by Abigail Gruskin, June 16

“Following a City Council vote that wrapped up late Monday evening — and a handshake agreement with Mayor Eric Adams only a few days prior — the city’s FY 2023 budget negotiation process has come to a close. The final result: a record-high $101.1 billion budget, the first passed by Adams and the current City Council cohort.

Making headlines has been a $215 million drop in the city’s provisions for public schools, attributed by Speaker Adrienne Adams, Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph and Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer, chair of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, to decreased enrollment and the end of one-time federal stimulus funds. To lessen the impact, the City Council redirected over $700 million more in funding than in the current year’s budget to schools for FY 2023.

In Manhattan, council members have secured funds to benefit the outdoor cityscape, housing and, yes, schools. “There’s always a growing need,” Upper East Side Council Member Julie Menin told Our Town. “We have to make sure that we’re investing in our vulnerable communities — and that’s what this budget does.”

Read more: https://www.westsidespirit.com/news/city-council-passes-record-high-1011-billion-budget-EF2106556