Negotiations on the final city budget will go through the weekend as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council are at an impasse over funding for a housing voucher program.
“Right now we are stuck on FHEPS, so that is where we are,” Council Speaker Julie Menin told reporters Friday at City Hall, after rallying with other Council members and advocates to increase funding to the program.
The council passed laws in 2023 that would expand the city-funded voucher program known as CityFHEPS, which Mamdani supported as a candidate.
But earlier this year, he appealed a court ruling that would require the implementation of those laws.
Menin said the mayor’s side should drop its litigation against the expansion and find a compromise to the program, which provides rental assistance to people leaving homeless shelters.
Councilmember Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) speaks at a City Hall rally to fund FHEPS housing vouchers, June 26, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter
“There’s no point in having this costly, continued litigation that only serves to delay a responsible settlement,” she said. “We want a responsible settlement on FHEPS.”
CityFHEPS’s cost has ballooned from around $26 million in 2019 to over $1.8 billion this year.
The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development projected the cost to grow to over $3 billion annually by 2030 — for a total cost of $12.6 billion between now and 2030.
People familiar with the budget talks said negotiations would continue throughout the weekend. The Council scheduled its budget vote for Tuesday, which only comes after a ceremonial handshake between Mamdani and Menin.
But without a deal on CityFHEPS, some of Mamdani’s fellow Democrats say they won’t vote in favor, including Councilmembers Pierina Sanchez of The Bronx and Sandy Nurse of Brooklyn. They and others gathered Friday morning on City Hall’s steps to demand Mamdani keep his promise, noting the benefits of the voucher program.
“The lowest income New Yorkers desperately need this relief,” Sanchez, who led the rally, said.
“What is the point of electing super progressives if they abandon the most needed in the most significant of ways in the city’s budget process?” Christine Quinn, a former Council speaker and president and CEO of WIN, which is the largest provider of family shelters and supportive housing in the city.
A spokeswoman for the mayor, Dora Pekec, said Mamdani knew that the program was a “lifeline for thousands of New Yorkers leaving the shelter system and seeking stable housing.”
“As the stewards of CityFHEPS, and as an administration that firmly believes in its purpose, we want to protect it by placing it on firm financial footing,” she said. “That is why we are pursuing major reforms that protect the program’s future.”
Councilmembers and advocates rallied outside City Hall for an expansion of the CityFHEPS housing voucher program on June 26, 2026, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani sought to pass a budget agreement with the City Council. Credit: Alex Krales/The City Reporter
Mamdani released his $124.7 billion executive budget proposal in May, relying heavily on state funding support to fill major budget holes.
As negotiations continued, the Council shared some of its biggest asks – including an additional $130 to $135 million for Fair Fares, which helps fund MTA bus and subway fares for low-income New Yorkers.
Menin said the Council is requesting an additional $300 million for CityFHEPS, while some housing advocates said an additional $500 million was needed.
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