Transcript: “Best Budget Ever” Gets Even Better: Mayor Adams, Speaker Adams Reach Handshake Agreement for Responsible, Balanced, and On-Time Fiscal Year 2026 Budget That Invests in Public Safety, Affordability, and Quality of Life

June 27, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams: Amazing. Amazing energy. When you do an analysis over these last three years and six months, I don't believe— 

I don't believe any administration, both in the City Council and with my team, had to face as many challenges in a short period of time. From COVID when the speaker and I came into office, there was a level of uncertainty about what was going to happen to the city. 

Many of the stores were shut down. We witnessed the uncertainty of our children being in school. As well as Broadway, what they were going through, which was an indicator on a national level how well the city was doing. 

When you look three years and six months later, you look at two Baysiders, two public school attended and graduated people, and you see what we have accomplished. I was down in Broadway the other day. Broadway had the best 12 months in recorded history of the city. 

We have more jobs in New York in the history of the city. More small businesses are operating in the history of the city. What we did year one, two, and three on housing, we broke records over and over again. If you could define this administration in the council and administration in city hall, you could define it as record breakers.

The records we broke were not just simple records, because when you do an analysis of fixing a homeless problem, look and see who's homeless. For the most part, they're Black and brown. When you deal with our public school system, look and see who's in our public schools. 

We came into an administration where Black unemployment was four times the rate of white unemployment. We've been able to decrease unemployment by 20 percent in those communities who impact enough. 

We were in a city where bullets were carving highways of death, taking young people prematurely. We were able to remove over 20,000 illegal guns off our streets.When you see the last five months, it is going to be six months, we have a record level of homicides and shooters decreased. 

This administration, both in the City Council and the Mayor's Office, we have been successful for the city. Our North Star will always be to keep children and families safe in the city, affordable, vibrant, and the best city on the globe to raise a family. 

It takes long-term planning, strong fiscal management, and steady, responsible decision-making. Sometimes those decisions are hard to do, but you have to make them to look long term. It takes investing in public safety, critical services, and quality of life improvements for our communities, but at the same time, planning for the ups and downs of the future. 

As you know, I'm a lifelong New Yorker, former police officer, public school graduate, and attendant. I know how important it is to look at those services that our agencies deliver and deliver them appropriately. Fighting for the future of our city and the needs of our neighborhoods is second nature to me. This is what I've done my entire adult life, and it's what our administration will continue to do every day, as long as we're here.

Today, I'm proud to announce that in partnership with the speakers, Speaker Adams, and City Council, our administration is delivering a responsible, on-time, and balanced Fiscal Year 2026 adopted budget that builds on our fiscal 2026 executive budget to prioritize public safety, affordability, and improve quality of life for New Yorkers. 

This is budget number four. This has been, in my opinion, the easiest budget that we had to pass, because we knew what we expected from each other, and what we needed to deliver, and we were able to accomplish that.

A highlight that I will preview here is our pilot program for 2K and under. That means even more affordable child care for more families. This pilot program is a breakthrough for our city and for our working-class New Yorkers. I'll discuss that in detail in a few. But, I'm proud to say the program brings us one major step closer to making our city more affordable for working-class New Yorkers.

We called our fiscal 2026 executive budget the Best Budget Ever for a good reason. If you look at that banner behind us, it talks about that. It protects $1.4 billion in critical programs that were facing spending cliffs. Maintained funding for our beloved flagship institutions like CUNY, museums, and other cultural institutions and libraries. 

When we came into office in our first budget, we had to negotiate. We were dealing with major fiscal cliffs that came from stimulus dollars that were no longer going to be available for us. And it keeps our city on the path to 35,000 uniform offices by fall of 2026 so that we can make sure that New York City remains the safest big city in America.

Our executive budget also made key investments in education so that New York City can continue to be the best place to raise a family and the best educational facility under our chancellor. We launched our landmark After-School for All initiative, which will expand access to free after-school programming to 184,000 children. We will hire up to 3,700 new teachers to reduce class sizes, and we are funding over 700 early childhood special education seats so that all children will flourish.

