New York City, bullied by Albany and Washington?
First New York state’s new governor, Andrew Cuomo, picks on the city, then the next day the U.S. Senate kicks it around a little. So claims Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
After less than a month in office, Cuomo announced that he seeks to slash $659.4 million from aid to NYC as part of his effort to eliminate a $10 billion budget gap.
Next day, the Senate voted 81-17 to withdraw unspent federal monies already allocated to cities and states which could mar transit and hospital projects and assistance for the homeless in NYC.
“The residents of our five counties pay a disproportionate amount of state taxes, and they deserve the same level of support,” says Bloomy, who came to office as a Republican and switched to independent.
Many New Yorkers probably hate to say anything nice about Bloomy, but he has a point that can apply to both state and federal funds. Like other cities, NYC likely sends much more money to the state and federal governments than it gets back.
After all, more than half of New York state’s 19.5 million residents live downstate. NYC accounts for more than 8.2 million people and its combined population with Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island amounts to more than 11 million.
Cuomo, a Democrat who originally hails from Queens, now lives among New York’s upstate’s minority, by 25 miles. His home is in Mt. Kisco, Westchester County, a half-hour ride north of the boundary with the Bronx.
Cuomo’s $132.9 billion budget plan, unveiled on Tuesday, Feb. 1, would include a cut of $579.7 million from the school system. Bloomy claims that Cuomo’s reduction does not mention a walkback of $1.4 billion for NYC schools as part of $2 billion in promised state funds, according to The New York Daily News.
Also griping about unfunded mandates, the mayor declared, “Without those changes, we will be looking at thousands of layoffs in our schools and across city agencies…The budget does not treat New York City equitably. It eliminates 100 per cent of New York City’s revenue-sharing aid - more than $300 million - while cutting other localities by just 2%.”
Robert Megna, budget director for Cuomo, countered that Bloomy can draw from $2 billion in reserves and misrepresented the reduction in revenue-sharing aid, the News reported.
The day after Cuomo presented his budget, the U.S. Senate turned back an attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act which in turn led to approval of an amendment that jeopardizes projects in NYC, according to the News.
The amendment is intended to help small businesses follow the health-care law by ending arduous reporting and payment mandates, which triggered a $22 billion budget gap. The Senate in turn voted 81-17 to withhold that amount in unspent federal money previously granted to cities and states.
The News catalogued some of the programs that would affect New York state, including $1.1 billion for hospital projects; $184 million for high-speed and inter-city rail; $130 million in cyber security investments; $206 million for homeless assistance; $160 million in Section 8 housing aid; and $514 million for transit projects.
The Senate turned aside another amendment to cut subsidies for oil companies to fill the budget gap instead.
Gillibrand said, “We should end taxpayer giveaways to oil companies, not slash important funds for housing, hospitals and infrastructure in New York.”
Schumer added, “This particular version of the proposal cut the lifeblood of New York, including mass transit, cops on the beat and aid to schools at a time when our state can ill afford it. The best way to pass this measure without adding to the deficit is to repeal subsidies for the big oil companies, and that is the proposal I voted for.”
People who despise Bloomy might view this as poetic justice after the city’s mammoth snow cleanup failure, a $700 million contracting scandal and appointment of an unqualified schools chancellor.
Personalities aside, Bloomy, Schumer and Gillibrand are asking for the money back that the city already gave to Albany and Washington.
NYC turns over a high proportion of taxes to the state, and some of the money its citizens provide the federal treasury is spent on rural states that do not pull their weight.
For that matter, it makes one wonder why NYC needs to be attached to New York state any longer or fork over so much money to the feds. NYC and other cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles could probably be self-sufficient if they spent their state taxes and some of their federal taxes on themselves.
There have been calls in the past for making NYC its own state, as with Philadelphia and even Long Island. Some Staten Islanders have wanted to secede from NYC and some living in Far Rockaway wished to break away from Queens to join Long Island.
Clearly, some communities have been enriched at the expense of others. These conditions demand equity.
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