Updated 06/11/2010 11:28 PM
Students Stage Walkout Over MetroCard Elimination |
Hundreds of city students walked out of class Friday afternoon to protest the proposed elimination of their student MetroCards.
Do you support the school walkout over the MTA's planned MetroCard cuts? Should the city contribute more toward funding student transportation? Join the conversation on "The Call" at 9 p.m. with NY1's John Schiumo, or email your thoughts.
About 1,000 students from 23 high schools in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens met at a rally at City Hall Park, marched across the Brooklyn Bridge and briefly rallied at the Transit Building on Jay Street in Brooklyn to protest the planned cut.At Bushwick Community High School, 60 seniors walked out of class at noon.
Some protesters told NY1 they could not afford to go to school without the free rides.
"We all came out because we can't make it without our MetroCards," said one student. "We cannot afford it, we cannot pay. Some of us are on food stamps."
"A lot of people are angry because we need these MetroCards so we can get back and forth to school," said another. "A lot of us don't live around here and this school helps us a lot because we don't have good schools around us."
"It's not right that we have to fight here when it's a simple process," said a third student protester. "You give us our MetroCards and we can get our work done."
Fernando Castro, a protester from Francis Lewis High School in Queens, wanted to make sure his voice was heard."I really do need a MetroCard to get to school because I have no other way to get to school. Like, right now with the economy, my parents don't have money to give me for school," said Castro.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed cutting the free MetroCards as part of its effort to close an $800 million budget gap.
The city, state, and MTA have shared the cost of the program, but the state's share has been held up in budget negotiations.
While the number of protesters fell short of organizers' original expectations of 2,400 students, those who participated said the demonstration was necessary.
"We've had numerous meetings and rallies and events before, but we haven't gotten a concrete answer as to trying to save student MetroCards, so we had to resort to this," said Chanwatie Ramnauth of the Urban Youth Collaborative.
While the teachers' union did not condone the early departure from school, the union president praised the students for taking a stand.
"We do not support students leaving school early, but we applaud them standing up for their families," said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. "They are right to be outraged."
The mayor's office has said the city still has its share of the funding in place. Mayor Michael Bloomberg added that today's action toward the city is misdirected.
"I've cut back police, fire, everything else, not that," said the mayor on his radio show this morning. "That's all we can do. We're not going to make up for the state. We just cannot do that in any circumstances. So maybe they should be at the state Capitol steps and not the City Hall steps."
The protest came a day after Bloomberg announced a program to combat truancy among students.
Despite the student walkouts, citywide school attendance went relatively unchanged.
Department of Education officials said the attendance rate at schools citywide was 84 percent on Friday, compared with just more than 80 percent at the same time last year.
The same proved true for city high schools, where the attendance rate was 69.8 percent Friday, compared to 66 percent this time last year.
DOE officials looked at the attendance rate for June 5, 2009, the day after all public schools were closed for Brooklyn-Queens Day.
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New details emerged today about the city’s wealthiest resident, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with the release of his latest tax return. Bloomberg is worth an estimated $18 billion and is believed to be the wealthiest person in New York City and the 23rd richest man in the world, according to Forbes Magazine.
Last year, the mayor gave some of his money – more than $500,000 – to a trust set up for his ex-wife, Susan Bloomberg. The couple divorced in 1993, but remains friendly; his ex-wife sat in the front row at his first inauguration in 2002.
Since the mayor doesn't list specific dollar figures on his financial disclosure form and tax return that is shared with the press, it is not publicly known exactly how much Ms. Bloomberg received. It could, in fact, be much more than $500,000.
A spokesman for the mayor says Bloomberg's tax returns that are shared with the press do not show specific dollar amounts to protect the mayor's company, Bloomberg LP.
"He wants to show New Yorkers where that money is coming from, and the preponderance of it is coming from his company,” said spokesman Stu Loeser. “Because he is the majority owner of a company in a highly-competitive industry, giving out specific details would reveal company secrets that would hurt the company without increasing the knowledge New Yorkers would gain about where his money's coming from.”
