Students Petition Governor Paterson

Students from the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation and PS 81 (Bronx, NY), Rachel Carson High School of Coastal Studies (Brooklyn, NY), and IS 230 (Queens, NY) recently presented more than 12,000 petitions, letters of support, and drawings created by children from all five boroughs and Westchester County regarding proposed budget cuts to the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium to representatives at Governor Paterson’s office in Manhattan.

The governor has proposed elimination of the $9 million state budget for the Zoos, Botanical Gardens, and Aquariums program fund. The students spoke about how this funding cut would directly affect their learning, specifically regarding education programs at the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium.

To date, more than 75,000 messages, including petitions and emails, have been sent to Albany asking that zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums receive the funding they need as they face dwindling private donations and repercussions due to a volatile stock market.

Zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums are integral to New York state’s local communities, attracting more than 12 million tourists a year that also help local merchants with revenue.

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Updated: 3/06/2009