NYC program that helps survivors of crimes losing $3 million in budget cuts. Advocates say it's "life or death."
NEW YORK -- Advocates are calling on New York City to reverse a multimillion dollar budget cut to the Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP), which helps survivors of crimes like domestic abuse and gun violence.
Organizers held a rally outside City Hall during its public safety briefing Thursday to protest the $3 million cut to CVAP in this spring's adopted $111.6 billion city budget.
In response, Mayor Eric Adams' office prided itself on its $7.2 billion budget gap this year even while dealing with asylum seeker costs, saying the budget "invests in child care, education, public safety, cultural institutions, and so much more." It went on to say, "We look forward to partnering with the council to pass a budget New Yorkers deserve."
Survivors say Safe Horizon, CVAP offer much-needed safety, guidance
CVAP includes the organization Safe Horizon, which operates out of 77 precincts citywide and is considered by the organization to be the largest program of its kind in the nation, helping tens of thousands of New Yorkers a year.
Michelle Harris, a domestic abuse survivor, credits Safe Horizon for helping her navigate the process of taking her abuser to court, while empowering her to support her children on her own.
"It is life or death because, you know, it means a place that you could feel safe, that you can trust," Harris said.
"Mr. Mayor, we implore you to stand with survivors and to rescind this budget cut," Safe Horizon CEO Liz Roberts said.
Advocates say cutting these funds comes at the cost of public safety and the city's resilience.
"This proposed budget cut comes at a time when New Yorkers are deeply concerned about public safety, about shootings, about transit crime, about sexual assault," Roberts said.
"It helped a lot of people just like me that didn't feel comfortable speaking with the police and just needed a little bit of guidance as to what to do," one survivor said.
Many survivors themselves have paid it forward and are CVAP caseworkers.
"We need CVAP because without that, a lot of us standing here would not have been here today," survivor Heather Colbourne said.
