NYC Mayor Eric Adams Gonna Defund Nerdy Libraries Only Loser Geeks Use Anyway
Yeesh, this guy!
Republicans and other idiots might claim otherwise, but Democrats never defunded the police anywhere, especially not in New York City, where the police budget increased from $5.44 billion — yes, with a "b" — to $5.53 billion for fiscal year 2023. (The Juneteenth holiday apparently added $13.3 million to the budget.)
Here’s a funny section from last year’s City and State NY:
The NYPD usually ends up spending more than its allocated budget, and that will happen this year, as well. The NYPD is forecasted to directly spend $5.88 billion by the end of fiscal year 2022, on June 30. So by that measure, the $5.53 billion allocated this year is a significant reduction of more than $300 million – if the department sticks to the budget.
Yeah, we can assume they’ll blow through the budget again. What are you gonna do, call the cops on them?
Don’t fear. New York Mayor Eric Adams will trim the fat in other areas, ones where people have fewer guns.
The mayor’s proposed $102.7 billion budget — greater than all but a handful of states — would cut $20.7 million in baseline funding for the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library systems. The Adams budget would also ditch a $15.7 million “Libraries Initiative” Council created last year, for a total illiteracy investment of $36.2 million. Gothamist puts the cuts closer to $42 million or nine percent of the library system's total budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
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“We have become more efficient. But at some point you get to the bone,” New York Public Library President Anthony Marx said last week. “This may push us over the edge.”
Testifying before the City Council’s Cultural Affairs and Libraries Committees, Marx added, "The scale and magnitude of these cuts will impact our operations across the board, whether it be the capacity to open new branches, keep our current hours, maintain our collections or offer programs.”
Yeah, it won’t be as simple as just downgrading to exclusively softcover books.
New York City’s public library systems might have to consider Saturday closures, restricted weekday hours, cuts to educational programs and a freeze on new branch openings. Programs that might vanish include include “Storytime” for schoolchildren and literacy workshops for adults and kids.
Democratic Socialist Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban said at a rally Monday, "This is lifesaving, public safety infrastructure,” but a socialist would say that. Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for the mayor, disagrees that such drastic cuts would result in reduced service. (Of course, if you cut the police budget by a couple grand, they’d say they couldn’t afford to catch rapists.)
“All agencies have been informed since September that any savings initiatives must not affect services or include layoffs,” said Lutvak. “We will continue to evaluate their needs and work with them through the budget process.”
The library system was hurting for money already, with reported capital needs across all branches totaling millions of dollars. This includes updating boilers in branches and repairing bathrooms, which I can assure you is long overdue.
The city’s library branches are a vital resource for low-income New Yorkers. They offer free wi-fi, computer access, and after-school programs. There’s been a push to keep the branches open on Sundays, but Brooklyn Public Library President Linda Johnson said Adams’s budget would make Sunday service impossible and most likely also force her system’s branches to close on Saturdays. This would happen while library visits are increasing.
The New York Daily News reports:
Indeed, demand for library services has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Brooklyn alone, Johnson testified that her system issued a record 143,000 new library cards last year. Her system’s on track to issue another 170,000 this year, she added.
These cuts would obviously hit the city’s neediest the most, which is another example of how Adams is more like a moderate Republican (at best) than an actual Democrat.
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A lot of the City's poorest families use library computers & wifi for things like school applications, benefits applications & virtual appearances before agencies and (until recently) the courts. The knock on effects of cutting library budgets will hurt them a great deal.
How many more years left in this asshole's reign?