Results tagged “budget”

The deficit-reduction plan passed by the State Legislature yesterday cut $140 million from the authority's operating budget, which is more than the $110 million that was originally anticipated. Bus and subway fares are already expected to rise 7.5 percent in 2011 and 2013, but after a hearing today on the MTA’s capital plan, Jay Walder, the authority's chief, told reporters that he would not raise fares... at least not next year.

Even though the State Legislature has been in special session the past few weeks at Governor Paterson's request because of the state's huge $3.2 billion deficit, no action has been taken to, you know, deal with the deficit and cut the state budget. Yesterday, Paterson asked for special, emergency power to cut the budget himself, which lawmakers, naturally, thought was crazy. Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos declared, "This is not the old Soviet Union."

Something crazy happened in Albany this week: The Assembly passed a bill, then the Senate passed their version of the bill, and then Governor David Paterson signed it into law—all in two days! Yesterday New York instituted the nation's toughest drunk driving law, making it a felony to drive intoxicated with a passenger 15 years old or under. The bill, "Leandra's Law," was named for the 11-year-old New York girl killed in a DWI crash on the West Side Highway last month. At the signing yesterday, Leandra's father Lenny Rosado vowed to take his crusade to Washington and pass the law on the federal level:

From here on, those that think it’s OK to drink and drive - with children in the car or not - will pay the price...This is not going to be where I stop. I'm going to go out there to as many people as I can and educate them about this terrible disease we have out there...and hopefully we can take it all the way up straight to the White House.

Get ready for some Albany-style bickering! Tomorrow, Governor Paterson will convene a special session of the Legislature to discussion issues like the $3 billion budget deficit and—possibly—gay marriage, but the NY Times is worried enough that it has an editorial, "Albany’s toughest and most important job right now is to make certain that New York does not become another California, running out of cash, paying bills with i.o.u.’s and watching state credit ratings deteriorate."

After his $3 billion in budget cuts weren't warmly received by some lawmakers, Governor Paterson continues to be on the offensive. The Post reports that yesterday, Paterson called lawmakers who opposed his $1 billion in cuts to education and Medicaid "selfish" and "obtuse." And he had this to say to special interest groups: "We are in a recession. You can't say, 'I understand we're in a recession,' and not have any idea of what that actually means in terms of sacrifices we all have to make."

After unveiling his $3 billion in budget cuts for this year (not to mention another $2 billion next) on Thursday, Governor Paterson is on the offensive, appearing on numerous radio and TV stations. Why the media blitz? Because some state lawmakers have complained about the cuts, leaving Paterson to fire back, "They can find all kinds of ways to spend money but never seem to be able to meet obligations."

Amanda Ernst is dancing for pennies as the new editor of Mediabistro's Fishbowl NY. This morning she appeared on the Today Show with her financial guru, telling the tale of how she went from making $50K/year at Condé Nast to just $1,666/month (about $20K/year) at the house of Laurel Touby. Livin' the dream. Some tips: cut out your gym membership, New York Times subscription, and social life whilst earning extra bucks babysitting.

With the budget hurting, the NY Times reports on how the police force "[hurtles] toward its lowest head count in memory: The New York City Police Department is set to shrink to 34,304 officers within a year, which is 16 percent fewer than the department’s high of 41,000 nearly a decade ago." (However, a graph suggests the number of cops has been in the mid 30,000 range for the past few years.) There are tense meetings on staffing police officers in certain neighborhoods, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has to okay every promotion or transfer, there are fewer recruits and civilian employees are being laid off. And, in spite all of this,"there have been no obvious outward signs of problems." But the NYPD is using "predictive policing," which is using "crime statistics and other information to forecast where crime may pop up next," a lot more these days. One deputy commissioner explained, "It puts pressure on the need to be as precise as you can be, because you want to make the very best use of the limited resources you have." According to the latest crime stats available (PDF), 2009 crime is down 11% vs. 2008 and down 13.67% vs. 2007 for the year thus far.

