DNAinfo: Hundreds Rally Against After-School Cuts on Lower East Side

By Julie Shapiro

LOWER EAST SIDE — More than 500 people packed into P.S. 134/P.S. 137 on East Broadway Thursday night to rail against the mayor’s proposed cuts to after-school programs.

Elected officials rallied the crowd with chants of “What do we want? After-school! When do we want it? Now!” and then handed the microphone to a handful of the more than 27,000 children who are slated to lose their after-school programs in the fall.

“I am frightened about what will happen to me if after-school ends,” said Alexandria Woodcock, 10, a student at P.S. 110 on Delancey Street. “I am afraid of some of the people in my neighborhood…. I feel like the city doesn’t even care about us kids.”

The rally occurred several hours after Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled his executive budget, which slashes nearly 200 free after-school programs for elementary and middle school students across the city.

Read more at: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120504/lower-east-side/hundreds-rally-against-after-school-cuts-on-lower-east-side