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Adams touts victories in Albany but pledges to fight class size mandate
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 4, 2022
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By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 4, 2022
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Mayor Eric Adams is hailing his administration’s lobbying efforts in Albany, dismissing criticism from those who say the former state Senator should have come away with more policy victories in his first state legislative session.
“I am lost when I hear everyone talk about that we didn’t have a good year,” he told reporters Saturday. “We had an amazing year.”
Asked to name his biggest disappointment, the mayor singled out the newly passed mandate for lower class sizes as a source of concern. The deal, which has been estimated as costing $500 million a year, was an unexpected requirement that came with the legislature’s decision to grant Adams a two-year extension of mayoral control over New York City public schools — half of what he had requested.
Advocates have fought for decades to reduce class sizes in New York City as a way to improve test scores and reduce behavioral issues. But Adams has argued that the policy would come at the expense of other education priorities such as extracurriculars and dyslexia screenings. Under the bill, which is yet to be signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, the city would have five years to start phasing in the requirements, which affects all grades.
The outcome on schools — as well as the failure to win more changes on bail reform and the renewal of the controversial tax incentive program for housing developers known as 421-a — led some lawmakers to label the mayor’s first-time performance in Albany as mixed.
Nonetheless, Adams accomplished a significant portion of his agenda, including additional funding for childcare, earned income tax credits for the working poor, expansion of the city’s speed cameras and a new law that will make it easier for struggling hotels to be converted to affordable housing.
On Saturday, he joined lawmakers and public housing residents in Brooklyn to celebrate another key win: the creation of a new public trust that will provide more federal money for New York City’s Housing Authority to make badly needed repairs.
Under the plan, as many as 25,000 apartments could be converted to Section 8 vouchers, allowing NYCHA to access what city officials said would be billions of dollars more in federal funding.
The bill had languished in the legislature for several years, but the latest version incorporated more tenant input. Barbara McFadden, a tenant leader at Brooklyn’s Nostrand Houses, was among those who traveled to Albany to support the new trust.
Standing alongside the mayor on Saturday, she cited a running list of renovations that tenants have pleaded for over the years, from new cabinets and refrigerators to the removal of mold and pests.
“It was important that this trust get passed, because now it can allow NYCHA to do the needed repairs in your apartments,” she said.
Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse, who represents the neighborhood, also thanked the mayor while adding a caveat that seemed to echo the assessment of his overall efforts in Albany.
“I'm not saying it's perfect,” she said. “Nothing's perfect, like he always says himself, but it's a work in progress.”
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Albany
nycha
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Mayor Eric Adams
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Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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