Mayor Mamdani Releases His Budget Tuesday. Here’s What The Progressive Left Is Looking For

Photos: YouTube Screenshots/Facebook/Wikimedia Commons New York, NY — Ahead of Mayor Mamdani’s release of his first ever budget, the People’s Plan—coalition of leading progressive organizations in New York City working towards a city with dignity, care, and justice for all New Yorkers—is releasing a funding priorities agenda that we’re hoping the Mayor will bring back after being cut or pared back by the previous administration.  These are essential programs that both support the Mayor’s affordability and inclusivity agenda that the coalition will insist on including as the council marks up the budget in the next few weeks, as well as expansions of critical programs for communities under threat by the Trump administration.   “The Mayor is looking at a tough fiscal environment where the federal government has pulled the rug out from under the city’s feet, and Governor Hochul hasn’t yet given the state’s largest and most economically important city it’s fair share of financial support,” said Zara Nasir, Executive Director of The People’s Plan. “But these programs are critical to supporting the neighborhoods and communities that are most at risk right now. These aren’t nice-to-haves, people rely on them across the city to live dignified lives. It’s time to reverse the former Mayor’s austerity budget and fully fund the programs that New Yorkers deserve to thrive.”  The program we hope to see in the budget would help plug gaping holes left in the city’s safety net, and include:   $657 million in restorations and investments in education, building on the Mayor’s historic commitment to early childhood education, especially its workforce, to expand K-12 and CUNY quality and access $20 million to restore life-changing programs like Homeless Youth Navigators and funding for domestic violence-related legal services  $330 million to expand fair fares $144 million to restore and expand funding for mental health care, diversion and reentry programs that reduce recidivism, and an expansion of hate violence prevention funding paid for by cutting wasteful DOC vacancies Invest $242 million to protect immigrants from Trump’s attacks and $125 million to protect LGBTQ affirming care in New York and protect abortion access in the city Invest $250 million to ensure bad landlords and unethical corporate actors pay their fines by expanding the city’s legal capacity to process fines and increasing enforcement staffing  $93.7 million to restore park, library, and cultural institution funding from Adams’ era cuts and invest $26.5 million expand access to affordable broadband  It’s clear that the city is being squeezed by a looming fiscal deficit, and Governor Hochul’s own budget proposal falls short of the support the New York City deserves as the state’s economic engine. The People’s Plan will continue to call on the Governor to give the city its fair share of revenue to help close the gap. But even with these challenges it’s possible to begin funding these essential programs with straightforward changes to the city’s revenue and sensible adjustments to existing spending to save money and make government more efficient. The People’s Plan has identified $4.33 billion in potential new revenue and savings to help sustain these programs and plug the fiscal gap, including $2.56 billion in recurring revenue and savings and $1.78 billion in one time revenue and savings. These figures represent some immediate savings and some that are recoupable over multiple years, and while important, still do not replace the need for additional state funding. These proposed solutions are outlined in the following report.   We look forward to reviewing the Mayor’s budget proposal and working with the Mayor and the Council to continue to build a city that is affordable and inclusive.  About the People’s Plan The People’s Plan (TPP) is a coalition of progressive nonprofits and unions in New York City fighting for a City that provides dignity, care and justice for all New Yorkers – and is an engine that fights for that vision. The coalition uses grassroots advocacy as our primary strategy to build political power for low-income New Yorkers of color.  TPP began in mid-2020 as a collaborative policy platforming project leading into the 2021 city-wide elections, and has continued since to fight for our vision.