"The administration’s latest 'Program to Eliminate the Gap' will only deepen the deficit of vital city services.
"How can we justify further cuts to agencies when the city workforce is already drastically understaffed and services are suffering as a result? Four percent is not an abstract figure – it means real reductions in things like safe housing inspectors, shelter staff, sanitation workers, civil rights attorneys. It means New Yorkers get 4% less effective government and services than they deserve. Last year’s "savings" have already cost a city reeling from pandemic-era staffing reductions, and further cuts will only deepen the damage and undercut the effort to stabilize our city and its economy. All of these proposed cuts come from an administration that refuses to support additional revenue raising measures which could help to provide that stability.
"The goal of the current city budget process should be preserving and strengthening the programs in place, not further slashing them. Long term austerity is not the answer, and our city’s commitment to meeting the needs of New Yorkers cannot be in question."