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A few of our local representatives here in the Bronx are none too pleased with Mayor Bloomberg’s updated financial plan, which contains cuts to jobs and services from nearly every city agency.
On Nov. 18, Bloomberg announced the new round of budget gap closing actions, including laying off thousands of city employees, measures he says will reduce the city’s deficit from $3.3 billion to $2.4 billion for the fiscal year 2012. The plan’s gotten its far share of negative reactions so far.
City Council Member Annabel Palma, whose district includes Parkchester and Soundview, sent out a statement earlier this week calling proposed cuts to the city’s Administration for Children’s Services “troubling.”
“We have worked too hard as a city to now consider rolling back years of hard-fought reforms in order to balance the budget on the backs of the children who need our help the most,” Palma said.
The mayor proposed cutting 118 jobs at the agency and the elimination of 80 vacant supervisor shifts.
Council Member James Vacca is vowing to fight a budget plan to hike parking meter costs in the outer boroughs by 25 cents-bringing the price up to $1 an hour.
“Once again, the City is digging into the pockets of the little guy to balance its budget,” Vacca said in a statement. “With traffic agents doling out $115 tickets and inspectors handing out fines for even the smallest violation, how is a small business supposed to survive in New York City?”
Bronx politicians had been pleading with Bloomberg last month to suspend parking meters in the borough’s busier commercial spot for the holidays, in an effort to boost the local economy.
Another Bronx Council Member, Melissa Mark-Viverito, opposed the mayor’s plan to cut $3.3 million from the Department for the Aging, which she says is “already strapped.”
Controversial cuts last year forced many senior centers across the city to close, though several in the Bronx were spared at the last minute.