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This budget agreement rightfully restores funding to our public libraries and increases funding for Fair Fares and for Promise NYC, a program that removes barriers to care no matter a child’s immigration status. That’s good news for New Yorkers.
That said, other short-sighted cuts — like restorative justice programs at Rikers — will severely undermine the City’s public safety goals. And unlike the State, which provided significant increases to SUNY this year, this City budget cuts CUNY, our best vehicle for upward economic mobility at a time when career pathways are already under strain.
When it comes to asylum seekers, City Hall again took a shortsighted approach to what is a pressing budget and human issue. The Administration previously announced a plan to connect asylum seekers with pro bono legal support to apply for status and work authorization, which is a promising start.
This budget does not, however, allocate meaningful dollars to scale up legal services that will help people gain employment, exit the shelter system, and contribute to our local economy. Ironically, the Administration wields the high cost of providing shelter for asylum seekers as a rationale for belt tightening, yet does not provide significant funding for urgent legal assistance that would significantly reduce the City’s long-term costs.
While this year’s tax revenues came in well-above expectations, the City still faces wide budget gaps in the outyears of the financial plan. Using City staffing vacancies as a kind of budget reserve without regard for whether critical services — affordable housing deals, child welfare, or cybersecurity — are affected is penny-wise but pound-foolish.
We must, instead, invest in the programs and services that sustain a thriving city. We should implement a four-year plan for phasing out some non-mission critical programs and operations. The $4 billion in capital funding for affordable housing must also come with a dedicated effort to ensure that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is adequately staffed to turn that funding into homes for New Yorkers.
With economic uncertainty still on the horizon, the Office of the Comptroller continues to urge the Mayor and the City Council to adopt a formula and a goal to guide deposits into long-term reserves. This budget fails to add to rainy day funds and they remain far from our recommended 16% of tax revenues that can weather the length of an average recession without major service disruptions. The umbrella we need to protect essential services during the next fiscal storm cannot be left to buckle under political winds.
Finally, in the coming years, we need new investments to address the most pressing challenges facing the city – from housing affordability and child care, to transit and climate resiliency. Those investments will require new revenues. My office put forth specific proposals to ask the top 1% of New Yorkers to contribute a little more that will enable us to secure a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable future for our city. With the FY 2024 budget agreed to, it’s time to start that conversation.
Please take a moment to watch and share my initial analysis of New York’s 2024 budget. It’s never easy, but if we work together, we can achieve an equitable city for all New Yorkers.
Thanks,
Brad
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