Mayor Adams, NYC Council reach deal on $107B budget deal

Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council agreed on a $107 billion dollar budget deal on Thursday, growing the city’s spending by about $3 billion compared to last year.

The deal reached right before the July 1st deadline, was able to avoid at least some of the major cuts proposed by the mayor.

"Unlike the Yankees, it was not a perfect game," Mayor Eric Adams said. "But we got the win for working-class New Yorkers."

"This has been a difficult process," City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams acknowledged.

Speaker Adams and Mayor Adams exchanged a stiff handshake at the beginning of their presser, a big shift from last year when the two were beaming as they announced a budget deal three weeks before last year’s deadline.

Part of this has to do with the Mayor vetoing a package of bills that would increase aid to homeless New Yorkers, something the city council plans to reverse with their veto-proof majority. 

But Speaker Adams acknowledged that negotiations were uniquely challenging this year since much of it was spent on restoring some of the major cuts the mayor had proposed to city services.

"While the council’s focus this year was to restore cuts to essential services, our city must shift away from this counterproductive budgeting approach and move forward through the lens of expanding upon what New Yorkers need, not what they can do without," Speaker Adams said.

While some proposed cuts have been restored, there was at least $29 million in cuts to homeless service providers.

Meanwhile, the city had to add funding to deal with the significant migrant crisis. More than 81,000 migrants have arrived in the city since last spring and now the city is budgeting to spend an overall $4.35 billion by next July on migrant aid.

"This comes out of New Yorkers, and we are not getting the help that we deserve," Mayor Adams said.

So what’s in the budget?

• It restores proposed cuts to libraries and museums. 
• Adds $4 billion to increase affordable housing across the city
• Adds $32.9 million to NYCHA’s Vacant Unit Readiness Program, which speeds up the repair of vacant apartments
• An additional $20 million added to the Fair Fares program bringing its total to $95 million

Funding to public schools will be held flat, however, the mayor wouldn’t confirm if there might be cuts later in the year.

"There is no desire to do so," Adams said. "There’s no guarantees in life."

City council members plan to vote on the budget on Friday. It’s officially due on July