Tentative NYC Budget Deal Restores Library, Museum and Some Parks Cuts
The mayor and City Council appeared to have reached an agreement on a multi-billion dollar budget that restores last year’s cuts to libraries, parks and museums. [This story was originally published by THE CITY Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.]
| 28 Jun 2024 | 03:34
Manhattan borough president Mark Levine led a rally chanting “arts and culture for all” and vowed to get last year’s budget cuts restored at a City Hall protest on May 21, six weeks before the budget for the new fiscal year was due. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
A coaltion protested ahead of this year’s budget at a rally at City Hall on June 20. Photo: Ben Tractenberg/THE CITY
Mayor Eric Adams addressed the press and supporters after releasing a tentative $111 billion budget for the coming fiscal year back on April 20. Photo: Ben Tractenberg/THE CITY
The City Council and the mayor’s office are set to shake hands June 28 on a more than $111 billion budget, which restores funding to city libraries and reverses some previous cuts to the Parks Department, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
The fiscal year 2025 budget restores more than $58 million to the city’s three library systems—which could allow for Sunday service to return—and another $53 million for other cultural institutions, like museums, according to Speaker Adrienne Adams and Mayor Eric Adams.
The new budget also adds $15 million in more permanent funding dedicated to parks maintenance and cleaning jobs at 100 “hot spots” at 61 parks across the city that are known to need more attention, those people said.
The deal was scheduled to be formally announced June 28 and it was unclear at presstime how much more the budget total will be beyond a projected $111 billion from the mayor’s proposed executive budget released in April.
Negotiations came just days before a June 30 midnight deadline, and caps the end of another round of budget negotiations some described as “contentious.”
Throughout the year, the council and Adams had multiple public disputes, including the council overriding his vetoes on public safety bills and a measure to expand rental vouchers.
The mayor, though, repeatedly said that he and the council speaker would “land the plane” and agree on a budget, just as they’ve done twice since 2022.
On Thursday, he again said to “let the process go through,” but predicted “success” on a budget deal.
Speaker Adams, who leads the Council and worked years ago as a flight attendant, alluded to turbulence last week.
“We’re in a holding pattern, we’re circling the airport and if possible there will be a diversion,” she said at an unrelated press conference.
They were both in agreement in a press release June 27 about the restored funding for libraries and cultural institutions.
“The council has consistently championed funding restorations for these institutions as a top priority, and we’re proud to reach an agreement with Mayor Adams and the administration to successfully secure these critical investments for them in the city budget,” Speaker Adams wrote.