Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Budget Cuting and Willets Point

The NYC budget prospects are looking quite grim. The Daily Politics has the story:

"Mayor Bloomberg’s budget officials notified some City Council members this morning that they plan to order across-the-board cuts of every city agency — including the NYPD and the education department. They plan to slash 2% from agency budgets in the current fiscal year that ends next June, two sources said. The cuts are expected to save $500 million for the cash-strapped city. "

Yes "cash strapped city" has an ominous ring to it, doesn't it? So why are we allowing the city to speculate with the Willets Point development when across the board cuts are chopping away at vital city services-even the police? And the shortfall is $1.5 billion: "Hizzoner also plans to propose much deeper whacks — a 6% slam — for next FY to save $1.5 billion."

But that's because Bloomberg the Mayor is such a sharp fiscal manager, right? Still, with all this cutting that's going on no one has asked the administration to put a number on the cost of Willets Point-looking more and more like Bloomberg's Solyndra.

The last word belongs to Deputy Mayor Holloway-and his observation should prompt the city council to emerge from its slumber and ask the pointed but necessary questions: “We’re looking at extreme economic uncertainty and State and Federal governments that are likely to further cut funds they return to the City. We’ve preserved services essential to maintaining safety and quality of life to this point through prudent planning and a willingness to make the hard decisions, and we’ll do that again this year," said Cas Holloway, Deputy Mayor for Operations."