By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The New York City Council agreed Thursday night on a budget that would cut jobs and services but not raise taxes
Senior centers, day care programs and adult literacy programs were all on the chopping block, along with an unspecified number of city jobs which will be cut through both layoffs and attrition, the New York Times reported.
At least 2,000 teaching jobs will be among those lost, the mayor told the Times, though the number might have been twice that if not for his decision to renege on planned pay increases for teachers and principals.
Even with the cuts, the council's $63 billion budget would increase spending by 6 percent (or, $3.6 billion), due to the rising cost of pensions and health care, the Times noted.
“We faced up to our responsibilities as well as to financial realities,” Bloomberg told the paper. “Make no mistake about it: These cuts are real.”
Still, council members focused on the programs that had been saved from sacrifice, including 20 firehouses, caseworker jobs at the Administration for Children's Services and public swimming pools, which were to be slashed, the Times said.
The budget will go into effect on July 1, pending formal approval by the council, which is expected next week, according to the Times.
