Politics on the Hudson

Like a lot of people these days, Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone has financial problems. Well, to be clear, we’re talking about his city. We can’t speak to his personal finances.

Faced with an estimated $16 million gap in the current Yonkers’ budget and a more than $100 million hole in next year’s spending plan, Amicone meets tomorrow with two Democratic state senators who represent Yonkers. The Republican mayor will be meeting with Sen. Jeffrey Klein, whose district also includes parts of the Bronx and Mount Vernon, and Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, whose district also includes Greenburgh.

Amicone’s agenda is not that much different from the one he’s touted for many years, according to his spokesman David Simpson: The inequity of the state school aid formula, which sends far more money per student to upstate big cities than to Yonkers. Though the mayor had hoped for a massive injection of state education funding before New York’s finances tumbled with the stock market, Amicone is seeking more modest help this time around.