We can call this the best budget year ever as well. For the first time this tax season, over 582,000 filings and their dependents will no longer have to pay their personal income taxes because we stepped in to relieve that burden. 

We are returning $63 million back to everyday New Yorkers and low-income families through our Axe the Tax plan. This is a major win that we fought for in Albany so that we can make New Yorkers more affordable and for the families that are in this city. This is a huge advantage. No income tax for those low-income New Yorkers that meet the criteria.

Because our budget is not for the privileged few, it addresses the needs of all New Yorkers. Now in the adopted budget, we are continuing to move forward despite facing significant challenges in the budget cycle. When I talk about that, I'll explain. 

Though our policies have set the stage for robust economic growth, we face global economic uncertainties due to trade policies and geopolitical tensions, as well as the prospect of federal funding cuts and new unfunded state mandates.

We also have to address budget cliffs caused by expiring stimulus dollars that have been used to fund long-term programs. We continue to cover the cost of ongoing housing and support services for the roughly 37,000 asylum seekers who still remain in our city's care with very limited assistance from the federal and state government. 

Nevertheless, thanks to strong fiscal management and policies which set the table for economic success, our administration has been able to invest in our key priorities: public safety, affordability, and quality of life. This is a major accomplishment and is the result of our focus on the things that matter most to New Yorkers and the teamwork and dedication across the entire administration and across the building. 

Public safety has been our North Star and the Fiscal Year 2026 adopted budget makes significant and strategic investment to improve New Yorkers' safety and quality of life. This includes protecting the rights of our hard-working immigrant neighbors. At a time when many immigrants in our city live in fear of being detained or deported, we use every legal means that's possible to keep them safe. 

That is why in this budget we are funding over $55 million in immigration-related legal services for New Yorkers. That is more than any other major city in America. The funding allows us to expand the critical work of rapid response, legal collaborative which provides emergency legal support to New York City public school students and their families at imminent risk of detention, deportation, or family separation.

We are also increasing funding for programs that provide free legal assistance to immigrants, including those facing deportation or those who need help applying for various immigration benefits. We are increasing funding to pro bono attorneys who assist unoccupied minor immigrants. We will never forget that our city is a nation and our nation was built on immigrant brothers and sisters and that we must provide the necessary service and protection for their rights.

We're also investing in upstream measures to keep our communities safe, like providing our city's district attorneys with over $12 million for operational support, as well as additional staff to address gang youth and domestic violence. The D.A.'s met with me and told me that they needed these resources to ensure that we can remain a proactive approach to dealing with public safety matters and we heard them and we responded. 

We are supporting Project Restore, a community-based gang violence intervention program. I really want to thank the D.A. Eric Gonzalez for this innovative way of dealing with the over-pervasive gang behavior that we're seeing in our city. As well as the South Bronx Community Justice Center, which will provide programming for a gun violence prevention initiative, and the 988 Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Lifeline to support the mental health of our fellow New Yorkers when they are most in need of help.

New Yorkers want to feel safe and not have to worry about when they are crossing the street and we hear it all the time, which has led to us investing over $6 million to create a Department of Sustainable Delivery under the Department of Transportation to regulate commercial e-bike traffic. 

Since crisis come in many forms, we're adding funding for 10 new positions in New York City's Emergency Management to enhance our city preparedness for emergencies and we are adding staff at the Department of Veteran Affairs, Veteran Services, to ensure that every veteran in New York City receives the recognition, support, and services they have earned.

To make interactions fairer and more equitable for everyone, we will equip Department of Sanitation police officers in the Vending Enforcement Unit with body-worn camera equipment. We're adding staff to help keep our parks safer and cleaner and restoring funding for the Board of Corrections, which conducts oversight of correctional facilities. 

