On Monday April 3, the New York City Council released a response to the Mayor’s preliminary budget which called on the Mayor to reinstall cuts to essential city programs proposed in his preliminary budget– like libraries, education and affordable housing.
Budgets are a tie between moral documents stating what is a city’s priority and what is possible, but a budget that doesn’t invest in New Yorkers – including critical services such as libraries and education – should be a non-starter.
The council identified at least $2.7 billion in funds that could be used this year for which they want to spend $1.3 billion to reverse budget cuts and use the remaining $1.4 billion to put into reserves.
Members of the council rightfully caught flack last year for green-lighting the Mayor’s budget which cut education spending and it seems they have learned their lessons, by coming out with an alternative framework that centers crucial investments rather than austerity.
The city is in dire need. We have casscading crises — from the affordability crisis, the housing crisis, the migrant crisis —
The city is in dire need. We have cascading crises – from the affordability crisis, the housing crisis and the migrant crisis – but slashing the budget to take away basic services is a move that will only weaken the city further and increase misery and hardship on working class families across the city.
