14 The Queens Courier • FEBRUARY 13, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com politics de Blasio vows to end ‘Tale of Two Cities’ BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] In his first State of the City address, Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to battle the inequality gap, with plans to raise the city’s minimum wage, provide more affordable housing and further educational opportunities. Just a month after taking office, de Blasio laid out his ambitious agenda on Monday, February 10, during the speech at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City. “The state of our city, as we find it today, is a Tale of Two Cities – with an inequality gap that fundamentally threatens our future,” he said, referencing his campaign slogan. The mayor said the school’s namesake, former Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, and the college in many ways, represented his own vision for the city. “LaGuardia Community College is a place where New Yorkers from all walks of life can find a path to a future, with a good job and a shot at a better life,” de Blasio said. Before detailing his plans to help close the income gap, he warned of the budgetary challenges the city is facing, with more than 150 unsettled municipal contracts. But he promised to “navigate towards a future that is progressive and fiscally responsible.” He also vowed, through a series of measures, to “lift the floor for all New Yorkers.” “New York will only work when it works as one city,” he said. After de Blasio announced legislation to extend paid sick leave last month, he said he would continue to help the middle class and poor by working with the City Council to increase the number of living wage jobs offered by employers that the city subsidizes. The city will also ask Albany to give it the power to raise its minimum wage, he said. In his address, de Blasio pledged to preserve or construct nearly 200,000 units of affordable housing, and said that a newly appointed team of leaders at the city’s housing agencies would release a plan to do so by May 1. He additionally offered a plan to “protect the city’s almost half-million undocumented New Yorkers,” that would entail issuing municipal ID cards to all New Yorkers this year, regardless of immigration status. The mayor also said his administration would focus on Sandy recovery efforts “with a comprehensive review and updated plan.” De Blasio’s speech, however, did not waiver much from his message of closing the income gap. He said education was a key to ending the “Tale of Two Cities,” from prekindergarten to higher learning. The mayor vowed to expand STEM and health care-oriented training programs in high schools and at CUNY, and set other goals to make sure more high-quality jobs in the five boroughs are filled by those educated in the city’s schools. He also made his case for his plan for universal, full-day pre-kindergarten that would tax the rich to pay for it. “We’re simply asking Albany to allow New York City to tax itself – its wealthiest residents ... those making a halfmillion or more a year,” de Blasio said. Mayor’s budget: Focus on education, paid sick leave BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA financial concern, he said. [email protected] The budget’s “centerpiece” was education, the mayor said, and provided for his universal pre-kindergarten Mayor Bill de Blasio, presenting his preliminary and after-school expansion programs. budget, promised a fiscally responsible, progressive They would be paid for with $530 million in revenue and honest financial plan for the city. that would come from a .0534 percent increase The budget process is “one that puts us on the road in the personal income tax rate for households earning to giving hardworking New Yorkers a fair shot,” de more than $500,000 per year. Blasio said, when he issued the preliminary budget The budget also asks the state for an additional for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 on Wednesday, February 12. $500 million to fund improvements to the city’s public For the current year, FY 2014, the budget remains schools. balanced by relying on $1 billion from the prior year, Several other initiatives announced by the mayor according to the mayor. The FY 2015 plan currently will continue to be funded through FY 2015, including relies on $1.8 billion of resources from the prior year an independent NYPD inspector general and an for balance, but the city is already facing a deficit of expansion of paid sick leave. $1.1 billion for FY 2016, he said. With the recent unusually snowy weather, an One financial concern facing the city is the more extra $35 million has been added to the previously than 150 labor contracts that are still unresolved. budgeted $57 million for the Department The preliminary budget is an initial plan to meet the of Sanitation’s storm response operations for the remainder of the season. The budget additionally redirects resources for New York City Housing Authority repairs and maintenance, bolsters homeless services, and improves access to mental health services. In presenting the budget, the mayor promised to “end the budget dance” by restoring $59 million for 20 fire companies that were previously cut from the FY 2015 budget and $10 million in funding for the borough presidents and public advocate. One billion dollars will also be restored to the Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund, which pays for the cost of retiree health benefits for city workers. The mayor also discussed the city’s economic outlook saying that the real estate market showed positive recovery signs. But the city’s affordability and unemployment remained a problem, he said. De Blasio added there were federal financial uncertainties, which included Sandy recovery money. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam LaGuerre
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