Survivors of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence need all the help they can get, which is why we are providing low-barrier micro-grants to help them maintain safe and stable housing, as well as funding for legal services for domestic violence survivors and divorce proceedings.

To improve New Yorker's quality of life, we're increasing our support for our city's beloved libraries and cultural institutions. What does that mean? It means increasing the operating support for 34 members of the cultural institutions groups and providing additional funding for the Cultural Development Fund. We're also adding $1.5 million in funding to support library operations across the 3 boroughs, 3 public library systems, as well as $2 million to ensure 7-day-a-week service in 10 additional branches.

We are making sure that more libraries can offer the daily service that New Yorkers love and rely on. In the happily ever after department, we're adding funding for our city clerk so that New Yorkers can virtually access marriage licenses. We need more weddings and more marriages so we can increase our population. Our happy couples’ futures should not be slowed down by unnecessary paperwork. Oh, we're waiting for your first wedding cake. 

A safe and just city where everyone has a chance to live the American dream and enjoy a good quality of life is what we are aiming for. As I said for many years, to make the American dream a reality for New Yorkers, we must make our city more affordable for working class families.

One of the complaints I've heard over and over again is the high cost of child care. This is one of the leading issues in our city's affordability crisis and drives families to leave the five boroughs. Our administration has already brought the cost of childcare down from $55 a week to less than $5 a week. Now, we're going further. In this budget, we're investing $10 million in a groundbreaking pilot program to provide free childcare for children aged two and under from low-income families. 

What is this City Council and Mayor's Office used to doing? Breaking records. This program will be the first American city to provide universal childcare for new parents. The first. This is a major step forward for our city and our working class families. It shows that once again New York City will lead the way in pioneering programs for those that need the most.

In addition to piloting universal childcare and returning $63 million to low-income families through our Axe the Tax plan, we're taking steps to get working class New Yorkers to get back on track by supporting CUNY Reconnect, something that the speaker has talked about often, which will enable adults to achieve their education and career goals. Many drop out, never return. We want them to get back into school and finish their goals of being a college grad.

We'll continue to fund peer and housing navigators to help runaway and homeless youth find work and permanent safe housing options. We're increasing the Fair Fares program to the New Yorkers whose income is up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level can afford to use our transit system. We'll also continue to support our 700 food pantries across the city so that every New Yorker who needs a meal can get one. 

We're backfilling funding for the Federal AmeriCorps Service Program that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement, something that the chief of staff pushed for and understood the reality of it. This program was previously funded by a grant from AmeriCorps, which we are now exploring ways to create a new program funded by the city. 

Minority and women-owned businesses were also part of this budget. They're crucial to our city's success and no administration has done more for them than we have. We have awarded $6.4 billion in contracts for M/WBEs in Fiscal Year 2024. That's a record. The budget goes further to explore the establishment of a city-supported insurance program to assist minority and women-owned businesses that are burdened by high insurance costs.

That's not all. We are ensuring stability across schools for our young people, investing $128 million to make sure that no school receives less funding in an issue funding allocation than they did this past school year. This allows school leaders to plan confidently, retain staff, and create the conditions for the best possible education outcomes for their students. 

We're helping to reduce the class size mandate by adding $20 million in funding to the $150 million already allocated in the executive budget. In combination with the state funding for the Contracts for Excellence program, this brings the investment to our students’ improved learning experience through smaller class size to more than $400 million annually in the coming fiscal year. 

We're also committed to supporting our special education pre-K seats. We are providing new grade-specific backpacks and school supplies to students experiencing homelessness. Schools should be a place where all kinds of learners from all walks of life can thrive.

When it comes to public works and infrastructure, we are investing in transformational generational projects that will help us meet our climate, sustainability, and affordability goals. This includes funding to complete a required environmental impact study of the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resiliency Program. 

We have previously launched our Brooklyn Marine Terminal Project, which redevelops the 122-acre site, the Willets Point transformation, which will deliver more than 2,500 affordable homes and complete the Atlantic Avenue mixed-use plan, just to name a few of the transformative generational projects that our administration was able to land, where further administrations have tried, they were unable to accomplish it, but we landed the plane.