According to his tax return, the mayor also had a much better year with his investments in 2009 than he did in 2008. He lost money in 2008, when the economy took a nosedive. Last year, while he made money on his investments, his tax return showed the gains were not enough to offset the earlier losses.
One clear example of the scope of the mayor's wealth is the amount he spends on his personal household staff. The mayor paid between $250,000 and $500,000 in household employment taxes – not salaries, but taxes – for his household staff in 2009. That's an increase from last year, when he paid between $100,000 and $250,000 in taxes for his personal staff.
He also has some interesting income sources. In addition to the $1 annual salary he earns as mayor, the mayor made between $60,000 and $100,000 for leasing a horse and a stable. His daughter is a competitive horseback rider and he collected thousands of dollars in horse show winnings. The mayor was also paid for appearing in a Muppets Christmas special.
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Both Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg remained hopeful Friday that a state government shutdown will be avoided, but said they will be prepared for the worst.The governor's office released his latest weekly emergency spending bill, which is scheduled to be voted on Monday. It includes a total of $327 million in cuts to human service and mental hygiene programs to help bridge the state's $9.2 billion budget deficit.
Two Democratic state senators threatened not to vote for the bill, but State Senate Republicans said they could actually sign off on the legislation, keeping things running for at least another week.
"I am not going to be intimidated or threatened, by 'Do this or we're going to do that.' I'm not going to be transactional in this process. I'm doing what's right for the people of New York," said the governor. "I'm following the law and they need to follow the law as well."
Bloomberg said no matter what happens in Albany, the city can cope for now.
"If it went on for a long time, then there would be serious consequences to the city. If it were to happen overnight, New Yorkers would go about their business and probably not notice it," said Bloomberg. "There is nothing we can’t cover short-term."
The state has been without a budget for 72 days.
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Senator Charles Schumer is hoping to come to the rescue of transit riders. Schumer is one of eight senators sponsoring a bill that would provide $2 billion in emergency funding to transit systems across the country, with an estimated $345 million going to the New York metropolitan area.
The senator said the money could be used to avert massive service cuts and worker layoffs.
"This applies to many, many metropolitan areas across the country. We have measures that help our cops and our firefighters and our teachers and that's good. We should just as much go to bat for our transit systems and our transit workers, and that's what we're doing here," said Schumer.
As of late Friday, it was unclear if the bill has enough support to be enacted.
Some protesters told NY1 they could not afford to go to school without the free rides.
"We all came out because we can't make it without our MetroCards," said one student. "We cannot afford it, we cannot pay. Some of us are on food stamps."
"A lot of people are angry because we need these MetroCards so we can get back and forth to school," said another. "A lot of us don't live around here and this school helps us a lot because we don't have good schools around us."
"It's not right that we have to fight here when it's a simple process," said a third student protester. "You give us our MetroCards and we can get our work done."
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed cutting the free MetroCards as part of its effort to close an $800 million budget gap.
The city, state, and MTA have shared the cost of the program, but the state's share has been held up in budget negotiations.
While the number of protesters fell short of organizers' original expectations of 2,400 students, those who participated said the demonstration was necessary.
"We've had numerous meetings and rallies and events before, but we haven't gotten a concrete answer as to trying to save student MetroCards, so we had to resort to this," said Chanwatie Ramnauth of the Urban Youth Collaborative.
While the teachers' union did not condone the early departure from school, the union president praised the students for taking a stand.
"We do not support students leaving school early, but we applaud them standing up for their families," said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. "They are right to be outraged."
The mayor's office has said the city still has its share of the funding in place. Mayor Michael Bloomberg added that today's action toward the city is misdirected.
"I've cut back police, fire, everything else, not that," said the mayor on his radio show this morning. "That's all we can do. We're not going to make up for the state. We just cannot do that in any circumstances. So maybe they should be at the state Capitol steps and not the City Hall steps."
