As formal budget negotiations get under way homeless advocates have outlined a series of long-term priorities and acute coronavirus-related needs they say the city must fund.
Youth advocates and SYEP participants say cancelling the program this summer will be a financial hit to low-income youth who rely on those jobs.
‘In these scary days of coronavirus, Central Park and the other green spaces in our city refresh and reassure us; even though we need to stay six feet apart due to social-distancing, the parks beckon.’
The mayor’s proposed cuts are ‘devastating and a further disadvantage for schools that were struggling before a pandemic. Combined with the concentrated impact of the virus on low-income families, it’s crippling.’
‘Make no mistake: budget cuts to healthcare won’t reduce the spread of coronavirus or lessen its impact. In fact, as we have seen in Washington state, cuts that force more people into nursing homes will worsen the impact.’
Overall, the budget for the Department for The Aging will grow 13 percent in 2020 from the previous year, reaching $411 million.
‘CLTs won’t be able to achieve their potential without meaningful support from our city government.’
Advocates want the de Blasio administration to boost the legal staff that goes after landlords who allegedly violate a 2008 law banning discrimination based on the type of legal income used to pay rent.
‘Parks are critical urban infrastructure. Parks don’t just make New York City tolerable – they make it livable. They are the soul of our city. And they are at a breaking point.’
The nonprofits that deliver much of the mayor’s signature initiative say the city’s new program structure suffers from multiple flaws—beyond the issue of pay parity.
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