Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone announced Wednesday that as many as 300 city employees will be laid off by Christmas in an attempt to close a growing budget gap.

?We're looking for every opportunity we can to save jobs because saving those jobs means that these families won't be affected,? Amicone says.

Among various groups of city workers, the cuts are also expected to affect firefighters and police officers. The mayor says, however, he will take all necessary measures to ensure that the cuts will not hurt the quality of public services.

?They'll obviously be less recruits, less police officers working the streets, so we're looking at other areas where we can make substantial savings,? says Deputy Police Chief Edward Geiss.

School Superintendent Bernard Pierorazio says the education sector will also take a hit as a result of the sweeping budget cuts, but no jobs will be lost for the time being.

?At this point in time, we don't expect any layoffs,? he says.

Besides job cuts, the city administration has applied an immediate hiring and purchasing freeze to try and save money. Amicone says $3 million worth of discretionary spending has already been put on hold.