The protest came a day after Bloomberg announced a program to combat truancy among students.
Despite the student walkouts, citywide school attendance went relatively unchanged.
Department of Education officials said the attendance rate at schools citywide was 84 percent on Friday, compared with just more than 80 percent at the same time last year.
The same proved true for city high schools, where the attendance rate was 69.8 percent Friday, compared to 66 percent this time last year.
DOE officials looked at the attendance rate for June 5, 2009, the day after all public schools were closed for Brooklyn-Queens Day.
*****************************************************************************
Updated 06/11/2010 08:08 PM
Bloomberg Discloses Income Taxes
Last year, the mayor gave some of his money – more than $500,000 – to a trust set up for his ex-wife, Susan Bloomberg. The couple divorced in 1993, but remains friendly; his ex-wife sat in the front row at his first inauguration in 2002.
Since the mayor doesn't list specific dollar figures on his financial disclosure form and tax return that is shared with the press, it is not publicly known exactly how much Ms. Bloomberg received. It could, in fact, be much more than $500,000.
A spokesman for the mayor says Bloomberg's tax returns that are shared with the press do not show specific dollar amounts to protect the mayor's company, Bloomberg LP.
"He wants to show New Yorkers where that money is coming from, and the preponderance of it is coming from his company,” said spokesman Stu Loeser. “Because he is the majority owner of a company in a highly-competitive industry, giving out specific details would reveal company secrets that would hurt the company without increasing the knowledge New Yorkers would gain about where his money's coming from.”
According to his tax return, the mayor also had a much better year with his investments in 2009 than he did in 2008. He lost money in 2008, when the economy took a nosedive. Last year, while he made money on his investments, his tax return showed the gains were not enough to offset the earlier losses.
One clear example of the scope of the mayor's wealth is the amount he spends on his personal household staff. The mayor paid between $250,000 and $500,000 in household employment taxes – not salaries, but taxes – for his household staff in 2009. That's an increase from last year, when he paid between $100,000 and $250,000 in taxes for his personal staff.
He also has some interesting income sources. In addition to the $1 annual salary he earns as mayor, the mayor made between $60,000 and $100,000 for leasing a horse and a stable. His daughter is a competitive horseback rider and he collected thousands of dollars in horse show winnings. The mayor was also paid for appearing in a Muppets Christmas special.
*****************************************************************************
Both Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg remained hopeful Friday that a state government shutdown will be avoided, but said they will be prepared for the worst.The governor's office released his latest weekly emergency spending bill, which is scheduled to be voted on Monday. It includes a total of $327 million in cuts to human service and mental hygiene programs to help bridge the state's $9.2 billion budget deficit.
Two Democratic state senators threatened not to vote for the bill, but State Senate Republicans said they could actually sign off on the legislation, keeping things running for at least another week.
"I am not going to be intimidated or threatened, by 'Do this or we're going to do that.' I'm not going to be transactional in this process. I'm doing what's right for the people of New York," said the governor. "I'm following the law and they need to follow the law as well."
Bloomberg said no matter what happens in Albany, the city can cope for now.
"If it went on for a long time, then there would be serious consequences to the city. If it were to happen overnight, New Yorkers would go about their business and probably not notice it," said Bloomberg. "There is nothing we can’t cover short-term."
The state has been without a budget for 72 days.
******************************************************************************
Senator Charles Schumer is hoping to come to the rescue of transit riders. Schumer is one of eight senators sponsoring a bill that would provide $2 billion in emergency funding to transit systems across the country, with an estimated $345 million going to the New York metropolitan area.
The senator said the money could be used to avert massive service cuts and worker layoffs.
"This applies to many, many metropolitan areas across the country. We have measures that help our cops and our firefighters and our teachers and that's good. We should just as much go to bat for our transit systems and our transit workers, and that's what we're doing here," said Schumer.
As of late Friday, it was unclear if the bill has enough support to be enacted.
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