As of now, the Out of School Time program reaches 154 schools in Brooklyn. According to its website, it offers "a mix of academic, recreational and cultural activities for young people (grades K-12) after school" and is free of charge. It's also a relief to parents who work longer hours and rely on the program to watch over their children into the evening.

But, according to a new report out by The Daily News, it looks like almost 10,000 kids in Brooklyn who participate in the program are out of luck this fall.

The OST program houses 52,567 students every weekday city-wide. This number will be halved once the budget cuts from Bloomberg's administration are installed. Here's the data: this year, the budget was $91.5 million; next time school is in session, the funds will have dropped to $73.3 million. Instead of 154 programs, Brooklyn will be left with 77 overloaded OST's, pushing 10,000 kids out of the program. And none of the parents involved are too happy about it.
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Sam Levin

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, responding to the mayor's budget proposal this afternoon.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg released his $68.7 billion executive budget proposal today and patted himself on the back for leading the city in a speedy recovery that's better than the rest of the country. The new budget for 2013 has no tax increases and relies on $6.2 billion in savings generated through deficit closing actions his city agencies have taken since 2007, the mayor reported today at City Hall.

He began his presentation by telling reporters that the city's job growth has improved faster than the rest of the country, thanks to the diverse economy he has supported and the many successful industries that are attracting folks to New York.

Of note, the mayor's budget increases city funding for education from $13.3 billion in 2012 to $13.6 billion in 2013, which will up the total number of teachers in the school system and maintain overall funding levels -- a part of the budget that the City Council and its speaker are applauding.

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Sam Levin

City Councilwoman Diana Reyna at City Hall earlier this year. Today, she expressed concerns about child care cuts.

It's the budget dance!

It's that wonderful time of the year when advocacy groups take turns on the steps of City Hall protesting the budget cuts in their areas of interest. Last week, we reported on some advocates angry with the city's proposed cuts to HIV/AIDS services in the mayor's budget unveiled last month. Those guys went all out. Today, we've got for you another campaign of upset folks -- this time targeting potential losses to the city's after-school and child care programs.

Advocates from this newly-formed coalition called Campaign for Children say that this is more than just the typical dance, arguing that this time the proposed cuts threaten to significantly hurt early childhood education in the city.

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Cecil Hotel, a supportive housing project in Harlem.

At a time when social services are facing sometimes difficult cuts, one organization is celebrating the funding it received from the city to rehabilitate a housing project in Harlem that provides homes and services to the chronically homeless.

Housing and Services Inc., or HSI, -- an organization that develops and manages affordable housing for New Yorkers with special needs -- announced this week that it has completed construction on its rehabilitation project for supportive housing at the Cecil Hotel in Harlem and the Narragansett Hotel on the Upper West Side. The projects were awarded $16.4 million from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, HSI said.

The Cecil Hotel -- which in the 1990s was one of the city's first supportive housing projects of its kind according to HSI -- is located at 118th Street and St. Nicholas Ave. in a five-story building that once housed Minton's Playhouse, a legendary jazz club famous for its "bebop" music (The site is on the New York State Register of Historic Places).

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In the age of who-uses-paper-for-anything-ever-anymore, there's one casualty in New York City that has activists from across the five boroughs up in arms: the post offices.

This month, a group of advocates are rallying together to bring attention to the United States Postal Service's plan to potentially shut down post offices throughout the city this year. The growing protest, organized through a newly-formed group called Community Labor United for Postal Jobs and Services, is targeting the Postal Service for planning closures that organizers say will disproportionately impact working class and low-income families in communities of color in the city. USPS, though, says that it is trying to tighten its belt in the face of dire financial challenges across the country and that it is choosing closures based on careful studies and specific criteria.

And last night, the effort got fresh support from Zuccotti Park -- the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly and the OWS labor committee endorsed a plan to demonstrate this month at post offices throughout the city.

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Sam Levin

Elected officials and nonprofit groups rallied this morning before the mayor announced his budget.

Announcing the city's annual budget today, Mayor Mike Bloomberg said he would not be increasing taxes and he would not be laying off teachers, police officers, or firefighters. He said it multiple times. Runnin' Scared, watching a live feed of his announcement, counted at least three times. Can you hear him, folks? Just in case you missed it -- no new taxes and no layoffs for uniformed workers.

He went over a lot of other stuff, too.

The preliminary 2013 budget is a $68.7 billion plan with a city-funded portion of $50.7 million.

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Mayor Bloomberg is expected to take a break from scrapping with the teacher's union today to unveil his preliminary plan for next year's city budget. The city currently faces a $2 billion budget shortfall, thanks to unexpected costs incurred from October's freak blizzard and Hurricane Irene, and increasing pension needs.

So far, the city has made up the difference by selling an additional 2,000 taxi medallions, and cashing out $1 billion from a rainy-day health care trust fund that will likely be bankrupt by the time Bloomberg leaves office.

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What sucks even more than commuting to work?

Having to wait longer and pay more to commute to work, that is.

Unfortunately, it looks like that's exactly what's happening in New York.

Check it out: Transportation Alternatives, a commuter-advocacy group, surveyed a bunch of New Yorkers last week to see how happy they were with subway and bus service.

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Electeds like to talk -- but U.S. Sen. Kirsten ​Gillibrand came to the Bronx today to listen. More >>

The MTA Board met this morning to present and discuss its newest financial plan for 2012 through 2015, a plan still in its preliminary stages. To everyone's likely dismay, it projects fare increases, but also promises no service cuts based on the budget. "[The plan] presents at least a fragile stability for the organization," outgoing MTA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Walder said at the meeting.

"Fragile" is...well, we'll take what we can get.

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