Last week, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum criticized the Public Advocate's budget being cut from $2.8 million to $1.7 million. She even claimed the reduction was "political payback" from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, because Gotbaum opposed extending term limits. Yesterday, the five candidates who wish to succeed Gotbaum—and one of whom will have to deal with a 40% smaller budget—appeared together to protest the cut which goes into effect on July 1. The NY Times reports, "The issue was not food stamps, or reproductive rights for women, or child abuse, or any of the other topics the public advocate’s office is generally involved in...The cut, [the candidates] concurred, was so draconian that it threatened the existence of the office, which functions, as mandated by the City Charter, as a government ombudsman and watchdog." Former Public Advocate Mark Green, who is running again, asked, “Why has only the watchdog over City Hall been cut 40 percent?"

Yesterday, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum claimed the 40% reduction in her office's budget—from $2.8 million to $1.7 million— was "political payback" from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Why? Because Gotbaum opposed extending term limits, which Quinn supported. PolitickerNY reports that Gotbaum, who is not running for re-election, "said she will not lay off any of her 40 employees, but may leave some positions vacant in order to save money for whomever succeeds her." She added, "I find it appalling that the speaker could not find the money to restore my budget but did have $17 million to hand out. The speaker can get the money from wherever she is parking those funds." Gotbaum's complaints led the Post create a Gotbaum-baby Photoshop (pictured, but larger version here); the Post also reports that Quinn retorted, "Why did the mayor cut the public advocate's office? Betsy, the public advocate, should take her question there...I can't speak to her anger level, today or in comparison to any other days." The mayor's office suggested Gotbaum...speak to the City Council.

Now that the American Apparel mess is behind him, Woody Allen can get back to talking about what he loves: movies and New York City. USA Today and Tribeca Film have interviews with the director, who says he's getting priced out of Manhattan! He told them, "I wish I could afford to be here all the time, but it's a very expensive city to work in. It's gotten worse for me. It's gotten better in that they give you tax breaks. But everything (else) has gone up. I work on a very limited budget." He noted that it would cost about an extra $3 million to film in New York in comparison to overseas.

The City Council endorsed today Mayor Bloomberg's plan to raise the city's sales tax to 8.875 percent. The measure, which passed 37 to 10, now goes to Albany for approval by the State Legislature. While those who voted against the increase argue the tax is regressive and unfair, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says the measure will save 1,200 to 1,500 retail jobs. But, not all councilmembers who approved the tax say they did so willingly. Said Councilman Lewis Fidler to the Gotham Gazette: "If we don’t authorize the sales tax, as distasteful as it is, there will be layoffs...I prefer we find it somewhere else, but that is not the choice we have." The increase is expected to bring more than $500 million in new revenue to the city.

No one will shush you for trying to save the New York Public Library from drastic budget cuts. In fact, they're asking for you to Shout It Out on their behalf. Stand up and support your local branch—and if you need some convincing, here's Bette Midler, Jeff Daniels, Barbara Walters, Tim Gunn, Amy Tan, Malcolm Gladwell, Nora Ephron, Mike Nichols, Mario Batali and many more talking about why the library has been so important to them.

With the city facing a huge deficit and much less Wall Street revenue, the Mayor's office and City Council have agreed on tax measures that will bring in $887 million in revenues. The NY Times reports there will not be a 5-cent plastic bag tax or sales tax on all clothing; Bloomberg and the Council "instead proposed increasing the city’s sales tax by half a percentage point, to 8.875 percent. In addition, the city would begin charging sales tax on clothing over $110. All clothing was previously exempt from such taxes." These, plus other measures, like "applying the full City Sales Tax to electric and natural gas customers that purchase energy from non-utility companies and a tax conformity package" must be approved in Albany. According to the Times, the Independent Budget Office estimates a household making $35,000/year will need to pay an additional $74 in sale taxes, while a household making $125,000/year "would pay an additional $237 a year, and one making $500,000 would pay $687 more."

