$92.8B TO RUN THE CITY Budget adds more for libraries & school social workers; now Blaz can hit prez-campaign trail
Mayor de Blasio and the City Council reached a $92.8 billion budget deal on Friday afternoon after weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations – and just in time for Hizzoner to hit the campaign trail.
De Blasio will skip town again this weekend, heading to New Hampshire as part of his long-shot bid for the White House. But first, the mayor agreed to millions more in city spending — nearly 25% more than his first budget deal in 2014.
“The budget is balanced, it is progressive — and it’s early!” de Blasio said to cheers from Council members on hand for the occasion.
The mayor and Council Speaker Corey Johnson had a ceremonial handshake at the foot of the floating staircase in the City Hall rotunda after announcing the deal.
“This budget is going to help so many New Yorkers,” Johnson (D-Manhattan) said.
Following jockeying from Council members, the de Blasio administration agreed to hundreds of millions more in savings and cuts, as well as a bump in the city’s rainy-day reserves to prepare for an anticipated economic slowdown. The city also increased funding for parks, libraries, school social workers, early childhood education, litter pickup and other measures.
The budget for fiscal year 2020, which begins in July, represents a roughly $3.64 billion increase in spending compared to the $89.2 billion financial plan Council lawmakers passed last summer.
The spending deal is also some $600 million more than the preliminary budget proposed by de Blasio in February.
De Blasio dismissed the notion that voters across the country would scoff at the “breathtaking” size of the $92.8 billion budget — the fourth largest of any government in the United States.
“People I talk to respect the fact that this is a very big operation,” he said.
After unveiling the budget deal, de Blasio briefly answered questions in about other topics, including his presidential campaign. De Blasio 2020 campaign spokeswoman Jaclyn Rothenberg — who also works for the mayor’s office — lurked in City Hall nearby.
The mayor refused to re
veal where he’s traveling this weekend, but took shots at President Trump and repeated his call for impeachment.
“He’s absolutely vulnerable, this is a guy who, for much of the last two years has hovered around 40% approval and that’s absolutely a mark of vulnerability,” the mayor said. De Blasio’s own approval rating among city voters was just 42% in an April Quinnipiac University poll.
Coming to the agreement more than two weeks before the Council has to vote on a spending plan frees up time de Blasio can spend stumping in early primary states and making fund-raising calls.
“Every year I’ve been trying to get the budget done early,” de Blasio said. “There have been months and months of work and endless meetings to get to this moment.”
As part of the budget deal, the city will place 200 more licensed social workers and mental health specialists in city schools with $26 million in new funding. Eight-five of the social workers will come through the mayor’s controversial ThriveNYC initiative, which is run by de Blasio’s wife, First Lady Chirlane McCray.
FDNY vehicles will also get “less obnoxious” and quieter “rumbler” sirens to help reduce noise pollution, which will cost $1.5 million, de Blasio said. “It’s going to be easier on the ears of New Yorkers,” he added.
Libraries will get an additional $33 million for day-today operations after intense pressure from the Council and the book lobby – including from “Sex and the City” actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. The city also restored a $6 million cut to a program that provides breakfast in the classroom, which “Mamma Mia” star Amanda Seyfried pushed for.
City parks got $31 million in new funding for seasonal workers, gardeners, forestry management, enforcement officers and more, according to the Council speaker. The city also put up $4.4 million more for collection of garbage from streetcorners.
New York will become the first city to directly fund abortion care with a $250,000 allocation in the budget.
Still, at least one big-ticket item remains unsettled.
The spending deal didn’t directly resolve an ongoing dispute between de Blasio and Council lawmakers over pay parity between pre-K teachers who work for community organizations and those in public schools. The mayor and Johnson said they agreed to work on a deal in the coming months to resolve the spat.
The mayor said that this couldn’t be done through the budget because pay parity requires a collective bargaining process.
“Anything that has to do with labor contracts, we do not negotiate publicly,” de Blasio said.
The Council must officially approve the budget before the fiscal year begins July 1.