ambulance Corps, New Hamilton Beach Civic Association, Point Breezy Volunteer Fire Department, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Woodhaven Intramural Soccer Club, Woodhaven Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Broad Channel Athletic Club, Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, Blessed Trinity Parish (for senior services), Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services (to support four local senior centers), Forest Park Senior Citizens Center, Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA), Locust Grove Civic Association of Queens County, Bobbi and the Strays, Howard Beach Columbus Day Foundation, Nativity BVM Youth Basketball League, New York Families for Autistic Children, Our Lady of Grace (youth soccer camp), Ozone Howard Little League, South Queens Boys and Girls Club and Works Little League.

In addition, funding has been secured for SAT prep courses at John Adams, Franklin K. Lane, Scholars Academy, Channel View School for Research, Robert H. Goddard High School of Communication Arts and Technology and Beach Channel High School.

Other projects and programs include movie and family nights offered through the Parks Department, and 50 premium trash cans will be installed along 101st Avenue.

In all, Ulrich secured approximately $576,000 in discretionary funding to support local initiatives.

New York City's fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

Who Got What: FY2011 by Courtney Gross - Gotham Gazette

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When it comes to bringing home the bacon, some City Council members do a lot better than others.

According to an analysis by Gotham Gazette, Councilmember and Finance Committee chair Domenic Recchia sponsored more individual member items than any other council member in this year's budget (more on its approval here). Recchia raked in nearly $1.3 million for nonprofits of his choice.

Recchia was one of four members -- Lewis Fidler, Leroy Comrie and James Oddo are the others -- who topped the million-dollar mark in member items, often referred to as council pork.

At the other end of the spectrum, Elizabeth Crowley garnered the least amount of money with $358,321, falling behind recently indicted Larry Seabrook, who had $362,276. Vincent Gentile, Gale Brewer, Margaret Chin and Helen Foster also got less than $400,000

FY2011SkedC

These figures only include each councilmember's individual youth, aging and discretionary funding. All council members receive the same amount for youth programs and for senior programs. The difference comes in the so-called discretionary funding, which can go to a wide array of nonprofits.

The figures below do not include funding doled out by the speaker's office in consultation with the rest of the council (known as the speaker's pot or list). That pot was nearly $18 million this year, and its programs are often sponsored by one or more members.

When asked yesterday how discretionary money is doled out, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said more experienced members know how to navigate the discretionary funding system more than newer members. So, it's not surprising those that top the list are members of the council's leadership.

If a member wants to fund a program,"you got to ask," Quinn said.

Recchia said his position as finance chair means some member items that benefit the whole city have his name attached.

"A lot of these things are for the city of New York, not for my district," Recchia said. "These are all good programs."

The programs Recchia funded this year include $75,000 for the Brooklyn Arts Council and $15,000 for the Kings Highway Beautification Association to clean graffiti.

The numbers below are about 19 percent of the council's total discretionary funding, which is valued at about $165 million in fiscal year 2011. The vast majority of that, about $115 million, goes to citywide initiatives, such as combating domestic violence or adult literacy programs, among many others. This does not include another $231.6 million the council used to restore programs cut by the mayor.

COUNCIL MEMBERS	AMOUNT
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.	$1,371,839
Lewis A. Fidler	$1,244,089
Leroy G. Comrie, Jr.	$1,118,121
James S. Oddo	$1,089,131
Joel Rivera	$998,901
Peter F. Vallone, Jr.	$978,321
Inez E. Dickens	$940,464
Erik Martin Dilan	$881,339
Annabel Palma	$857,651
Christine C. Quinn	$852,464
James Vacca	$712,651
Robert Jackson	$710,464
Thomas White, Jr.	$703,571
Vincent M. Ignizio	$702,131
Maria Del Carmen Arroyo	$683,526
Albert Vann	$682,839
Stephen T. Levin	$672,339
Deborah L. Rose	$672,130
Diana Reyna	$651,839
Jessica S. Lappin	$612,664
Melissa Mark-Viverito	$592,964
James Sanders, Jr.	$578,321
Eric A. Ulrich	$578,321
Mathieu Eugene	$577,339
Michael C. Nelson	$577,339
James F. Gennaro	$543,321
Sara M. Gonzalez	$539,839
Mark S. Weprin	$534,321
Daniel Dromm	$528,321
Julissa Ferreras	$528,321
Karen Koslowitz	$528,321
James G. Van Bramer	$528,321
David G. Greenfield	$502,339
Darlene Mealy	$502,339
Fernando Cabrera	$498,151
Letitia James	$487,339
Jumaane D. Williams	$477,339
Ydanis A. Rodriguez	$460,464
G. Oliver Koppell	$457,651
Daniel R. Garodnick	$453,114
Brad S. Lander	$427,339
Peter A. Koo	$416,321
Daniel J. Halloran III	$415,321
Charles Barron	$414,703
Rosie Mendez	$414,664
Vincent J. Gentile	$377,339
Gale A. Brewer	$367,964
Margaret S. Chin	$364,464
Helen D. Foster	$362,651
Larry B. Seabrook	$362,276
Elizabeth S. Crowley	$358,321