Pols Blast Mayors Proposed Budget Cuts

Mounting their offensive against Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his executive budget, councilmembers have been holding a blitz of rallies in Queens.
Since shortly after the mayor announced his budget in late April, councilmembers have been publicly decrying its proposed cuts to city services, which include, among others, reductions to libraries, meals to seniors, sanitation and CUNY.
As their opening gambit, councilmembers held a month-long series of demonstrations in front of the boroughs libraries, which face a loss of $4.1 million in funding, forcing branches to reduce their days of service and hours of operations.
Last week, with less than a month left for the City Council and the mayor to negotiate a budget, the council speaker led two rallies, one at Queensborough Community College, highlighting slashes in financial aid and scholarships to CUNY students, and another in downtown Flushing, focusing attention on a potential $1.4 million reduction in garbage pickups.
"I am appalled by the lack of commitment in the budget the mayor has shown to CUNY," said Miller, one of many barbs the Council Speaker, accompanied by Councilman David Weprin, threw at Bloomberg.
CUNY stands to lose $12 million in the mayors proposal, including $5.5 million for the Peter F. Vallone Scholarship fund and $4.5 million for the City Councils safety net program, which helps students affected by the recent tuition hike at community colleges.
An hour later, the council speaker was with John Liu in downtown Flushing, blasting Bloomberg for reductions in supplemental garbage pickups. Using the corner of Main Street and 41st Avenue, a highly trafficked area serving as a transportation hub and a bustling commercial district, the pols warned that fewer pickups would be a disaster.
"If we dont pick up regularly, they [the garbage bins] will overflow," said Liu.
There are 32 supplemental garbage pickup routes in the city. The mayor intends to slash 12 supplemental routes in Queens, 12 in Brooklyn, four in Staten Island and four in the Bronx.
Miller and Liu questioned why the outerboroughs face cuts but Manhattan gets a pass.
"We deserve the same level of service that the people in Manhattan get," said Liu. "Its simply not fair."