“New York City is facing overlapping crises of affordability, housing instability, public safety, and public health, and I am encouraged to see several meaningful investments reflected in the Mayor’s FY27 Executive Budget proposal,” said NYC Council Member Pierina Sanchez.

First, I am heartened to see $20.5 million allocated toward implementation of the City’s historic Street Vendor Reform package. I look forward to understanding exactly how these funds will be deployed to ensure the reforms deliver on their promise: the orderly, fair, and economically vibrant vending system we fought for.

I am also encouraged to see an additional $4 billion added to HPD’s capital budget. According to FDNY, the number of fires in lower-income areas doubled between 2023 and 2026. Given this terrifying reality—and the increasing number of lives being lost, including a one-year-old baby on Bainbridge Avenue just yesterday—we must ensure these investments are directed toward meaningful preservation work. In particular, the City should require older properties applying for preservation support to include analysis and upgrading of electrical systems, which are increasingly at the center of the fires devastating low-income communities across our city.

The budget must also continue to prioritize harm reduction. Opioid overdose deaths remain disproportionately high in communities like mine, and we need to save lives by every means available.

At the same time, the Executive Budget does not yet reflect a resolution to the CityFHEPS expansion litigation. Since the Council passed these laws in 2023, an estimated 25,000 preventable evictions have taken place. Every day these reforms remain tied up in court is another day we destabilize families and communities already under enormous strain. This matter must be resolved immediately.

There is much more in the mayor’s proposed Executive Budget, and I look forward to digging into the details throughout the Council’s Executive Budget hearings in the weeks ahead.”