Make the Road New York
navigation
whoweare howwework whatwedo press participate

September 26, 2012

Audio Broadcast: Locals Vow Youth Service Cuts Won’t Stand

By  Mike Clifford / Public News Service


NEW YORK - The midyear cuts to youth programs in this year's Nassau County budget are now a full-year proposition for next year's budget - and local opposition to the cuts is growing.

Mimi Pierre Johnson, who has a son in kindergarten and is an organizer with New York Communities for Change, is one of the approximately 1,000 Nassau County residents who say they'll send messages to county lawmakers letting them know they need to find $7 million in next year's budget for youth programs.

"Especially on Long Island, where the mortgages are so high, taxes are so high and they are already struggling; to cut youth programs that help parents to know that their kids are safe from 3 o'clock until 6 o'clock - it's unimaginable as a mother."

Karina Claudio, lead organizer for Make the Road New York, says her group is helping hundreds of local families send the message to county lawmakers that the youth-service cuts are unacceptable. Her group is also concerned with cuts to other human services, which she says fall disproportionately on local immigrants and seniors.

"So, we're asking them to restore funding and to find a resolution in the new budget that just came out last week, that would put people before politics."

Steve McFarland, lead Long Island organizer for the Center for Popular Democracy, says the county will pay more in the long run for cuts to vital services such as after-school reading and gang-prevention programs.

"But it's also an investment in the kids and an investment in the communities for the future. If we don't have these programs to help keep them occupied and to help them succeed in school, that's going to have costs down the road."

The Nassau County Youth Board ran out of funding two months ago, after $4 million in midyear budget cuts, but the office remained in operation through private donations until last Friday, when it had to shut its doors.

To listen to the audio broadcast, click here.


More on: Expanding Civil Rights 

DonateNow


Historic Paid Sick Days Victory in NYC!

New York City just became the largest city in the U.S.to win paid sick days! On May 8, 2013, the City Council passed legislation to require paid sick days for one million New Yorkers. Without this critical legal protection, workers risk losing their jobs for taking a sick day. When workers go in to work sick, they put the public and their co-workers at risk of disease.

Starting April 2014, all workers will be protected from being fired if they must take a sick day to care for themselves or a sick family member, and workers at larger employers will receive 5 paid days of sick leave each year.

This major workplace justice and public health victory is the product of a four-year campaign led by courageous workers and small businesses who stood up for what’s right. We thank our partners at the Working Families Party, the NYS Paid Family Leave Coalition, SEIU 32BJ, the Progressive Caucus, Speaker Quinn and Council Members Brewer and Ferreras, for standing with us for NYC’s workers.


No Events at this time