Mayor Bloomberg's proposed 5-cent fee on every plastic bag used by shoppers would help reduce waste and raise an estimated $100 million to help the city's budget crisis, but it will probably never see the light of day now that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn opposes it. Quinn is also blocking a move to reimpose the city sales tax on clothing and shoes under $110, which would raise an estimated $394 million a year, and instead she wants to increase the city's sales tax from 4% to 4.5%.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is bummed that President Obama's proposed budget doesn't include further funding for a NYC pilot program to test whether it's possible to secure an urban area against nuclear terrorism by saturating it with radiation detectors. A Homeland Security Department official told reporters on a conference call yesterday that the so-called "Secure the Cities" program was always intended to be "a three-year activity, a three-year project." The NYPD has already received more than $53 million in DHS grants for the effort, including $20 million this year, but Kelly tells the Daily News, "It's disappointing, to say the least, after so much has been invested in a program with so much promise." Aw. Critics have questioned the technical capability of the program, and according to the Washington Post, some officials believe it's "better to spend money to secure nuclear materials at their source, coordinate a government-wide counter-proliferation strategy and to strengthen the operations of first-responders who would answer any alarm." Makes sense, but that still doesn't explain why President Hussein Obama wants NYC nuked!

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the 2010 fiscal year budget yesterday and acknowledged that that his proposed sales tax hike, which would raise the tax rate to 8.875%, is no fun. During the press conference, he said, "It is true that sales tax, if you have the same rate, is a regressive tax, but the bottom line is, the people that have more money buy a lot more things, and they spend a lot more of it. Is it a good tax? No. None of these taxes are good taxes... I'm not happy about raising any tax."

Mayor Bloomberg is set to reveal details of his budget for the new fiscal year (which begins July 1), and like recent budgets, the economy's downturn means it'll be rough with the city's projected $4 billion deficit. WCBS 2 reports that, according to sources, "The mayor intends to raise $900 million to close the budget gap by raising the sales tax half a percent," and explains, "The sales tax in New York City will now be 8.875 percent; of which only 4.5 percent is a city tax. The rest goes to the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority."

The Bronx Zoo wasn't joking around when they released a video of a porcupine being fired following some major budget cutbacks. The NY Post is now reporting that "the institution is closing four exhibits and shipping hundreds of creatures to zoos and aquariums around the country," including deer, bats, lemurs, antelopes, foxes and, yes, porcupines. Human lay-offs are also on the way.

Yesterday the Brooklyn Museum sent out a press release regarding the new economic reality and how it will impact the establishment. The laundry list of cuts and changes included: a new budget, hiring freeze, the cancellation of a major exhibition (which would have included works from the likes of Roy Lichtenstein), reduced number of major exhibitions overall, a moratorium on staff travel, and offering buyouts to all of its 281 full-time employees. This certainly doesn't paint a very pretty picture. The Brooklyn Paper notes that "The art world hasn’t seen cuts like this since Vincent Van Gogh lopped off his ear" (har har), citing a $2.3 million loss in aid from city government over the past three years. Last month they suggested visitors donate $2 more (upping the fee from $8 to $10).

With the state budget going through as dire times as it's seen over the last year, lawmakers can't expect to toss nearly $500,000 for renovations to their own restrooms and not have it raise a few eyebrows. Renovations of third-floor bathrooms in the Captiol building began last June in order to deal with asbestos removal and bring them up to the standards of the Americans With Disabliities Act. But it's reported that the $463,000 spent also included features such as marble stall partitions and arches in the ceiling. An Office of General Services spokesman said, "The ladies' room had two sets of stairs and the men's room was difficult to navigate in. The lighting was inefficient and plumbing wasted water.'' The AP says that the ADA accommodations left "men grumbling around the building after learning that the renovations reduced the number of stalls and urinals."

NBC New York got a hold of a memo from city budget director which asks the heads of city agencies to "prepare for thousands of layoffs... As many as 7,000 more jobs could be eliminated, City Hall sources said."

The big $131 billion NY State budget may have finally passed, but its contents are still... unclear. The Post (naturally) offers criticism from the Republican minority: Senator Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn) says, "They haven't broken down where all the stimulus money is going. How do you vote on a budget that's not broken down and has only whole numbers? We asked for a breakdown and they told us [Friday] a list was forthcoming."

