Weekly The Generation, Year: 1, Issue: 12
The City Council is expected to “roll over” and allow most if not all of the controversial budget cuts proposed by Mayor Eric Adams, sources predicted Sunday.
The newly unveiled 2024 financial plan from City Hall would shrink the police department and slash funding to schools, cultural institutions and libraries — supposedly due to the increasing cost of housing migrants. Former Brooklyn Councilman Sal Albanese blasted proposed cuts and implored the Council to “get a spine.”
“They are going to roll over. They are going to opt to do nothing and blame the mayor for the cuts,” Albanese said. “I’m urging them to get a spine. That’s a lot to ask for from the City Council.”
The former mayoral candidate suggested that council members may be protecting legislative grants — “member items” — that they steer to pet programs in their districts. “Unbelievably the @NYCCouncil in June touted & spent a ton of $ on ‘member items’ without considering that the fiscal house of NYC was on very shaky grounds,” Albanese said on X. “Of course irresponsible politics is more important than fiscal prudence.”
While decrying the cuts, Council leaders have not indicated how they will proceed with the political hot potato. The Council and Adams approved the $107 billion city budget with much fanfare on June 30. But in September, Adams ordered city agencies to prepare to slash spending with cuts of 5% — and possibly a total of 15% by spring, blaming escalating migrant costs. In addition to the migrant costs, the city needs to compensate for the loss of federal pandemic funds and the costs of generous labor contracts and pay hikes for the workforce.
“All of us are concerned about the impact that the reductions will have on the ability to provide essential services — from public safety to clean streets to public schools,” said Council Majority Leader Keith Powers (D-Manhattan). “Elected officials of all political persuasions need to be asking our federal and state partners to act urgently to help our city avoid drastic cuts.”
Powers said the Council has not yet deliberated on how to proceed. The legislative body will hold an oversight hearing on the budget trims and ballooning migrant costs after the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the finance committee chairman, Councilman Justin Brannan. He did not say what action the Council would take on the mayor’s budget-shrinking plan.
“The budget gaps we are facing were not a surprise and largely due to the end of federal COVID stimulus funds. As we have warned, temporary money was used to start or expand permanent programs, and now that money is finally running out. Costs related to the unprecedented migrant influx are a big piece of this puzzle but certainly not the only piece,” Brannan said last week.
“For months, the Council has been asking the Administration for a full accounting of migrant costs and yet more than a year later, the only plans we’ve seen are more cuts to services that New Yorkers rely on. Managing and financing an international migrant crisis should not be the responsibility of a municipality and yet here we are. The bottom line is we desperately need help from our partners in Washington and Albany. New York City cannot be expected to handle this on our own.”
The dilemma for the Council is that the city faces substantial multi-billion gaps in subsequent years, even after the cuts the mayor has proposed to balance the current spending plan, a budget expert said. So, the Council would have to take action to address the problem, not worsen it, said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission. “The mayor is right. We need to start now to reduce costs,” Rein said.
Others, including budget analyst and Post columnist Nicole Gelinas, said the mayor could solve the crisis by cutting migrant costs, instead of essential services. Adams’ spending reduction plan will be sent to the City Council this coming week, a City Hall spokesman said.
Source: New York Post
