Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a record-breaking $114.5 billion spending plan Thursday, serving up his first proposed metropolis funds with out painful spending cuts, in an election yr.
The spending plan for the 2026 fiscal yr is roughly $2 billion greater than New York Metropolis’s final enacted funds, with investments in psychological well being, parks and quality-of-life applications.
“As a result of we set the desk for fulfillment, we have been in a position to make sure the continuity of essential applications in addition to make strategic new investments in public security, affordability and high quality of life that profit working class New Yorkers,” the mayor mentioned.
Adams, as he outlined the proposal, contended his administration’s motion through the migrant disaster saved $2.4 billion from final yr.
“We’ve efficiently lowered the quantity asylum seekers in our care from a excessive of 69,000 in January 2024 to beneath 50,000 right now,” he mentioned.
However at the same time as Adams touted the drop in migrants beneath the town’s care, his proposed funds included $554 million in new homeless shelter funding to account for a surge of unhoused non-asylum seekers flocking to New York Metropolis from everywhere in the US.
It comes after Adams introduced a $650 million, 5-year plan to deal with psychological well being amongst homeless New Yorkers, $136 million of which was included in his FY2026 funds proposal.
Different new funding included $325 million for rental help vouchers, $63 million for working-class tax aid and $5.5 million free of charge swim classes.
However the proposal additionally didn’t restore many deep cuts to well-liked metropolis providers corresponding to early childhood training that Adams made in previous budgets, which he had blamed on the astronomical price — $6.9 billion since 2022 — of caring for almost 230,000 migrants.
Adams and Metropolis Corridor officers have been cagey on whether or not previous cuts could be restored within the proposed funds.
When requested if the town’s parks had their funding absolutely restored, Funds Director Jacques Jiha supplied a solution extra philosophical than one rooted in {dollars} and cents.
“From our perspective, sure,” he mentioned.
“What does that imply?” a Publish reporter yelled, to no response.
Jiha later informed reporters that despite the fact that sure applications on the Parks and different departments that have been minimize beforehand haven’t been funded, the companies’ funds are close to or at prior ranges however with added initiatives pushed by the mayor.
Adams’ funds specialists forecast tax income to come back in a $80 billion, on par with projections from the Metropolis Council.
Council members — who will hash out the ultimate funds with Metropolis Corridor within the coming months — shortly criticized Adams’ proposed plan for falling quick on funding for early childhood training, which stay prone to being rolled again as early as July.
“Important teaching programs that assist our college students and have been funded in final yr’s funds aren’t supported within the mayor’s new proposal,” mentioned Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor.
Hizzoner and lawmakers made important investments within the 2025 fiscal yr funds to proceed important teaching programs, employees, and providers that had been prone to ending because of expiring momentary federal stimulus {dollars} and metropolis funds.
Whereas the town supplied long-term funding for a lot of of those applications, others have been continued for just one yr — that means the funding will expire on the finish of June until they’re within the subsequent funds.
Justin Brannan, the council’s finance chair, was shocked by the mayor’s preliminary funds’s silence over funding for parks, CUNY and sure psychological well being applications — was significantly baffled over early childhood training.
“Seeing that this preliminary funds is silent on investing in 3K is simply loopy,” he mentioned. “I don’t know in the event that they forgot to place it within the doc, however how do you not put money into 3K? It’s a confirmed program.”
The funds is roughly $200 million quick on 3K and pre-Ok funding, which was paid for utilizing COVID stimulus that dried up final yr. They haven’t but discovered the $112 million wanted to fund 3K subsequent yr.
“Simply because its not funded now, doesn’t imply it’s not going to be funded,” Jiha mentioned.
Adams’ funds proposal kicks off months of doubtless negotiations with the Metropolis Council earlier than a June 30 deadline for adoption — simply days after a sure-to-be contentious mayoral major.
The mayor has seen his approval crater even earlier than his historic federal indictment — a misfortune {that a} slew of Democratic challengers hope to capitalize on within the coming major.
One rival, metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander, blasted Adams’ funds as counting on “gimmicks” to paper over previous pointless cuts.
“Maybe the largest gimmick right here is that $2.4 billion of the $2.7 billion that the Mayor is claiming in financial savings is merely correcting for his previous overbudgeting of asylum seeker prices, which the Unbiased Funds Workplace has highlighted,” he mentioned in a press release.
“It’s actually stretching the funds dance to scapegoat immigrants for the town’s issues, overbudget expenditures on asylum seekers, needlessly threaten to make cuts to libraries and parks, after which declare it as financial savings.”