Together through projects like these and others, our administration is creating tens of thousands of jobs, protecting acres of open space, and facilitating the creation of more affordable housing in less than three and a half years than the previous two administrations combined. What we did in 3 1/2 years was more than 20 years, in 3 1/2 years. 

Like I say every year, we also land the plane and we're glad that our partners in the council agree on how important this budget is, and it was easy to do because we both came to the table understanding the commitment and dedication to the working-class people of this city. Strong fiscal management has been the key to our success. The Fiscal Year 26 budget is balanced because we set the table for economic success and stay focused on achieving savings. 

Out-year gaps are manageable at $5 billion, $6.1 billion, and $6 billion in fiscal years '27 through '29. Projected tax revenues were adjusted upward over the executive budget by $617 million across fiscal year '25 and '26. This is important. Our revenue projections have increased because our economy is strong.

As I've said many times, public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity, and here's the proof. However, the city must remain cautious as tax revenue growth is expected to remain modest in out-years. This reinforces a need to remain thoughtful about spending, be fiscally prudent, and not rely solely upon revenue growth to solve financial challenges. 

The adopted budget achieved savings of $976 million over fiscal year '25 and '26, and we did this over the last three and a half years of all that we had to face without raising property taxes, without any layoffs. Go look at other cities. 

And because we must be prepared for the future, the fiscal year '26 adopted budget maintains a year-record $8.5 billion in reserves, which includes $1.2 billion in general reserves, $2 billion in rainy day fund, $5 billion in the retiree health benefit trust, and $250 million in the capital stabilization reserve. 

This year marks our great city's 400th anniversary. We need a steady hand in strong fiscal management to keep New York City vibrant and prosperous as we enter into its fifth century. We need to plan and prioritize to make sure that our city remains the safest big city in America and a place to fulfill the American dream.

Our fiscal year '26 adopted budget strengthens our path to public safety, affordability, and prosperity for New Yorkers. It's been a tough three years and six months, but I'm really proud of what these two Baysiders have done. You show the quality of a public school education can produce products that can lead the biggest and the greatest city on the globe. At this time, I'm going to turn it over to the speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, Mayor Adams, very much, and the members of your administration who helped us reach today's agreement. I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge and thank a few people from the council for their work throughout this entire process. My last budget as speaker. 

I want to thank our finance chair, Justin Brannan, our leadership team of Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, Majority Leader Amanda Farias, Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers, and Councilmembers Keith Powers, Carlina Rivera, Rafael Salamanca, and Sandra Ung.

I also want to thank all the members of the council's budget negotiating team, as well as the entire finance division team, led by Deputy Chief of Staff for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Tanisha Edwards, and our amazing director of our finance division, Richard Lee. He might be taking a nap. 

Last but not least, I want to thank members of my senior staff, Jeremy John, Faiza Ali, Mandela Jones, Megan Lynch, Jake Ho, and Danielle Porcaro, and every division and staff member of the City Council, including all councilmembers' staff. The council's work to deliver a budget that invests in New Yorkers and our communities is only possible because of your dedication and service as true public servants. I know it required long days and nights, and we really appreciate you. Thank you all so much.

New York City's greatest strength is its people. Our shared success is made possible by the New Yorkers who power our city and fortify our neighborhoods. To ensure that our city is livable and affordable for all New Yorkers, it is critical that we invest in them. 

As government, one of the most important responsibilities we have to the people we represent in every borough and community is to deliver a city budget that reflects their needs and their priorities. To that end, the council has been focused on working families, those in our outer boroughs, frontline workers, our youth, and all those seeking greater opportunity.

Everyone across our diverse communities deserves a city budget that supports their well-being. This has always been our priority as a council. As the first Black speaker, mother, grandmother to lead this council, and as an outer borough resident living in the community where I was raised, I have seen the life-changing impact that our city's budget can have. 

