Wednesday, Feb. 11, marks the forty second day of Zohran Mamdani’s time period as mayor. New York News is following Mamdani round his first 100 days in workplace as we carefully monitor his progress on fulfilling marketing campaign guarantees, appointing key leaders to authorities posts, and managing town’s funds. Right here’s a abstract of what the mayor did.
On “Tin Cup Day,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani advised Albany lawmakers that his administration had lowered town’s beforehand projected two-year finances deficit by $5 billion — however warned that with out new recurring income, New York Metropolis stays “on a ledge.”
Testifying Feb. 11 earlier than state lawmakers on the annual Joint Legislative Price range Listening to, Mamdani stated that by “assuming an aggressive posture on savings without compromising city services, incorporating updated revenue and bonus estimates, and using in-year reserves,” the administration diminished what had been a $12 billion projected hole to $7 billion. He didn’t quantify how a lot can be taken out of the reserves.
Nonetheless, he made clear that financial savings alone won’t shut the opening — and renewed his push for increased taxes on town’s wealthiest residents — at the same time as a number of lawmakers questioned the knowledge of that method and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s repeated pushback on the plan.
“We’ve made some meaningful progress towards shrinking the gap. However, New York City is still placed on a ledge. The most responsible way off is with dedicated, recurring revenue that can provide the services New Yorkers deserve,” the mayor stated, including that the imbalance within the metropolis’s relationship with the state is draining town’s sources.
“We are calling to end the drain,” he added. “This is not just a crucial first step, it is a key part of the problem. Without solving this inequity, we will only postpone this crisis.”
However he additionally squarely blamed what he dubbed the “ABC — the Adams Budget Crisis” for a lot of town’s fiscal pressure, repeating his accusation that the previous Mayor Eric Adams was chargeable for “gross fiscal mismanagement.”
“Budget gaps are twice as large as what he said they would be, to the tune of billions of dollars,” Mamdani stated, pointing to packages he stated have been severely underbudgeted: $860 million allotted for money help when the necessity was $1.6 billion; $1.1 billion for rental help when the necessity was $1.8 billion; and $1.5 billion for shelters when the necessity was $2 billion.
Former Mayor Adams pushed again on Mamdani’s characterization of the so-called “Adams Budget Crisis,” writing on X that the newly introduced $5 billion discount within the projected deficit undercuts the mayor’s earlier warnings.
“Four weeks later and Mayor Mamdani suddenly ‘finds’ $5 billion,” Adams wrote. “Give him another month, maybe the other $7 billion appears, too.”
Adams added that the unique $12 billion deficit “was never real,” calling it a “scare tactic to pressure the state into raising taxes,” and arguing that “nothing is free, someone always pays.”
Compounding these pressures, he argued, is a structural imbalance within the fiscal relationship between town and the state.
“New York City contributes 54.5% of state revenue but only receives 40.5% back,” Mamdani stated, including that in fiscal yr 2022 town contributed “$21 billion more than we received back.”
Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled little urge for food for shifting a bigger share of the state finances to town, arguing that Albany has already considerably elevated its assist.
“Let me say this, I already have — since I am governor, we’ve increased our support for New York City by 33% from my predecessor,” she stated, including that town now receives roughly $25 billion in state funding for housing, childcare, and training.
“I have stepped up without anybody having been in my ear, because I know it was the right thing to do to support New York City,” Hochul added, noting that she stays dedicated to town’s success and has had “robust conversations” with Mamdani since his election about easy methods to handle fiscal pressures.
A supply aware of the governor’s finances pointed to what the administration describes as a major enhance in state assist for NYC since Hochul took workplace, noting that state funding to town has grown by greater than 33% — or $6.4 billion — to $25.6 billion within the proposed 2026 state fiscal yr finances, with an extra $1.9 billion proposed this yr.
Picture by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
AIM funding and state assist
Relating to the imbalance, Mamdani particularly pointed to the elimination of Support and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) funding for New York Metropolis in 2010, saying it has disadvantaged town of not less than $4.8 billion over 16 years.
“New York City is the only eligible municipality in our state that receives nothing,” he stated.
Meeting Member Patrick Burke, chair of the Cities Committee, pressed the administration on the influence of dropping AIM funding and whether or not New York Metropolis’s request for extra state sources was truthful given fiscal pressures in different municipalities.
First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan responded on behalf of the administration, reinforcing that restoring AIM funding to New York Metropolis would offer significant recurring assist and assist stabilize town’s funds. The administration maintained that town’s outsized contribution to state revenues justifies revisiting the distribution method.
Mamdani returned repeatedly to the theme of imbalance all through Wednesday morning’s proceedings.
“No one gives more and gets less in return than New York City,” he stated, arguing that with out addressing that inequity, “we will only postpone this crisis.”
‘We can’t reduce our means out’
Questions shortly turned to how the administration plans to shut the remaining $7 billion hole. Former Metropolis Council member and now-state Sen. Erik Bottcher requested about whether or not town may shut the deficit by way of spending reductions.
