REMARKS
Council Member Restler's opening remarks on budget cut impacts
6:56:45
·
84 sec
Council Member Lincoln Restler opens the session by acknowledging the budget hearings and expressing serious concerns about the harmful effects of recent budget cuts on New York City communities. He emphasizes that these cuts are not part of a typical 'budget dance' but have had real and detrimental impacts on various services and programs.
- Highlights closures of libraries on Sundays and community compost programs
- Mentions layoffs and increased youth incarceration due to program cuts
- Expresses worry about further cuts proposed in the executive budget
Lincoln Restler
6:56:45
Thanks so much, chair Brannen.
6:56:46
And I just wanna say I think you did a terrific job over this, I don't know how very many weeks of hearings we had.
6:56:51
So did you, Mike.
6:56:52
You don't get enough credit.
6:56:53
You're here for all of them.
6:56:55
We appreciate you guys.
6:56:56
And I wanna say it's good to see you, Director Xiha.
6:56:58
It's good to see Tara up on the dais.
6:57:00
I you really needed your a plus plus team today to Yes.
6:57:03
Handle us.
6:57:04
But I, appreciate, your answers today.
6:57:09
I I just I feel like we get into this conversation every year of a budget dance.
6:57:15
And, you know, there's the administration makes threats of cuts and the council has to play defense.
6:57:22
But this year, what we experienced was not a budget dance at all.
6:57:26
It was serious harmful cuts that our communities have experienced.
6:57:31
We saw 100 of thousands of people couldn't go to libraries every Sunday.
6:57:35
All the community compost programs around my community are closed.
6:57:39
All across the city, they're closed.
6:57:40
100 of people have been laid off from their jobs.
6:57:43
The impact program at the Department of Probation and many other programs have been cut that have led to many more young people being incarcerated.
6:57:48
We now have twice as many kids incarcerated in New York City as when the mayor took office.
6:57:53
So we've seen deeply harmful effects of the cuts that have been imposed.
6:57:58
It's not a budget dance at all.
6:58:01
This is not a game at all.
6:58:02
And I'm, like, very concerned about the further cuts that are proposed in this executive budget.
