School crossing guards and City Council members gathered Monday morning to rally in protest of the city's recent decision to eliminate 18% of its crossing guard workforce.

Advocates say crossing guards play a vital role in keeping students safe, but the city says the elimination of 483 jobs applies only to vacant positions, and with 600 part-time vacancies currently, they say there will be no layoffs of existing crossing guards.

The move is expected to produce savings of $7.5 million over the next fiscal year.

Shaun Francois, the president of Local 372, New York City Board of Education Employees, the city's largest public employee union, joined NY1 political anchor Bobby Cuza Monday evening on NY1 to discuss crossing guards.