Dear New Yorkers, 

Earlier today I testified before the members the City Council and Finance Committee on the FY 2024 Executive Budget. My office is taking a candid look at where the City stands financially.

Watch my full testimony on New York City’s executive budget here. 

Let’s be honest: New York faces very real fiscal challenges in the coming years. But our resilient city is doing better than you think. 

As I discussed in my comments to the Council, year-to-date revenues through April are up 5.8% over last year. We’re back at 99.7% of pre-pandemic job levels, and most economists now predict we will avoid a recession.  

However, we do need a serious, long-term savings plan to address growing outyear budget gaps, made wider by the recent labor contracts, out-of-control overtime, the expiration of federal Covid aid, and the cost of providing shelter to asylum seekers without adequate federal reimbursement. 

Mayor Adams’ proposals to cut core services like CUNY, public libraries, 3-K, senior meals, and supportive housing in this year’s budget – especially in the wake of Jordan Neely’s tragic killing – are both unnecessary and short sighted. 

I talked about these cuts in my statement to the City Council earlier today, which you can watch in full here.

In the longer term, strengthening the City’s economic position for the years ahead – and making sure that flourishing is more inclusive – is going to require new investments in child care and housing to address severe affordability issues for families, mental health care, and climate resilience. 

These critical investments are going to require new revenues, raised from the wealthiest New Yorkers, who saw their incomes and fortunes soar during the pandemic. And the investments are going to have to be made more effectively, too, since trust in government has been weakened. 

It’s time to start that conversation now. Tomorrow, New Yorkers have the opportunity to testify themselves before City Council on the budget, which you can sign up for here. I hope you’ll make your voice heard. 

- Brad