Dubai Debt Issues Push Stocks Down
GMA: Adam Lambert, No; Chris Brown, Yes
Report: Wife Scratched Tiger Woods' Face, Chased His SUV; Update: Police Unable To Interview Couple Today
Family Gets Early Christmas Gift From Ellen DeGeneres
Street Artist Proposes on Subway Signage
There's more bad news for New York's animals, and the humans that take care of them: The Daily News is reporting that Bronx Zoo and New York aquarium staffs are facing layoffs in light of the proposed budget cuts. "As many as 130 staffers could be laid off," they told the paper, who reiterates that "The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the facilities, is facing $15 million in government funding cuts from its $103 million annual budget this year, and the state will cut off all funding in 2010." The layoffs will hit everyone (and the porcupine was already let go), from administration to sales to groundskeeping—sending both union and non-union employees to the unemployment office. The news was delivered to staff yesterday by WCS President Steven Sanderson, who told the paper that, in the end, if they can't afford to keep the animals, "then we have to try to find a better place for them."
Bronx Zoo, NY Aquarium Face Layoffs
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebookComments (6) [rss]
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
Tips
Newsmap
Contribute
Close the smaller zoos like the one in Central Park and keep the Bronx Zoo as it is. Same thing with the Botanical Gardens. Either the Brooklyn or the Bronx Botanical garden not both.
Maybe this isn't valid, but I was thinking maybe the Central Park Zoo gets larger donations and more traffic than you think because of it's location and the movie Madagascar? I could be full of it though.
Maybe The Wildlife Conservation Society should cut back on funding some of their overseas adventures if they want to save money. Their budgets have dramatically increased over the past dozen or so years, so there is some bloat there.
The funding for the Bronx Zoo and the NY Aquarium versus the funding for these so-called "overseas adventures" come from two different sources. Cutting back on their global conservation program would not necessarily save any jobs at the BZ or the NYA because the money is coming from different sources. The lay-offs at the BZ and the NYA are a result of state cuts, and NY state funding is not what is funding overseas programs. While there may be "bloat" to trim, cutting the overseas program somehow is pretty unlikely to be what would save New York state employees.
That porcupine is the tip of the iceberg. Already a flamingo has been suspended and the giraffe took a final write-up for smoking.
Sanderson and other senior staff at the zoo pull down some pretty hefty salaries. It will be telling to see if they take some cuts or if it is just those lower in the pecking order who take the hit