Speaker Adrienne Adams, Finance Committee Chair Justin Brannan, and Council Members Announce Agreement with Mayor Eric Adams on Fiscal Year 2025 Budget

Over $1 billion added into budget for restorations of library service, cultural institutions, education programs, and parks; advances comprehensive plan and funding to fix early childhood education system; $2 billion to create and preserve more affordable homes

City Hall, NY - Speaker Adrienne Adams, Finance Committee Chair Justin Brannan, and Council Members joined Mayor Eric Adams to announce an agreement on a $112.4 billion budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. Over $1 billion of the Council's priorities were added after the Executive Budget, including full library service, cultural institutions, school and student support programs, and a comprehensive plan to fund and fix the early childhood education system, which would provide seats and vouchers for children currently without them and advance operational solutions to fill thousands of vacant 3-K seats and strengthen the program. The budget also added $2 billion in capital funding over the next two years to support the creation and preservation of more affordable housing units.

The FY 25 budget underscores the Council's commitment to securing key restorations to preserve essential services that New Yorkers rely on and that allow for a safe and healthy City. The Council and the Administration were able to deliver an on-time budget that preserves many critical programs and makes key investments, including replacing hundreds of millions of dollars in expiring federal stimulus funds.

"The Council is proud to reach an agreement with Mayor Adams to restore and secure funding for essential services that are critical for New Yorkers' health, safety, and well-being," said Speaker Adrienne Adams. "These investments in affordable housing and homeownership, early childhood education and CUNY, libraries and cultural institutions, parks and sanitation, senior services and youth programs, mental health, and public safety programs support our residents in every community. Despite the challenges, the Council has never wavered from our commitment to investing in solutions, and we will continue to push the City to meet the scale of our challenges. I thank my colleagues in the Council for our collective work to secure the resources our communities deserve and deliver on the priorities of New Yorkers."

"All throughout this year's budget process, the Council remained laser focused on our shared priorities and our confidence that we had the revenue needed to restore these cuts," said Council Member Justin Brannan, Chair of the Committee on Finance. "So we fought hard with both passion and precision, to secure a budget deal that delivers for hardworking New Yorkers. With all eyes on us, we knew this was the time to invest in the everyday people that drive our city's present and will build our city's future."

"From the very start of negotiations, the needs of New Yorkers and the challenges we are facing as a city has been top of mind for the Council," said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala. "We aimed to reach a budget that restores the Mayor's cuts and invests in the essential services and supports New Yorkers of all ages need to thrive. From affordable housing and libraries to food pantries and capital funding for NYCHA developments, this budget deal is a testament to the Council's commitment to deliver for New Yorkers."

"New Yorkers deserve a budget that meets not only their immediate needs, but invests in their family's future" said Majority Leader Amanda Farías. "After months of difficult negotiations and under the leadership of our Speaker, I can proudly say that this budget does both of those things. The City Council successfully worked together to bridge the gap between the Administration's attempted cuts and the real needs of our neighbors. Our Council stands committed to continuing the everyday fight for good governance and ensuring the initiatives we fought for are felt and seen by our neighbors who need it most."

"Today's deal is the result of months of steadfast advocacy by the Council to protect the City's ability to deliver essential services," said Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers. "While the budget does not include every line item we sought, the Council fought successfully for restoration of funding that New Yorkers rely on every day, including for our libraries, schools, and childcare. It also includes a critical expansion of the Fair Fares program - adding over $10 million in baselined funding - and critical funding for a sorely needed Trauma Center in the Rockaways. More work lies ahead, but I am proud of the work of this Council to get us to this point, and I thank the Speaker for her strong leadership and unwavering commitment to the people of New York."

The Council was successful in working with the Administration to secure a balanced FY 25 budget as a result of higher revenue projections and available resources, consistent with the Council's Executive Budget forecast.

Highlights of Council priorities added to the FY 25 budget through negotiations include:

A Strong Foundation for Housing New Yorkers

• $2 billion in Capital Investments in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and NYCHA
• Full $6.8 million Restoration for Security Guards at NYCHA Senior Buildings
• $4.2 million to support Department of City Planning PEG Reversal and Capital Funding to Enable Neighborhood Rezonings

Investments & Solutions to Fix Early Childhood Education System - $293 million

• To effectively tackle current deficiencies in the early childhood education system, the Council reached a deal to fund seats for families waiting for placements and sets a path forward for the Council will jointly work with the Administration to address waitlists (Pre-K, 3-K, Preschool Special Education), underutilization that has left thousands of 3-K and Pre-K seats vacant, moving seats so families have the right type of seat in the right locations, and more.
  • 3-K and Pre-K Seats - $112 million ($92 million to replace expiring federal stimulus funds and $20 million to ensure placements for families awaiting offers)
  • Extended Day/Extended Year Seats: $40 million for 4,800 seats ($15 million baselined in FY 24 plus $25 million in new funding at Adoption)
  • Reinstate Early Childhood Education Marketing and Outreach: $5 million
  • Pre-School Special Education: $111 million, including $55 million for addressing the waitlist of children waiting for seats
  • Promise NYC Program: $25 million to maintain and enhance access for undocumented children and families

