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Mayor Adams unveils $115 billion budget, despite uncertainty from Washington
By
Elizabeth Kim
and
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Jan 16, 2025
Modified Jan 16, 2025
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Kim
and
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Jan 16, 2025
Modified Jan 16, 2025
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Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced a $114.5 billion budget that prioritizes spending on public safety, housing and mental health initiatives — laying out an ambitious spending plan despite the looming uncertainty awaiting New York City in the face of potential federal cuts from an incoming Trump administration.
Adams said the budget growth was due in part to more than $3 billion in savings the city has achieved. City tax revenues have increased, helped by a strong year on Wall Street and job growth. But he acknowledged potential problems that the incoming federal government could create for the city.
“We cannot anticipate the impacts of the incoming federal administration on our city,” Adams said during a livestreamed address at City Hall. "We do not know how new trade, immigration, regulatory, fiscal or grant funding policies will affect New Yorkers," he said, adding that the city needed to “remain vigilant.”
The mayor’s proposed 2026 budget marks a departure from previous years. He did not call on city agencies to make budget cuts, putting this year’s proposal at about $2 billion higher than the adopted budget the City Council passed last year. Adams is pitching a budget without spending cuts while he runs for re-election and battles federal corruption charges.
”It's amazing what an election year will do for a budget forecast,” said Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan after the mayor’s presentation. “But if the money is there, then let's get serious about funding these priorities and let's not have a drawn out six month fight over the budget.”
Adams’ budget director Jacques Jiha said that cuts to the parks department — a source of consternation for parks advocates during Adams’ tenure — had been restored. “We could have put a billion into parks if we were not put into a national humanitarian crisis,” Adams said, a nod to the influx of migrants who have arrived in the city in the past two years.
The city has revised its forecast for migrant-related spending as the number of new arrivals from other countries has dwindled significantly, from a high of 69,000 last January to under 50,000 currently, Adams told reporters on Wednesday.
Though the mayor touted his preliminary budget as a testament to his savvy fiscal management, not everybody was quick to praise him. City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is challenging Adams in the June mayoral primary, called it a “lackluster” budget that does not bolster the city’s reserves or broader financial picture.
“It’s really stretching the budget dance to scapegoat immigrants for the city’s problems, overbudget expenditures on asylum seekers, needlessly threaten to make cuts to libraries and parks, and then claim it as savings,” Lander said in a statement.
Brannan echoed Adams’ critics, saying the proposal sidesteps the shortfalls of budgets past.
“It's silent on a lot of issues that have been priorities for us over the years: early childhood education, our parks, CUNY, proven mental health solutions that the Council believes in,” Brannan told reporters.
The mayor’s preliminary budget proposal is not the same as the budget the city adopts – which must be negotiated and passed by the City Council – nor what the city ultimately spends. Spending in harder-to-predict areas, like overtime for public employees, often surpasses what the city has allocated.
Overtime spending for police officers, for example, has soared to record highs under Adams, costing the city more than $1 billion last year and spurring a federal investigation. The cost of covering private school education and programs for students for disabilities also ballooned to more than $1 billion.
The city is allocating $686 million for police overtime next year, according to city officials. The amount is higher than prior years.
Asked about police overtime spending, Adams defended the practice although as a mayoral candidate he promised he could rein in overtime.
“I’m going to use every dollar that’s needed to keep the city safe,” the mayor said. “And if we have to use overtime to do it, we’ll use overtime to do it.”
The city’s revenue streams can also be unpredictable. Although job and revenue growth have been strong in recent years, federal policy changes like income tax cuts or cuts to federal programs could hurt the city’s finances.
“The uncertainty is so high that you do need to be cautious,” said George Sweeting, a fiscal policy expert at the New School's Center for New York City Affairs.
Economists have also warned that President-elect Donald Trump's promise to order large-scale deportations would hurt the city’s economy, which relies heavily on immigrant labor in the restaurant, hospitality and construction sectors.
“The city needs to preserve its flexibility because it doesn't know what’s coming down,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission.
Rein said federal cuts to Medicaid, for example, could put the city in the position of having to make up for the shortfall at its public hospitals — an incentive for having room to move around financially.
“New York likes to do everything for everybody and we can’t,” he said. “So we need to be ready to make those choices.”
In addition to the uncertainty surrounding Trump, Adams faces daunting challenges to his political future. He’s pleading not guilty in a federal corruption trial set to begin in April, and is staring down a crowded field of primary challengers. Polls also show him trailing far behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has not even officially entered the race.
In his State of the City address last week, Adams outlined an agenda that he said would make the city more affordable for families. He has pledged to build 800 units of housing and a new library on the Upper West Side.
But the mayor must work around federal policy changes as well as Albany's constraints. One of his key proposals to significantly cut or eliminate city income taxes for the lowest earners will depend on approval from state lawmakers.
Adams has also directed $137 million in the 2026 budget toward addressing homelessness and those with mental health issues as part of a $650 million commitment he announced during his State of the City address last week.
Part of that plan would involve adding 900 “Safe Haven” beds, which offer fewer restrictions and more privacy than congregate shelters. Adams announced on Wednesday that the city would open a 100-bed facility for those discharged from psychiatric stays at the city’s public hospitals.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The mayor's proposed allocation for police overtime funding has been updated after Adams' budget director Jacques Jiah corrected the figure he provided.
Tagged
new york city
Politics
eric adams
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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Michelle Bocanegra
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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