Parents opposed to the mayor’s statement to eliminate crossing guards

Gian Carlos Rosas works two schedules, from 7 to 10 in the morning, and from 1 to 4 in the afternoon. Stopping cars for school children to cross is their daily mission, a job that Mayor Adams suggested parents could do, due to budget cuts.

“The work is ours and that’s why I like my job, I like to help the entire community, not just for the money,” said Rosas.

Mayor Adams’ statements have already caused angry reactions from parents, who have indicated that this is not their job and that the salary paid to said personnel is deducted from the taxes of all New Yorkers.

“This avenue is very dangerous because of the two schools, it is very important for the safety of the children and us, the elderly or minors or whatever,” said Trinidad Reyes, a resident of Washington Heights.

A few days ago, Staten Island elected officials blamed the Adams administration for these cuts, pointing out that it is due to the enormous expense the city is incurring in keeping immigrants seeking asylum in New York City.

It is estimated that this sum would be around 12 billion dollars in three fiscal years. In fact, the mayor has given all municipal entities until this month to cut 5% of the budget.

Halsen Almonte barely has time to drop her daughter off at school,

“Well, I could, but that job wouldn’t be good for them to take away because they do a good job,” Almonte said.

Those who would also be affected are the school security guards, who review the entry of firearms into the schools.

“Imagine when you go to work, you come to drop off and it’s still difficult and sometimes you don’t have time,” said Lisset Rivera, mother of the family.

“We have to do an evaluation of the budget… we have to find a way to rotate staff as much as we can,” the mayor said.

Recently 250 officers were trained to do street crossing work, they have not been given jobs due to budget cuts.