Mayor Bloomberg is proposing a total city budget that exceeds $68.7 billion this year.
Bloomberg presented his budget proposal Thursday. He has until the end of June to negotiate a final version with the City Council.
Bloomberg said that hard times for Wall Street firms are responsible for much of an unexpected shortfall. Tax revenues for next fiscal year are expected to be $352 million lower than anticipated.
About half of the 52,000 children currently in city-sponsored after-school and early childhood programs serving low-income neighborhoods would lose their spots under the proposal.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn says restoring more than $125 million to those programs and to child-care initiatives is a negotiating priority for her.
The mayor says he, too, is concerned about the program cuts.
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