For
Staten Island
lawmakers, it's a
case of deja vu all
over again as they
prepare to once
again fight the
disbanding of an
FDNY engine company
and to keep nurses
in all schools.
In order to help
close a $5 billion
budget gap next
year, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg today said
he could look to
close up to 20 fire
engine companies,
including Engine 161
in South Beach, and
eliminate nurses in
elementary schools
with less than 300
pupils.
Engine 157 in Port
Richmond also could
be targeted for
closure.
"There are serious
budget implications
for Staten Island,"
said City Councilman
James Oddo
(R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn).
"But we
have a say in the
process. We will
fight tooth and nail
the cuts that
disproportionally
affect us."
Engine 161 and other
firehouses avoided
closure in last
year's budget deal.
The Council in 2004
passed legislation,
authored by
then-Councilman
Michael McMahon, to
have a nurse in
nearly every city
school, including
parochial and
private schools.
Public school
teachers would also
take a hit in the
budget, with the
mayor asking
teachers to take a 2
percent pay raise,
half of what the
city usually offers
during negotiations.
Otherwise, the mayor
could look to cut
2,500 teachers
through a mix of
attrition and
layoffs.
A total of 4,286
city workers could
lose their jobs,
Bloomberg said, with
3,452 gone through
attrition and
another 834 through
layoffs.
But while Bloomberg
said that uniformed
services would be
spared from layoffs,
his plan calls for a
reduction in police
headcount by 892
through attrition.
"I anticipate some
pushback on having
the number of cops
go down," said Oddo.
Councilman Vincent
Ignizio (R-South
Shore) said that he
would be concerned
that the NYPD
wouldn't be able to
respond to an uptick
in crime if the
police headcount
gets much lower.
"We will not allow
to stand hits to
police, fire and
nurses," he said.
But Oddo and Ignizio
stressed that
Bloomberg's budget
announcement was
just the first step
in the process.
"At the end of the
day, we will have a
consensus budget,"
said Ignizio.
Councilwoman Debi
Rose (D-North Shore)
said she would look
for help from state
lawmakers to ensure
that projects don't
go off track.
"The mayor has
indicated that
there's nothing left
to cut but people,"
she said. "We're
trying to mitigate
the hardship."
Ms. Rose declined to
say whether she
would back the
lower-than-normal
pay raises for
teachers.
"Teachers have
waited a long time
for their increase,"
she said. "I really
want to look at
that."
Ms. Rose pledged to
fight against losing
Engine 161.
"We can't afford a
decrease in
service," she said.
The plan also calls
for the closure of
four city pools and
a shortening of the
pool season by two
weeks. Public
library subsidies
would also be cut,
meaning some
libraries would have
to close or cut
their hours some
days.
