Advocates plea to prevent cuts for disabled in NY

Advocates for programs that help New Yorkers with developmental disabilities took their case to the offices of state Sen. David Carlucci in Rockland yesterday to protest proposed cuts that they say will be a huge loss here at home.

Carlucci says he understands that cuts to programs like the Arc and Jawonio could have serious consequences for the people involved. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a 5 percent cut to such programs, and people like Joseph Borno, of Spring Valley, who bases his daily life around the programs' benefits, says he's not sure what he'll do if he loses that support.

"They house me, they drive me to the stores, the mall, to the movies, to Albany. If these cuts go through, I don't know what I'll do with the rest of my life," Borno says.

State budget talks are ongoing, but Cuomo says that his cuts will have to go through if lawmakers can't reach a deal by the April 1 deadline that he has set.Cuomo takes budget-cuts message to Hudson Valley