For our historic women-majority council and the men who get it, it has always been clear to us who we are fighting for. We are members of the communities we represent. We work and raise our families here. We are our own constituents. We know what's possible when New Yorkers can access opportunity. When children are healthier, parents can advance in their careers, and our communities are safer. 

That's why year after year we have focused on deepening our investments in affordable housing, strengthening our early childhood education system and public schools, and fighting for the institutions that support our neighborhoods like our libraries, parks, and older adult centers. We've sought to expand opportunities that can make life more affordable for the hard-working people of every borough.

By expanding access to CUNY for more working people through programs like CUNY Reconnect, we have successfully re-enrolled nearly 50,000 students, putting economic mobility within reach for more New Yorkers. And because public transit is the lifeblood of our city, we have increasingly extended affordable access through fair fares. This year, we are expanding eligibility once again to reach even more New Yorkers with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level. 

While too much of our collective efforts in the past years have been spent on restoring budget cuts, our persistence and subsequent wins have led to progress in this year's budget. I have repeatedly insisted on our need to move away from a budget of restoration to one that strengthens investments in New Yorkers. This year, we are making big strides toward that goal. 

After consecutive years of fighting for a comprehensive approach to early childhood education that provides funding and solutions to inefficiencies in the system, we have successfully secured baseline funding for 3K and pre-K, as well as increased investments for preschool special education. 

We also secured new funding to expand childcare for our youngest, from zero to two years old. Our vision has always been one of accessible care, because that is how we meet the needs of children and families and enable them to remain in our city. 

These wins mark the beginning of a pathway towards a universal system of childcare that is so desperately needed for working families in our city. Key programs that help support our public school students are finally baselined in this budget. We are also building out curriculums that reflect our city's diverse Asian, Latino, and LGBTQIA+ communities, modeled after the Black curriculum that this council pioneered and implemented with community partners.

CUNY has also recovered the immense funding loss over the course of past financial plans, and those investments are now baselined. Our cultural institutions and libraries are not only maintaining their same funding levels this year, but are being bolstered with enhanced investments, including my proposal to expand seven-day library service to more neighborhood branches across the entire city. 

This budget is also the culmination of the council's persistent efforts to push the city towards investing in mental health and public safety solutions at a greater scale, so that we can close Rikers and connect more people to mental healthcare.

For too long, it's been said that these are top issues in our city, and yet the budget investments have not matched the scale of the challenges. We are expanding ACT and IMT mobile mental health treatment teams, crisis respite centers, peer-based workers, and other mental health solutions that actually get people the help they need. We also won an initial down payment on some of the programs that can help improve public safety by reducing recidivism and the inflated jail population.

We have finally secured baseline funding to add to a justice-involved supportive housing RFP that has sat dormant at the Department of Health because of the lack of sufficient funding. This is a significant achievement that we fought for every year, and I'm proud to say that at last, we will be making this critical investment. 

We have also secured several areas of funding to help crime victims who are too often underserved. The council's commitment to helping survivors of violence, including domestic violence, comes from a recognition that we don't do nearly enough for them. It's not only what survivors deserve, but it's also key to stopping cycles of crime and trauma in our communities.

For our older adults, we've secured the return of over $100 million in lost funding from previous years and increased home-delivered meal rates to ensure providers can sustain their efforts and continue to feed our elders. In response to the Trump administration's campaign targeting the rights of our immigrant communities, we insisted that this budget increase funding for immigration legal services.

When the civil rights of New Yorkers are at risk and families are being separated, the city must defend New Yorkers. Whether it's welcoming hours of public testimony late into the night to ensure that every voice is heard, to rallying with our neighbors to successfully restore cuts to our precious libraries, or now increasing investments into our communities, this council has always championed New Yorkers. Thanks to you, our constituents, and my council colleagues, we're taking meaningful strides this year to deepen our investments even further.

