Abrupt funding cut from Mayor de Blasio pulls rug out from under NYC nonprofits, critics say

The Chinese-American Planning Council has been on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus, providing meals, personal protective equipment and many other services to New Yorkers.

But funding cuts have forced the group to lay off 150 staffers since March, and now the city is piling on.

Mayor de Blasio recently told nonprofits they’ll be on the hook for millions of dollars in overhead costs — known in budget jargon as “indirect costs” — that the city had previously promised to reimburse.

“There’s a huge increase in the demand for our services … and all of this is happening at a time there have [already] been significant cuts,” Carlyn Cowen of the Chinese-American Planning Council told the Daily News on Thursday. “The cut to indirect costs is the cherry on top to how difficult it has been to nonprofits to make this work.”