Trying to bolster his reelection prospects, Mayor Eric Adams Thursday released a “best ever” $115.1 billion budget proposal that cites more than 70 investments ranging from education (including Pre-K and after-school programs), housing vouchers, food assistance and increased funds for nonprofit social service providers.
But amid the hoopla — and a joyous speech held at his alma mater, Bayside High School — there looms the likelihood of an economic recession and plans by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to slash funding to states and cities and the country’s social-safety net.
The mayor even admits the budget might already be out of date.
Adams increased the amount of tax revenue the city expects for the fiscal year beginning July 1 by $1 billion but noted that the budget is based on economic conditions before April, when President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs that have led to dramatic declines in stock and bond markets and a sharp slowing of economic activity.
“We see uncertainty on the horizon, due to recent federal policies, shifting tariffs,” the mayor said.
Already a fight has broken out over whether the city should bolster reserves by using a surplus expected in the current year.
Thursday morning, city comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander reiterated his call for adding $2 billion to reserves. Speaking at a housing forum at NYU’s Furman Center, he said he expected federal money for rental vouchers to be cut and that the money could be used to fill in the gap. He later charged the Adams proposed budget came from “a fantasy land.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, another mayoral candidate, also said she supported an increase in reserves at the same event.
Budget-watchers agreed.
“We should be putting $2 billion into the rainy day fund and reserving another billion dollars for next year’s general reserve, which would help buttress against the initial impact of federal spending,” Andrew Rein, the president of the Citizens Budget Commission, said following the budget talk.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said the mayor was not facing up to the fiscal realities. “Realistic revenue and spending projections and increasing contingencies or reserves are essential,” he said.
Nevertheless, the mayor tried hard to make the case that his budget was good for New Yorkers.
“With this investment we are making life easier for families across the five boroughs for generations to come,” the mayor said during his presentation.
His proposal includes an $309 million increase in spending on the NYPD over last year’s proposed budget to bring the department’s budget to $6.1 billion, with the goal of increasing the number of uniformed officers to 35,000 this year.
He also replaced $199 million in education dollars that were previously funded with one-time one-time federal COVID-19 stimulus money, covering programs that include 3K, arts education and teacher recruitment.
The mayor’s proposal also includes $494 million in library spending split among the city’s three systems — a $15.7 million increase over last year’s budget plan but a decline over current spending.
The city’s Parks Department saw a $49 million increase from last year’s adopted budget, up to $667 million.
New Yorkers United for Child Care Executive Director Rebecca Bailin welcomed the mayor’s commitment of $192 million to continue to fund 3-K programs and $25 million to pilot extended day care for pre-K and 3-K children — but chastised Adams for having shortchanged children in the past.
“Rather than patting himself on the back for the ‘best budget ever,’ Mayor Adams should admit that his previous cuts have already done significant damage by driving scores of families out of our city,” she said in a statement. “Now our task is to bring them back and ensure that New York can be a city where anyone can raise a family —- not just the wealthy.”
Mayor Eric Adams delivers his executive budget at Bayside High School in Queens, May 1, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Adams boasted repeatedly about “baseline” funding — emphasizing that his budget now more accurately recognizes the amount of money the city projects to spend for recurring programs such as school nurses and litter basket collection. Yet while students behind him held up signs saying his actions were “forever,” the threat still looms of agency-level cuts, which Adams has ordered throughout his tenure.
Baselining funding “is the right thing to do to represent your plan,” Rein told THE CITY. “But it doesn’t mean the budget has the revenue to support it,” he said.
The mayor isn’t alone in ignoring the economic storm clouds and what is happening in Washington. The $214 billion state budget being approved in Albany this week also does not increase reserves, and it increases state spending by more than 5%.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the legislature might need to return to Albany to revamp the budget if revenues falter or congressional Republicans reduce the more than $90 billion in federal aid included in the state budget.
She has also asked for emergency powers to reduce spending if necessary.
With many members of the City Council running for reelection and the speaker running for mayor, the legislators have little incentive to challenge the mayor’s optimistic approach. At a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Council Speaker Adams and Budget Chair Justin Brannan gave the mayor’s proposal an unusually warm reception, pointing to a number of funding bumps the Council had been advocating for.
“It’s great to see. It shouldn’t have taken this long,” Brannan said. “The areas that we fight for are priorities that are universally popular. I don’t think there’s anything controversial about funding the parks and the libraries and our early child education system.”
Earlier this week, Brannan told THE CITY he didn’t think reserves should be increased in the new budget, but declined to directly answer a question on reserves at a briefing Thursday afternoon.
“We remain concerned so I think there needs to be a balance of making sure we have enough money set aside…but that we’re also allocating money into the programs and getting money into the communities where they need it most,” he said.
But the mayor is running big risks if the budget falls apart in the fall since he is skipping the Democratic party and running as an independent in the November general election, when the Democratic nominee will be able to make Adams’ financial management a campaign issue.
Several candidates issued sharp critiques of the Adams proposal. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who leads the polls in the Democratic primary by a wide margin, had nothing to say.
Additional reporting by Gwynne Hogan.
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