New York City Council approved December 19 Mayor Giuliani’s modified plan to trim the city budget by $766 million, restoring $10 million to the $26 million originally cut in aid to the New York, Brooklyn, and Queens public libraries.
A further $12 million could be restored, the New York Times reported December 20, by an agreement to provide a 3-to-1 match for every dollar the libraries can raise in private donations. The libraries could thus come out even by raising $4 million on their own.
Officials acknowledged, however, that the current budget will do little to help the city’s fiscal problems next year, when it faces a budget gap estimated at $3.6 to $4.7 billion.
Posted December 24, 2001.