Mayoral candidate and Councilor at Large Michael F. Flaherty seized yesterday on the scaling back of this year’s Sail Boston festival to accuse Mayor Thomas M. Menino of wrecking what should have been a bonanza for Boston businesses.

“If you walk around the waterfront, it is hard to believe an international event is taking place in our city this week,’’ Flaherty said in a statement released yesterday. “Mayor Menino has literally sucked the fun and funds out of Sail Boston.’’

Sail Boston officials have said they expect to attract 300,000 to 500,000 people to see the Tall Ships between July 8 and July 13, a steep decline from 2000, when the event drew an estimated 7.5 million spectators.

They attributed the thinner crowds to the rainy weather earlier this week and to the lack of a Parade of Sail, the main attraction, which was canceled after Menino refused to pay for security and other costs.

The mayor argued for months that the city could not afford nearly a million dollars for the festival during a recession that is forcing cuts in the Police Department and schools.

Yesterday, Dot Joyce, Menino’s spokeswoman, reiterated the position that it would have been irresponsible to pay for Sail Boston’s costs, particularly because sales tax revenue generated by the event goes to the state, not city coffers.

“The mayor is quite in touch with what the taxpayers need in the city of Boston, and they’re sick and tired of paying for these events and not reaping the rewards of what they bring,’’ Joyce said.

Dusty S. Rhodes, director of Sail Boston 2009, said the event would still boost local businesses. “There are lines outside of every restaurant,’’ she said. “And hotels in the immediate area are all sold out and they all sold out in the recent days. I’m thrilled.’’

Rhodes said she was also happy with the attendance. “There are probably over 50,000 people between Charlestown and World Trade Center Pier 4, a lot of kids, a lot of families, and a lot of happy faces,’’ she said. “It’s mobbed.’’

Flaherty believes the mayor should have worked more collaboratively with Sail Boston, by allowing the organization to sell tickets or by helping it raise private funds, said his spokeswoman, Natasha Perez.

“He’s not saying the city should have just footed the $1 million,’’ Perez said. “It’s a combination of solutions.’’

Menino opposed the sale of tickets for the event because he wanted it to be free to the public. Yesterday, his aides were not making any apologies for his hard line.

Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston institution that has drawn generations of city and suburban families, may be forced to close its doors and possibly euthanize some of its animals as a result of the deep budget cuts imposed by Governor Deval Patrick, zoo officials said yesterday.

Without more state funding, those zoo officials said, they will run out of money by October and have to close both the Franklin Park Zoo and its smaller counterpart, Stone Zoo in Stoneham. The zoo would lay off most of its 165 employees and attempt to find new homes for more than 1,000 animals, the officials said.

The zoo officials, in a written statement that echoed a letter sent earlier to legislative leaders, said they would be unlikely to find homes for at least 20 percent of the animals, “requiring either destroying them or the care of the animals in perpetuity.’’

The zoos, which are both run by Zoo New England and attracted nearly 570,000 visitors over the past year, are operated through a public-private partnership funded by taxpayers and revenues from visitors. If the partnership dissolves, as it could in October if it runs out of money, the custody of the zoos is turned over to state officials, according to state law.

Zoo officials estimate that it would take three years and cost at least $9 million to completely shut down the zoos, and they said the state would be in charge of that process.

The Legislature had originally provided $6.5 million to the zoos - which accounts for more than half of its budget - but Patrick, using a line-item veto, cut the state funding to $2.5 million.

Zoo New England, headed by John Linehan, sent the letter to legislative leaders on Tuesday urging them to override Patrick’s veto and effectively restore their funding. Linehan did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. Instead, a private public relations company hired by the zoos released a lengthy statement.

“The only areas left to cut are in nonanimal care, revenue-generating departments,’’ the zoos statement reads. “This would result in a bare bones staff that would care for the animals and the facility, but would eliminate any that would service the public.’’