By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
BATTERY PARK CITY — I.S. 289 in Battery Park City will not lose its after-school program this fall, thanks to a last-minute restoration in the city’s final budget.
The budget, which the City Council passed Tuesday evening, restores over $120,000 to the Battery Park City middle school’s program, Councilwoman Margaret Chin said.
“In a year of painful budget cuts, I’m so thrilled we were able to save this after-school program,” Chin said in a statement. “It’s an essential resource for parents and kids in lower Manhattan, and will continue to be in the future.”
Chin’s office said it appeared the Council had also rescued most or all of the 32 other after-school programs that were slated to be cut at middle schools across the city.
Toni Robinson, 47, president of I.S. 289’s PTA, said the free after-school program is essential for the 200 students it serves, because it provides all of I.S. 289’s sports teams, plus theater productions, homework help and more.
Bob Townley, executive director of Manhattan Youth, which runs the I.S. 289 after-school program, said he, too, is glad to see the funding restored, but the city never should have put schools and nonprofit program operators in this position to begin with.
“I still remain astonished [that the city considered the cuts],” said Townley.
Last month, I.S. 289 students and parents wrote letters to city officials and rallied in City Hall Park in an effort to prevent the cuts. Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilman Lewis Fidler, chairman of Youth Services, also helped to draw attention to the issue and get the money restored, Chin said.