The successes in this year's budget are the product of multi-year efforts built upon a foundation of relentless advocacy by New Yorkers across our entire city. This budget belongs to all of us. This shows that together, we can build a city where the budget reflects all of our needs, where families can afford not just to survive, but live and flourish right here. 

It shouldn't be this hard to help the people who prop up our city to enjoy the fruits of their labor with the quality of life they deserve. The challenges must not come from within, especially as we face immense attacks by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to eliminate support for hard-working people in our city and across this entire nation.

For the future of our city, it is imperative that the budget process continues to build on this hard-earned progress while preparing to defend against the attacks from Washington. We must expand our investments to ensure the success of our greatest resources, the people of the City of New York. 

I'm so proud to say this budget is for our families. This budget is for our neighborhoods. This budget is for our collective health and safety and for our future. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, I turn it over to our incredible finance chair, the general finance chair, Justin Brannan.

City Councilmember Justin Brannan: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and your team. As I often say, budgets are ultimately about choices, and after too many years of cuts and uncertainty, this budget shows that New York City is finally choosing to invest in the people who make New York City work. For far too long, we've been stuck in a cycle where every year was a battle to simply restore the basics, libraries, parks, early childhood education, so people wouldn't lose what they rely on most.

Knowing that the sharpest tool we have to bring down the cost of living in this city is our city's budget, this year, with a focus on our city's undeniable affordability crisis, we move past the endless triage to build a budget that puts working families first. 

Over the past four years as finance chair, this council has fought tirelessly to restore and invest over $4 billion in critical funding so everyday New Yorkers didn't have to pay the price for fiscal brinkmanship. That's critical funding for our schools, libraries, cultural institutions, mental health programs, Fair Fares, childcare, and countless community programs that keep our neighborhoods vibrant and strong.

This year alone, the City Council is delivering $1.7 billion in new investments from the preliminary budget back in January, which is the largest increase in recent memory. For the first time in years, we're not just patching holes. We're baselining funding for essential services, essential programs at historic levels, so these annual budget dances and fights over essential services will be a thing of the past.

Let's talk a little bit about what that looks like. We're baselining 3K and pre-K so families can plan their futures with confidence. We're investing an additional $300 million in early childhood education, including childcare vouchers that will unlock hundreds of millions more in state support. 

To address one of the leading drivers of New York City's stubborn affordability crisis, the council is announcing together with the mayor a new much-needed program to provide free childcare for children ages zero to two. This pilot program will help hundreds of low-income families and represents a giant leap towards making New York the first American city to provide free universal childcare for new parents.

For our schools, we're also making sure arts education, teacher recruitment and restorative justice, and mental health supports are locked in and not just last-minute add-ons. We also restored and expanded over $135 million in CUNY funding because we all know the path to the middle class runs straight through our public colleges. 

We protected our city's libraries with over $30 million so they can afford to maintain hours and expand seven-day service to even more branches. We backed up our cultural organizations with $75 million so they can grow and thrive. We're proudly tripling the amount of legal service funding for our low-income immigrants. This is especially critical amid Trump's wild and misguided mass deportation campaign. This crucial funding represents nearly an eight-fold increase over the initially proposed amounts in January.

For older adults, like the speaker mentioned, we brought back over $100 million in cuts in previous years and raised reimbursement rates for home-delivered meals so no senior goes hungry. We're expanding Fair Fares to cover more than a million riders and increasing the income threshold so nobody has to choose between a meal and a MetroCard. This budget also finally takes mental health seriously with more mobile treatment teams, clubhouses, the speaker's trauma recovery centers and supportive housing so people get the proper care they need.

We didn't get here overnight. These wins are the result of many months of organizing, advocacy and the sheer determination of everyday New Yorkers who refuse to accept less. To everyone who testified, to everyone who rallied on the steps, emailed, called, spoke out and made your voices heard throughout the process, this budget belongs to you. 

