The MTA already pulled the save-the-school-band card. Now everyone else wants to make sure the animals aren’t furloughed:

In yesterday’s State of the State address, Governor Paterson described New York’s economic situation as “perilous.” His proposed budget for the 2009–10 fiscal year poses huge cuts across the board — no sector is safe, from the Department of Education to the MTA. But one of the largest cuts comes at the expense of treasured cultural institutions: the city’s zoos, parks and aquariums, which face a possible 55 percent cut in their funding — and a total elimination of funding in 2010.