Sherif Soliman, director of the Workplace of Administration and Price range, stated the administration would proceed figuring out efficiencies however cautioned that reductions alone won’t remedy the issue.
Cuts can be accomplished “with a scalpel,” Soliman stated, however “we can’t cut our way out of the budget crisis.”
He advised lawmakers the administration found greater than $8 billion in bills that had not been correctly budgeted underneath the prior administration, contributing considerably to the inherited deficit.
Bottcher additionally queried Mamdani’s administration on how its newly created “Chief Savings Officers” would differ from prior metropolis budget-cutting workouts often known as Applications to Get rid of the Hole, or PEGs. Government Order 12 designates a senior worker at every metropolis company as a “Chief Savings Officer” tasked with figuring out financial savings inside 45 days. would keep away from turning into one other model of across-the-board cuts.
In response, Soliman stated the administration is looking for focused reductions quite than blunt, agencywide trims. The chief financial savings officers will look at exterior and consulting contracts, evaluation packages that use knowledge and efficiency metrics, and assess operational efficiencies, he stated.
Soliman stated the administration expects the hassle to generate greater than $1 billion in financial savings that could possibly be integrated into town’s monetary plan to assist shut the remaining finances hole. He stated the estimate is knowledgeable partly by previous company submissions underneath earlier gap-closing packages and by a evaluation of main price facilities.
Pressed for a concrete instance of inefficiency and proof that $1 billion in financial savings may realistically be discovered, the administration pointed to staffing shortages on the Division of Finance.
The finances director stated the company is brief on auditors, noting that at one level the Inside Income Service had drawn auditors away. He prompt town now believes it might be able to recruit a few of them again. The vacancies, he stated, illustrate how unfilled vital roles can hamper income assortment.
Bottcher questioned how hundreds of vacant positions — many left over from the Adams administration — would have an effect on the mayor’s financial savings plan, asking whether or not town would first must fill key roles earlier than figuring out efficiencies.
Mayor Mamdani responded that some vacancies could have in the end price town extra money than they saved. He cited repeated findings by town’s Impartial Price range Workplace that hiring extra auditors may enhance tax income collections. In previous years, he stated, the justification of financial savings had been used to keep away from filling these roles.
Mamdani stated the administration intends to guage the influence of such staffing choices as it really works to shut hundreds of vacancies throughout metropolis authorities, arguing that restoring capability in vital features is important to enhance service supply and rebuild public belief. He stated additional particulars can be included within the preliminary finances set for launch Feb. 17.
Meeting Member Michaelle Solages questioned the administration about projected finances gaps within the subsequent two fiscal years. Mamdani acknowledged his crew anticipated fiscal pressure, however “not to the scale that we did.” Soliman additional defined how beforehand unbudgeted obligations compounded the hole and stated extra particulars can be offered within the preliminary finances.
The mayor advised lawmakers further specifics can be unveiled on Feb. 17, pledging transparency.
The wealth tax combat
On the middle of the listening to was Mamdani’s proposal to lift taxes on town’s highest earners.
“I believe that the wealthiest individuals and most profitable contribute a little bit more so that everyone can live lives of dignity,” he stated. “That’s why, along with raising the corporate tax, I’m asking for a 2% raise in personal income taxes on the most affluent New Yorkers.”
He framed the rise as focused: somebody incomes $1 million yearly “can afford to contribute $20,000 more in taxes,” he stated.
“That 2% tax alone would resolve nearly half of our budget deficit.”
Suffolk County Sen. Monica Martinez challenged that assertion, asking how town would stop companies and rich residents from relocating to different states.
“How do you plan on balancing the increase that you are proposing to ensure that, one, we don’t lose businesses to other states?” she requested.
Mamdani responded {that a} 2% enhance wouldn’t set off an exodus.
“Two percent is not enough to make the wealthy flee the city,” he stated, arguing that New York’s financial ecosystem and alternatives stay robust incentives to remain.
Martinez pushed again, calling his declare “disingenuous” and referencing prior tax will increase in 2021.
Different Republican lawmakers raised comparable considerations. Meeting Member Philip Palmesano pressed the mayor on whether or not his tax coverage may drive folks and companies out of New York. Mamdani maintained that recurring income is important to protect providers and stabilize town’s funds.
Mamdani’s path ahead on a neighborhood tax enhance for top earners may hinge on passage of the Honest Share Act, laws sponsored by State Sen. John Liu and Meeting Member Phara Souffrant Forrest that will authorize New York Metropolis to levy a 2% surcharge on revenue above $1 million.
The surcharge would apply solely to earnings over that threshold, not complete revenue, and supporters argue it might create a extra progressive tax construction whereas producing billions yearly for long-term investments in housing, childcare, transit and different affordability measures. The mayor repeatedly backed the laws throughout Wednesday’s listening to.
This can be a creating story. Test again for updates.