Today, we are proving that we can Trump-proof a budget while still investing in what matters most. Today, we are delivering a balanced, on-time budget while setting aside $8.5 billion in reserves and still investing in making our city more affordable. This is the work we were elected to do and we're not done yet. Thank you very much.

Mayor Adams: We're going to open up to a few questions, but I just really want to thank Jacques and his budget team year after year. What Jacques has been able to accomplish over these last three years and six months during some difficult times, he and his team, that entire OMB. 

To be able to provide the services of our cities with all the uncertainties, the lack of funding that comes from every form of government, filling the billion-dollar hole that the state government left us, $300 million in childcare vouchers that they left us, the $7.7 billion that we had to spend on the migrants and asylum seekers crisis, Jacques found a way to make it happen. I want to thank you and your entire team for doing it. 

Question: Thank you. The City Council has repeatedly called for the addition of new and smaller units of appropriation in the budget in a bid to make the budget and its process more transparent. I'm curious to hear, I guess, first off, if those units of appropriation are included in this budget, and second, to hear both from the mayor and the speaker and finance chair, if you view this process and its final result as transparent?

Mayor Eric Adams: Jacques, you want to?

Jacques Jiha, Director, Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget: As part of our budget negotiation with the council every year, we added a number of what I call U of A, unit of appropriation, and this year is the same. We added a number of them as well. From our perspective, the budget is as transparent as possible.

Speaker Adams: I would say that this process this year, as with all years—first of all, I just want to say, we're always on time, so we're really proud of that. This process, as is with every budget process, our process starts in our hearings, which go on for a month or more. In my estimation, we are always transparent in our process. As we go along, we know that things change, so, you know, we're as transparent as we can be during the process.

Question: Is the final result transparent to New Yorkers, do you think, the budget itself? Is it that—

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams: Oh, yes, for sure. We are pretty darn proud of this budget. We want the world to know about this budget. This budget is a model. I think it's a model for the nation.

Question: I have two questions. The first is, I know obviously there's funding for around 170 new positions in the Parks Department, but since 2023, 795 positions have been cut. I don't know if those are cut forever, if there will ever be a plan to replace some of those positions. 

My second question is, the complaint you hear often from budget wonks, no other way to put it, is money in the reserves, so I don't know if you want to reiterate how much money has been put into the reserves, and if you think that's sufficient.

Mayor Adams: We're going to continue to increase the numbers in the Parks Department, and in my next term, we're going to probably double that amount. You want to answer that?

Question: [Inaudible] why not this term?

Jiha: We just added $15 million in this budget for the Parks Department. The notion of, you're talking about the cuts, as I say to you all the time, the Parks budget is at the highest level, the headcount is the highest level, and we just added another $15 million in this budget for parks.

Question: They're down nearly 800 jobs since–

Jacques Jiha: They're not down year to year. Their budget is at the highest level, their headcount is at the highest level. Double check.

Question: And about the reserves. I don't know if you want to speak in the reserves–

Mayor Adams: Is 8.5?

Jiha: 8.5. Highest level.

Mayor Adams: $8.5 billion. We're at the highest levels. The challenge of the urge to just spin down and not be prepared for the crisis is what we have to fight against. I remember when we did our PEGs in the beginning, we saved $7.2 billion. If we didn't have that $7.2 billion, we would not have been able to afford the $7.7 billion that we had to spend. Smart fiscal decisions got us here to the Best Budget Ever.

Question: I wanted to ask, the finance chair brought it up, we're up $1.7 billion from the preliminary budget that you had proposed. Can you detail what that is? Then on the pro bono attorneys, how soon will that office be up and running so that immigrants can use it right now, right away? That's a very big concern here in the city.

Mayor Adams: Jacques, why don't you talk about the increase? First, I want you to be clear about what this city did during the crisis, migrant and asylum seeker crisis. The buses that I met as the migrants and asylum seekers came here, the [inaudible] that I slept in with them to hear the story, to open up our free legal services and watching Camille and Zach Iscol at 1, 2, 3 AM in the morning, making sure that these services were provided. When you hear about any new funding that's done, we need to acknowledge what this city did.

