Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned Monday of thousands of layoffs and painful cutbacks like the closing of a third of all senior centers if the proposed state budget goes through.
Bloomberg urged Albany lawmakers to legislate relief from state mandates that would ease the impact of inevitable cuts. Bloomberg says the city will take a $2 billion hit, while Governor Cuomo puts the cut at half that, $1 billion.
The mayor called again for legislation to allow principals to lay off as many 6,000 teachers based on merit and performance, rather than strictly by seniority. Otherwise, Bloomberg says, all schools will face a ``merry-go-round'' of lost teachers and replacements as well as the loss of motivated younger educators.
The mayor's annual lobbying trip to Albany takes on a different cast after Cuomo benefited from Bloomberg's endorsement in the fall elections. Now Cuomo isn't sparing the independent mayor's city in his $132.9 billion proposal.
Bloomberg contends the budget would shortchange the city by more than $2 billion and doesn't treat the five boroughs fairly or equally.
The losses would include $650 million in school aid, which could trigger massive teacher layoffs, and $301 million in in municipal aid.
Bloomberg also wants relief from costly state mandates, many of which protect union work.
Cuomo's budget would cut spending 2.7 percent and address a $10 billion deficit.