The State Legislature has been discussing the massive $131.8 billion but failed to pass it by its April 1 deadline. While the "three men in a room"—Governor David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith—claimed their budget talks were super-secret so they could get the budget passed in time, WCBS 2 points out that the plan backfired, given that the discussions were held so late it was "too late to get all the bills printed in time to meet a required 'aging process' intended to give the public and lawmakers time to review the plan."

Last night, President Barack Obama said he saw "signs of progress" with the American economy but also added the public will need to be patient, "It’s important to remember that this crisis didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t result from any one action or decision. It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets."

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation announced it would eliminate 400 jobs as a way to save $105 million for the next fiscal year's budget. NY1 reports that HHC, which serves 1.3 million New Yorkers, is also closing "four school-based health programs, three community clinics, and two mental health day treatment programs." HHC President Alan D. Aviles said the cuts were in part due to labor and the rising number of uninsured patients the hospitals see (450,000/year) and said more cuts could be on the way, saying this was just "one-third" of the problem. State Health Commissioner Richard Daines tells the NY Times that the governor is trying to negotiate using federal stimulus money to help aid HHC, but, noting "unprecedented fiscal crisis" made some difficult choices necessary, said he hoped public hospitals would delay capital construction project instead cutting service. Some other HHC annual stats: It has 7,510 beds, 4,942,9377 clinic visits, 1,069,031 ER visits and 23,384 births.

'Eek, don't raise taxes on the rich!' Bloomberg and other plutocrats warn, or else they'll defiantly tie their sweaters around their necks and move somewhere else, where the lower orders have a better appreciation for trickle-down economics. But according to a pretty thorough article in today's Times, there's actually scant evidence that an income tax hike on the wealthy will engender a Park Avenue strewn with tumbleweed. In fact, after 9/11, the state and the city imposed a temporary surcharge on incomes of more than $100,000, and a comptroller study suggests it had little impact on those who make over $250K.

Yesterday the Metropolitan Museum of Art sent out a statement announcing 74 layoffs at its stores (following 53 layoffs last year) with more to come from the museum's overall staff. The NY Times reports that as many as 250 full and part time jobs may be lost before summer. While the cuts will hit every department, including curatorial, Met officials have declared the changes won't affect the museum's hours, exhibitions or standards. On top of endowment losses, "the museum will receive $1.7 million less in operating help from the city this year and has been told to expect another cutback that could be as high as $2.4 million in the next fiscal year." With the recession hitting even the most prestigious of institutions these days, the paper notes that the layoffs are also in part due to problems that its merchandising arm have been facing. If you'd like to help, they also shared that membership renewals have been on the decline (wink wink, nudge nudge).

A spokesperson for Governor Paterson's office confirmed that talks were ongoing but stressed that no resolution had been reached. Governors Island has become an increasingly popular weekend recreation destination since it was opened to the public in 2003. It's run jointly by the city and state, but Paterson's budget does not include any money for the park this year, and yesterday the Governors Island board of directors imposed an austerity budget of $11.8 million, down from $18.8 million, while acknowledging that the remaining $550,000 in its operating budget will be exhausted by the end of the month.

City comptroller William Thompson Jr. also testified before the finance committee and, according to the Times, reiterated his proposal to increase the tax rate for city residents who make more than $500,000 a year to 4.3 percent and for those who make more than $1 million a year to 4.8 percent, up from the current tax rate of about 3.65 percent. Thompson said the plan could yield almost $1 billion in revenue this calendar year. But multibillionaires like Mayor Bloomberg prefer a sales tax, which Thompson says "disproportionately impacts the very New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet in the current downturn." Bloomberg, who warned against taxing the rich over the weekend, shrugged off Thompson's proposal in his weekly radio program: "People say, ‘Oh, well, you know, if the income were redistributed throughout the system more fairly.’ I don’t know what fair means. You can argue that if you make more money, you deserve more money." Hizzoner concluded the broadcast by reading aloud from Atlas Shrugged while sipping decorously from a goblet of ambrosia as servants fanned him with palm leaves and massaged his weary temples.