Those national immigrant leaders came to visit this city. Once they saw what we did, they said, “No city in America is doing what you are doing here. You're the model for the country.” They went back and wrote letters to Washington and said, you need to duplicate what New York is doing. 

We advocated for the job opportunities. We gave free legal services to get the documentation, is what we've done. What Commissioner Castro did as a dreamer, he made the dreams available for others. History will be kind to this administration because we were kind to people who came here and we showed them dignity. 

You want to answer that?

Jiha: We're regarding the $1.7 billion you mentioned. It's from the preliminary budget. As you recall, in the executive budget, we made a number of investments. In this budget, again, we added about like some $800 million worth of investment. The investment that they just mentioned, whether it's the pre-K, special education, all these investments that we've made, it's about $800 million.

Question: You didn't answer my other question on when the pro bono legal services would be available.

Mayor Adams: Do we have that answer? If you don't know, this is Randy Mastro.

First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro: There you go. We will be implementing programs and we'll have more to say on that for effectuating and accelerating the providing of those services. The money is in the budget, and stay tuned because we will be having announcements in the coming weeks about how those services can be accessed and how we are going to have an innovative, first-of-its-kind program to establish pro bono access, not only to our immigrant community, but New Yorkers in general. Thank you.

Question: The question is for the speaker. Back after the executive budget came out, I remember you guys were mostly satisfied, but there were some areas where you felt like there still needed to be funding restored. Is this budget doing everything that you wanted it to do at this point?

Speaker Adams: There are no perfect budgets, but we have come a long way and this one gets pretty close. The answer to your question would be yes. We did very well.

Mayor Eric Adams: I just want to add on that. We both would tell you, I know I would say we're never going to be all— you do these budgets, there's always more we want to do. There's always needs that we have, and it breaks our heart that those needs cannot always be fulfilled, because we see the results of that. As the speaker stated, we came darn close. We looked at those things that are important from our life experience and the life experience of those who are behind us.

I always remember sitting down one day, hearing Councilwoman Ayala tell her story. To be here as a member of the council is an amazing journey. Each one of these council members behind us and my administration that's next to us, what makes this council and City Hall administration unique is our personal stories. We bring our stories to us when we make these tough decisions. These are hard decisions and we bring it with us when we make these decisions.

Question: Mr. Mayor, the agreed budget—

Mayor Adams: Yes. What's your name?

Question: [Amira].

Mayor Adams: Amira? Good to meet you.

Question: The agreed budget for immigrant legal services is bound above your initial proposal, as the speaker noted. What was the turning point for you that either convinced you that that funding was necessary or convinced you to make that concession? Was it all related to your [inaudible]?

Mayor Adams: I'm not quite understanding the question. I'm sorry. You're saying what convinced me of what?

Question: Your original proposal, the funding for immigrant legal services is bound above your initial proposal in this agreed upon budget. I'm curious what the turning point for you was that either convinced you that that funding was necessary, or convinced you to make that concession in the agreed upon budget?

Mayor Adams: There was no convincing. There [were] no turning points. The way this is done, we propose a budget, the City Council comes in and they discuss things that are important to them also. The work we've done, that's why I shared the work that we've done. What we've done already, national leaders stated how great it was. This is a continuation of what we accomplished. 

There was no turning point. Giving people the dignity, respect that they deserve, a lifetime commitment of making sure when someone goes into a courtroom, that they get the services that they deserve, reform and the criminal justice system is not new to me. Just go Google me and you'll find out I was doing this long before people been having a conversation about this. 

I'm the leading voice in the country of making sure people get justice. This is what I've done all my life. There was no turning point. We sit down and we negotiate a budget and we come up hearing from the council and hearing from my administration. This is the way the process works, and this has been successful. That's why no matter what anyone says, this is the Best Budget Ever.

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