Hundreds Rally at City Hall to Save Youth Programs
By Ryan Wenzel
Hundreds of children and parents descended on City Hall Park on March 28, chanting and holding handmade signs, to rally against proposed cuts to vital youth programs. Matthew Phifer, Henry Street’s Director of Education Services, served as the rally’s energetic emcee, keeping enthusiasm high throughout the hour-long event, which was organized by the Campaign for Children and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.
Mayor Bloomberg’s Preliminary Budget for 2014 would eliminate child care and after-school programs for more than 47,000 children.
A number of City Council Members, including Margaret Chin, who represents the Lower East Side, spoke at the rally in support of youth programs, and children from a number the programs entertained the crowd with singing, drumming, jump-roping and more.
