Bush Funds Transit Programs But Stiffs Other Services

President George W. Bush won praises for lavishing billions of dollars on New York City's major transit programs in his 2009 budget, but he was lambasted for slashing Medicare and other city services in the spending plan.

Praises came from Senator Charles Schumer and Congressmember Carolyn Maloney for the $211 million grant for the East Side Access Project that will bring LIRR trains into Grand Central Station in a decade or so. Those two lawmakers also commended the president for including $277 million in the budget for the long awaited Second Avenue subway on Manhattan's East Side.

Another $2 billion is headed toward the city for other Downtown Manhattan transit projects. Those funds are a renewal of tax credits for the New York Liberty Zone construction projects.

On the other side of the coin, Congressmember Anthony Weiner bristled at service cuts for city police, homeland security, health care, housing and education.

Among other cuts, funding for 9/11 health care goes down from $108 million to just $25 million, reimbursements to hospitals that treat low-income patients are cut by $20.6 billion over the next five years; New York City's share of homeland security funds is $6.7 million less than in 2006; and for the seventh year in a row, funding for police services, totalling $2.4 million to hire 53 new police officers, was cut from the budget.

Weiner said the city will receive $8.4 million less than in 2006 for the Individuals With Disabilities Act program and another $30 million for the fight against poverty has been lost.- John Toscano