Schools and Student Support Programs - $400.2 million

• Holding School Budgets Harmless: $75 million
• Summer Rising Restoration: $19.6 million
• School Food Staffing: $20 million
• Teacher Recruitment: $10 million
• Full restoration of funding for Community Schools: $70 million, including $56 million in the Executive Budget and $14 million at Adoption
• School Based Social Workers, School Psychologists, Family Workers Stimulus Cliff Restorations: $74 million
• Learning to Work: $31 million
• Ensuring placement of Certified Art Teachers in schools ($41 million) and Arts Education ($4 million)
• Shelter-Based Community Coordinators for Students in Temporary Housing: $17 million restoration
• Restorative Justice: $12 million restoration
• Mental Health Continuum: $5 million restoration
• Digital Learning, Computer for All, Tutoring, Civics for All, Parent and Immigrant Family Engagement, Outward Bound Crew Model: $21.6 million

City University of New York Programs & System - $64.2 million

• Operational Support Restoration: $15 million
• CUNY Reconnect: $5.9 million
• CUNY Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE): $10.1 million total ($1 million as outlined in the Executive Budget, and an additional $9.1 million at adoption
• CUNY ASAP for All: $4.5 million
• CUNY Social Work Fellows: $500,000

Health and Community Safety - $65.1 million

• Office of Criminal Justice Recidivism Reduction Programs (Alternatives to Incarceration and Reentry Programming) Restoration: $14.8 million
• Jail Population Review Teams: $10 million
• Civilian Complaint Review Board Baselined Restoration: $2.1 million
• Justice Involved Supportive Housing: $6.4 million
• Trauma Recovery Centers Enhancement: $4.8 million
• Mental Health Clubhouses: $2 million
• Initial Funding for New Trauma Center in the Rockaways: $25 million
• Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's HIV/AIDS Services Baselined Restoration: $5.4 million
• Department of Youth and Community Development's Community-Based Solutions for Violence Interruption: $8.6 million

Institutional Pillars of NYC Neighborhoods - $173.8 million

• Full Restoration of Cultural Institutions Funding with $7.6 million PEG Restoration at Executive Budget and $53 million restored ($13 million baselined)
• $58.3 million total in Library Funding Restoration, with $42.6 million baselined for full service
• Department of Sanitation Litter Basket Pickup: $25 million restoration and enhancement
• $6.2 million restoration of Community Composting Program
• Providing the Department of Parks and Recreations $15 million to enhance and restore funding for Second Shift maintenance and cleaning positions at hot spots in city parks
• Restoring $8.7 million to support Urban Park Rangers, Tree Stump Removal, and Green Thumb Restoration

Opportunity Programs and Essential Services - $1.428 billion

• Expanding Fair Fares to More Low-Income New Yorkers: $10.7 million to increase eligibility from 120% of the Federal Poverty Level to 145%
• Community Food Connection Program Enhancement Restoration: $31.9 million
• Immigration Legal Services Enhancement Restoration: $4.4 million
• CityFHEPS: $614.9 million, with $540.3 million baselined beginning in FY26
• Restoration of Adult Literacy Programs: $10 million
• Community Interpreter Bank and Language Services Worker Cooperatives Restoration: $3.8 million
• Human Services Workers Cost of Living Adjustments: $740.6 million over four years
• Shelter to Housing Action Plan: $10.1 million
• Runaway and Homeless Youth Housing Navigators: $1.6 million

"This budget delivers on everything from early childhood education, our libraries, arts and cultural institutions to addressing our city's housing crisis, making investments in mental health programs and expanding Fair Fares so New Yorkers struggling to get by won't need to choose between a MetroCard and a meal," continued Council Member Brannan. "We focused many of our priorities on the multiplier effect: double down on investments in popular programs that are not only good, sound public policy but also make economic sense with an exponentially positive impact.

In this budget, through negotiations with the Mayor, the Council achieved historic baselining funding - meaning next year and a decade from now, future councils and mayors won't have to negotiate over bedrock funding to everything from our libraries and cultural institutions, to housing vouchers, home delivered meals, parks maintenance and early childhood education.

I want to extend my sincere gratitude to this entire Council - from our fearless leader Speaker Adams, members of the Leadership Team and members of the can't stop won't stop Budget Negotiating Team, to all of my colleagues and our outstanding Finance staff, put in truly inspiring work to reach this deal today - a budget worthy of New Yorkers support."

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