Representatives from several community organizations that provide youth programs throughout the five boroughs came together at Bronx Borough Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 16, to protest the city’s budget cuts that will affect after-school and early childhood education programs.
Holding signs that read “Stop the Mayor’s Cuts” and “Save 3K for All,” the leaders of Good Shepherd Services and the Campaign for Children, along with the borough’s elected officials and other local nonprofit organizations, joined forces to rally against Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to cut the Department of Youth and Community Development’s budget by 5% along with cuts to other city agencies.
The rally, which was attended by Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Deputy Borough President Janet Peguero and Council Member Althea Stevens, was held not only as part of an attempt to reverse the mayor’s budget cuts, but also to make clear the important role that these education programs play in the Bronx and throughout the city.
The participants at the rally said that the 5% budget cut, which was announced in the Mayor’s November 2023 plan, jeopardizes after-school and early childhood education programs. The programs, according to the rallygoers, are essential for the city’s children and their educational future, fostering vital arts, sports and leadership skills.
Those in attendance repeatedly chanted, “Restore the cuts now!”
“They keep saying that services will not be cut, but it looks like we’re going to have to do more work with less people,” Stevens told the Bronx Times after the rally. “I think these budget cuts are going to affect everybody in different ways at different times — not only the providers, but the families and young people are going to feel it as well.”
Stevens, who added that the current fiscal climate is a difficult one, highlighted the lack of investment being made in the city’s younger generation as well as in youth programs.
“We will always be faced with making tough decisions, but our children shouldn’t be one of them,” added Stevens, who is also the chairperson of the Youth Services Committee. “Some of Adams’ cuts have been restored — but the work is not done.”
On Friday, Jan. 12, Adams did reverse the budget cuts to community schools across the city and restored $10 million in funding for the city’s Department of Education (DOE) community schools, along with announcing an $80 million investment in Summer Rising, the city’s summer program that connects 110,000 elementary and middle school students and provides them with experiences that will help strengthen their academic, social and emotional skills.
Good Shepherd Services and the Campaign for Children, along with other education providers across the city, are now urging City Hall to reverse its decision to cut budgets by 5% citywide.
“The mayor is doing the best he can to restore funding, but we need more,” Peguero said.
Kimberly Diaz, an early childhood educator, added that these “these programs are needed to prevent our children from falling through the cracks.”
