It's crunch time for the city budget

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Jun 26, 2023 View in browser   By Joe Anuta and Hajah Bah Presented by New York City Mayor Eric Adams pauses during a briefing on April 3, 2023, in New York City. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images It’s budget week. Maybe. The New York City Council is supposed to ratify its annual spending plan before the start of the fiscal year July 1, which falls on Saturday. And while it usually does so, talk of a late budget has been swirling for weeks. Why? To start with, Council members have been busy running for reelection, meaning negotiations are likely to begin in earnest after Tuesday’s primary. The two sides of City Hall have already been in talks for about a week and a half, according to a Council spokesperson. Then there’s the state of affairs between Mayor Eric Adams, who didn’t rule out a late budget last month, and lawmakers. The two sides are currently in an epic disagreement over a package of housing voucher bills. The mayor vetoed the legislation Friday. And the Council now plans to override that decision. They've also clashed over the mayor’s savings initiatives, with acerbic criticism from budget director Jacques Jiha. Should lawmakers blow past the deadline, the city charter stipulates the current budget will be carried forward until an accord is reached, according to the Citizens Budget Commission. But there are a few reasons why that would be an undesirable situation. Any uncertainty in the city’s financial situation could affect its bond rating — a metric the mayor is very proud of. And while the budget itself would automatically carry forward, the Council would need to pass related legislation before Saturday to roll over billions of surplus dollars from the expiring spending plan. Both sides told POLITICO on Sunday they have no intention of being late. But there are some areas — such as library funding, a raise for social service workers and funding for education and seniors — that lawmakers are making a priority at the bargaining table. “The mayor’s proposed budget contained cuts in nearly every area of essential services for New Yorkers that the Council is fighting to restore,” Council spokesperson Mandela Jones said in a statement. The mayor’s office, meanwhile, said passing the budget before the deadline is essential to keeping some of those same services flowing. “The most effective way for the City Council to ensure we can continue funding shared priorities and services that keep New York City clean and safe is to work with us toward an early or on-time budget,” Spokesperson Fabien Levy said in a statement. “And we look forward to that continued partnership in the coming days.” IT’S MONDAY. WHERE’S KATHY? Appearing as a guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and making an announcement on the long island rail road concourse at Penn Station. WHERE’S ERIC? Delivering an education-related announcement at City Hall Rotunda, remarks at NYC junior ambassadors’ end-of-year ceremony, a gun violence-related announcement, and remarks at the launch and inaugural meeting of his Jewish Advisory Council. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Children and teenagers are facing a crisis unlike anything this country has ever seen before. Today, mental health challenges run deep, as our youth face staggering rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide.” — Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Daily News op-ed on the state’s efforts to fight youth mental health problems.   A message from Grubhub: Grubhub and Seamless provide small businesses across New York City essential marketing services that help our local restaurants grow and reach new customers. Our neighborhood restaurants deserve more marketing choices so they can compete with national chains. Learn how NYC Council can support the restaurants we love.   ABOVE THE FOLD New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, left, and Rev. Al Sharpton, right, walk in the NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 25, 2023, in New York. | Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP LGBTQ RIGHTS: Ahead of New York City’s Pride March, Hochul on Sunday signed a series of bills into law to better protect the rights of the state's LGBTQ community. One of the bills will make New York a “safe haven” for transgender New Yorkers, protecting trans youth, their parents and their doctors from laws in other states that could seek to interfere with their care. Another bill will ensure people can receive addiction treatment and rehabilitation on their gender identity and sexual orientation. And another bill updates outdated terminology on state documents to describe LGBTQ individuals. “Today we celebrate the values that define us as New Yorkers when we embrace love and equality, progress and acceptance, unity and celebration,” Hochul said at a news conference before the parade.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     WHAT CITY HALL IS READING Documents reveal Eric Adams sent migrants to Florida, Texas and China, by POLITICO’s Joe Anuta: New York City spent around $50,000 to resettle 114 migrant households in cities around the U.S. and the globe, according to information obtained exclusively by POLITICO through a public information request. Some were sent to countries in South America — and one all the way to China. Coalition for the Homeless slams Adams and Hochul homeless, housing response in new report, by New York Daily News’ Micheal Gartland: “‘One of the main points is this didn’t really have to be as bad as it is now, but the mayor’s real failure to address the fundamentals of the homeless crisis has left us in the situation we’re in now,’ said Dave Giffen, the Coalition’s executive director.” NYC to add safe e-bike chargers at NYCHA buildings following deadly Chinatown repair shop fire, by Gothamist’s Bahar Ostandan: “The city will begin installing 173 charging and storage stations at 53 outdoor NYCHA sites across the five boroughs early next year, according to Mayor Eric Adams. Officials said the project aims to help delivery workers and NYCHA residents, and is funded through a $25 million emergency grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.” Dancing, Jubilation, and Worries About L.G.B.T.Q. Rights at Pride March, by The New York Times’ Liam Stack & Michael Wilson: “Over the last year, states across the country have passed laws banning drag performances and transgender health care, while protests and physical attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. events and their supporters have cast a pall over gay bars and community centers.”   A message from Grubhub:   WHAT ALBANY'S READING Mark Poloncarz approached two stadium negotiations with the same goal: keeping the Bills in Buffalo, by The Buffalo News’ Tim O’Shei Former NY Gov. David Paterson rips state’s ‘Clean Slate’ bill to seal criminal records, by New York Post’s Carl Campanile: “‘The Legislature’s intent was positive,’ he continued. ‘But I think the result of it could actually increase the number of people who are now not only out of prison, but are not out long enough for us to determine whether or not they did learn their lesson.’” Lawmakers left Albany without much action on ongoing opioid overdose epidemic, by Times Union’s Raga Justin   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     AROUND NEW YORK — Abortions increased in Florida more than in California and New York post-Dobbs. Here’s why. (POLITICO) — Landlords in NYC renting spaces to illegal pot shops will be hit with fines up to $10,000. (NY Post) — Baseball’s diversity problem comes home to the Hudson Valley. (Times Union) SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT’s Mike Bender and Daniel Victor ... Bloomberg’s Emma Kinery ... NBC’s Scott Bland ... Brunswick Group’s Dave Brown … Newsmax’s Emma Rechenberg … Elisabeth Cholnoky … Louise Radnofsky … (was Sunday): Justice Sonia Sotomayor … CNN’s Betsy Klein … John Randall of BCW Global … Dan Meyers of APCO Worldwide … Corbett Daly … John Heilprin … Patrick Temple-West …  … (was Saturday): U.S. Chamber’s Suzanne Clark … Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Jeff Prescott … Robert Reich … NYT’s Adrienne Hurst … former New York Gov. George Pataki … Edelman’s Kevin Goldman … Zach Seward … Greg Scruggs … Tyler K. Somes … Allie Bradford   A message from Grubhub: "Without Grubhub's marketing services, we'd have a really tough time reaching new customers." - Beatrice Ajaero, Owner of Nneji in Queens, NY Beatrice opened her restaurant Nneji in Astoria, NY with the goal of sharing West African cuisine with her local community. Grubhub and Seamless help restaurants and restaurant owners, like Beatrice, introduce new and lesser known cuisines to the greater NYC area. Our neighborhood restaurants deserve more marketing choices so they can compete against national chains. Learn how NYC Council can support the local NYC restaurants we love.   Real Estate NYC renters could be spared costly broker fees under new City Council bill, by New York Post’s Rich Calder: “One broker last year pocketed a whopping $20,000 fee after renting off a cheap Upper West Side one-bedroom pad that was rent stabilized for a mere $1,725 a month."   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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