CB7 Members Decry Cuts in Pataki Budget

An unusually quiet audience characterized Community Board 7's monthly meeting last week, as community members came to grips with New York Governor George Pataki's (R) recently announced large-scale budget cuts and the effects they will have on New York City.

At the meeting, several key community representatives offered grim reports about city and state finances, with some speakers characterizing Pataki's cost-cutting plan as misguided and unfair.

Newly appointed Community District Chief Scott Schriver outlined Pataki's plan and its ramifications for the city.

After highlighting multi-billion-dollar reductions in spending in recent years, Schriver cemented a forecast of over $9 billion in further cuts and what he said will amount to a tax increase for New York City residents.

"We're already facing what is effectively a tax increase in the subway fare increase," Schriver said, "with more to come in the future."

Pataki's cuts are necessitated by a major deficit in the state budget that has been aggravated by the lagging economy since Sept. 11, 2001.

New York City, meanwhile, is experiencing a $3 billion budget deficit of its own, making Pataki's cuts especially tough for local policymakers to handle.

Specifically, the future as crafted by Pataki holds substantial cuts to areas like Medicaid and education. In addition, virtually all bureaucratic departments will have their budgets decreased.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (R) notable silence at the official announcement of Pataki's plan spoke to the gravity of these cuts in a city already experiencing financial woes.

The governor expressed hope that the state could recoup some of its budgetary shortfalls through a forthcoming legal settlement with the tobacco industry. But even with this hope, no one is denying that major cuts will have to be made.

New York City residents are especially concerned about the cuts. Many residents believe that the cuts, as Assemblyman Sheldon Silver (D) told CBS News, "seem aimed directly at New York City."
That sentiment was a primary focus of last week's CB7 meeting.
Schriver asserted that New York State is economically dependent on the city, and said that it was unfair that many of the budget cuts would fall squarely on the city.

The structure of New York politics, he said, hinges heavily on metropolitan interests. "What gets decided up there [in Albany] depends on what happens down here. Without the city, it all falls apart," Schriver said.

"New York is giving and giving and not getting back nearly the same amount," he added.

Schriver pointed out that had Pataki wanted, he could have cut funding and pushed for tax increases in a way that would affect different regions of the state more equally.

"Ultimately it's the tax cuts up in Albany coming down on us," Schriver said.

In defense of Pataki, one CB7 member said that New York City's large resource consumption justifies the budget cuts to the city.
"In fairness," he said, "New York City is the largest consumer of state resources."

But Schriver countered that argument by saying that the economic benefits--in tourism, for example--that the city provides outweigh its consumption of state resources.

Schriver also criticized tuition increases at the State University of New York and City University of New York, arguing that tuition hikes have driven many students away from degree programs entirely.
Without university degrees, Schriver said, young New Yorkers "will not be able to become the kind of taxpayers they could be."

Schriver applauded Bloomberg's disapproval of Pataki's budget proposal.

Bloomberg himself has made significant cuts to the city's budget, but Schriver distinguished those from Pataki's proposal by saying that Bloomberg's cuts took into better consideration the needs of the city.

In the past year, New York City has lost its glass and plastic recycling program and has taken substantial cuts in funding for police operations, schools, libraries, mail collection, street cleaning, and numerous other resources already pared down in the days following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Schriver recalled the events of Sept. 11 in his own presentation, comparing their impact on New Yorkers' quality of life with the impact that Pataki's budget cuts would have.

"Obviously New York City was dealt a crushing blow by the attacks," he said, "and the impact of these measures on future lives will be much the same."

Other local representatives have joined Schriver in his condemnation of Pataki's budget cuts.

In an interview with CBS News, State Senator Eric Schneiderman (D), who represents the Upper West Side, said that "if you really look at things since Sept. 11, the state of New York is doing worse by the city of New York than it was prior to Sept. 11."

Schneiderman went on to describe Pataki's budget as "baffling."
At last week's CB7 meeting, Manhattan Borough President C.

Virginia Fields (D) delivered an impassioned address that echoed many of Schriver's words on the necessity of preserving the state's largest metropolis. In a departure from the meeting's generally solemn demeanor, a rousing echo of "New York" emanated from the crowd as she opened by asking what city provided the largest source of income for the state.

Fields reminded all present that hearings on fare increases for New York City subways and buses begin this month. New York City, Fields explained, boasts 85 percent ridership of its mass transit system, yet receives sufficient subsidy money from the state to cover only 63 percent usage.

"The MTA has not provided sufficient justification for a fare increase," Fields said, "and it's clear that their policy is not as transparent as it should be. We saw that with the recent negotiations between MTA employees and the Transit Workers Union."

City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D) offered more optimistic news in her update on proposed tax increases, saying that the possibility of personal income tax changes is slim to none. "It's been made clear that more personal income tax is something we don't want," she said.

Brewer also remarked on the increase in Single Room Occupancy sheltering of homeless individuals. Despite increasingly problematic issues with rent control, she said, the city has succeeded in taking positive steps to give the homeless an accessible if temporary alternative to the streets.