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Budget Battles

By Azi Paybarah 6/27/11 2:03pm

Budget Battles

Mayor Bloomberg endorsed Andrew Cuomo for governor immediately after the primary in 2010. (photo credit: azi paybarah / observer)

Mayor Bloomberg Gushes Over the Gov: 'What Have We Disagreed On?'

Mayor Bloomberg is bristling at comparisons to Governor Cuomo.

A reporter asked the mayor to evaluate Cuomo’s record so far — which was so successful that he’s being touted as a presidential candidate in 2016.

The reporter, from WNYC, astutely prefaced his question by noting that the two executives have had their differences.

“What have we disagreed on?” Bloomberg wondered aloud. “Does anybody remember?”

“Revenue sharing,” NY1′s Josh Robin yelled out.

As the mayor began to acknowledge that prior spat (“There’s no question that I disagreed,”), Robin called out another: “LIFO,” he said, referring to the Last In, First Out teacher seniority rule. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 6/10/11 9:57am

Budget Battles

Bloomberg on Liu’s Report: ‘No Rational’ Group Agrees, ‘Separated From Reality’ [Updated]

Michael Bloomberg is disputing City Comptroller John Liu’s report that said pension costs are going to greatly diminish in the forseeable future.

“I don’t know where those numbers come from,” said Bloomberg, speaking on WOR 710 this morning. “There’s no rational independent group that would say it.”

“In fact,” the mayor added, “John Liu’s own studies show just how bad the problem is. So, campaign speeches have to be separated from reality.”

Update: Deputy Comptroller Alan van Capelle fires back. ”Dollars to doughnuts this out of touch Mayor has not even read our report. If he did, he would realize that pension costs will decrease due to reforms already enacted. His sincerity on pension reform would be more believable if he actually engaged in a substantive  conversation on the issue.”

By Azi Paybarah 6/06/11 11:45am

Budget Battles

Alternate Cuts to Spare Firehouses

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Finance Chairman Domenic Recchia propose alternate cuts they say can spare Mayor Bloomberg from having to close 20 fire companies.

Quinn and Recchia:

A mere 5 percent cut in the following areas of the contract budget alone would result in $50 million in savings – more than enough to Read More

By David Freedlander 6/01/11 4:36pm

Budget Battles

Quinn, Recchia Lay Out Their Own Education Cuts

Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Finance Chairman Dominic Recchia have laid out an alternative way to save $75 million from the Department of Education without laying off any teachers, as Mayor Mike Bloomberg has proposed.

The biggest saving in the Council’s alternative budget comes from questioning some off the DoE’s bean-counting. The Council has Read More

By Azi Paybarah 6/01/11 12:18pm

Budget Battles

(Jemal Countless/Getty Images)

Ring of Fire: Bill de Blasio, Bloomberg Critic, Blares Protest Song

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, outside a firehouse on the north shore of Staten Island, Bill de Blasio slipped between a throng of sweaty, angry protesters and was quickly ushered to a microphone stand.

“This mayor loves to brag how devoted he is to the numbers,” said Mr. de Blasio. “This is the fastest growing borough, and this borough needs more fire protection, not less. And the numbers show it.”

The crowd of more than 200 cheered. They had rallied in front of the 105-year-old, redbrick building that houses one of 20 fire companies slated to close as part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts.

“The mayor is saying to some parts of this city, ‘You’re going to be less safe,’ and somehow, you’re supposed to grin and bear it,” said Mr. de Blasio. “That’s not right and that’s not how a democracy works. That’s not the city government doing its job.” Read More

By Azi Paybarah 5/25/11 4:11pm

Budget Battles

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Critics of Marijuana Arrests Make an Economics Argument

City Council members Letitia James, Melissa Mark Viverito and Jumaane Williams joined protesters this morning who gathered on 5th Avenue and 79th Street — the corner where Mayor Bloomberg’s town house is located — to protest the city’s record of arresting mostly African-American and Latino people for minor drug offenses.

They tried connecting the city’s worsening economy with the expenses the city is paying to bust people for relatively low-level criminality.

Viverito: “During these tough economic times, when we are contemplating severe cuts to basic municipal and human services the $75 million we spend on marijuana arrests each year should be among the first places we look for savings.”

Williams: “We wasted between $50-$100 million alone last year arresting individuals for low-level marijuana violations, all at a time where the Mayor proposes cutting essential services to our children and seniors.”

James: “Our youth already have to worry about the lack of available jobs, which is difficult enough, the last thing they need is to be victims of illegal searches.” Read More

By Azi Paybarah 5/24/11 11:59am

Budget Battles

Opposing Bloomberg’s Budgets

The fight against Mayor Bloomberg’s budget is kicking up a notch.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is planning a “day of action” on Thursday (read: protest on the City Hall steps supporters at subway stops and schools across the city). His office claims 3,000 people signed his online petition to oppose the mayor’s 4,100 teacher layoffs (whose notices still have not been sent). Read More

By Azi Paybarah 5/18/11 5:25pm

Budget Battles

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Closing Fire Companies: The Report

A reader passes on the report detailing which firehouses the city may, potentially, close because of financial restraints.

City Councilwoman Margaret Chin of Lower Manhattan is already out with a statement saying considering closing two fire companies in her district “is unconscionable.”

Update: WNYC maps it out.

Update: Councilwoman Crowley, chair of the Fire and Criminal Justice Committee, said, “If the City moves forward with any of these closures, people who could have been saved will die.” Read More