Council Speaker unveils record of achievement innovating new programs and Council proposals that help New Yorkers

Manhattan, NY – Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams delivered her fourth State of the City address at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, outlining her vision for effective leadership of city government. Speaker Adams highlighted major issues facing the city and the Council’s work to tackle them under her leadership. She also unveiled several new proposals that advance increased resources for New Yorkers and solutions to significant challenges across the five boroughs.

Over the last three years, Speaker Adams and the Council have prioritized critical issues of health, housing, safety, and opportunity for all New Yorkers. Speaker Adams has introduced several major new initiatives through her past State of the City addresses, and the Council has incubated these innovative programs with its own funding and through partnership. These programs can make an even greater impact with the increased funding support of the mayor’s office.

• CUNY Reconnect was first established after Speaker Adams proposed it in her 2022 State of the City Address. A university-wide program that re-engages former working-age students who have earned credits to return and complete their degrees, CUNY Reconnect has helped re-enroll 47,000 students, the majority of whom are women and people of color. Over 3,000 returning students have graduated after accessing this new opportunity.
• Speaker Adams announced her intention to establish trauma recovery centers, which are designed to provide victim services for survivors of violent crime less likely to receive help and stop cycles of crime. The Council provided the initial funding and support to establish New York State’s first trauma recovery centers in New York City, within the Bronx and Brooklyn. Its multi-year commitment has provided these new services for communities experiencing high levels of violence, contributing to safer neighborhoods.
• Speaker Adams first announced the intention to initiate city support for anti-poverty guaranteed income programs in her 2023 State of the City Address. The Council then passed Council Member Crystal Hudson’s Local Law 105 of 2023, clearing the pathway for the City to support guaranteed income programs. In October 2024, Speaker Adams and Council Members announced a new Council funding initiative to support a guaranteed income program for expectant mothers to improve maternal health and reduce child poverty. The initiative supported The Bridge Project in establishing a new cohort of 161 pregnant women experiencing housing insecurity who receive regular and unconditional income assistance. It is the first time in city history that municipal funds have been utilized for a guaranteed income program.

Speaker Adams also announced several new proposals, including to expand 7-day library service, childcare support for more working families with infants and toddlers, and CUNY programs for working adult and low-income students. Speaker Adams proposed the creation of a minority business accelerator and a new model of holistic community centers, as well as solutions to non-profit contract payment delay solutions. More details on each of these new proposals are outlined below.

The full text of the speech can be accessed here.

Photos from the speech will be posted on the New York City Council’s Flickr page.

Expanding 7-Day Library Service

• The Council will seek to expand 7-day library service to 10 additional branches citywide. This approximately $2 million expansion will ensure New Yorkers have more equitable access to library services and the educational and economic opportunities they provide across the five boroughs.

Accelerating Minority Business Growth 

• To support the successful growth of minority-owned businesses, the Council will help establish a Minority-Owned Business Accelerator, modeled after a similar effort in Cincinnati. Since 2003, the Cincinnati program has helped several dozen minority-owned small businesses scale up by providing them with strong individualized business strategy and support, greater access to capital to finance expansion, and connections to major regional companies that direct significantly more procurement dollars to them. There are roughly 20,000 Black- and Latino-owned businesses across the five boroughs, but far too few of them ever grow from small businesses into medium-sized or large businesses. Yet far too few of them are able to grow into medium-sized or large businesses.

Expanding Child Care for Working Families

• To expand access to affordable childcare for children two years old and younger, the City should fund a voucher that covers half the cost of childcare, or $12,000 per child annually, for families earning up to $128,000 a year—or 100% of the State Median Income. This expansion would provide much-needed relief for working families that are currently ineligible for support and stretched too thin.

Increasing Access to a CUNY Higher Education 

• CUNY is an engine of equitable economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers, serving as a pathway to education and mobility.
• To expand access to educational and economic opportunities for working adults and low-income students in the City’s public university system, the City should take the following steps to expand and enhance CUNY support programs:
  • Baseline funding for CUNY Reconnect  
  • Expand Support for Low-Income Adult Learners by establishing CUNY Flex and CUNY Fresh Start programs that provide academic support and forgive old debt
  • Expand CUNY ACE from reaching 3% of eligible students to 30% to boost graduation rates
  • Expand application fee waivers for more low-income students 

 Establishing a New Model for Holistic Community Centers 

• To address disparities in health outcomes and community safety within certain neighborhoods, Speaker Adams proposes the creation of new community health, wellness, and recreation centers in neighborhoods with significant health and safety challenges. The Council will work with City agencies to develop the necessary planning to create these new centers, beginning in Southeast Queens. 

Fixing Administrative Barriers to CityFHEPS

• As part of its continued commitment to reduce bureaucratic barriers to accessing CityFHEPS and ensure its effective implementation, the Council is releasing a set of improvements to the program’s application and benefit delivery processes that can be administratively implemented by the mayoral administration and Department of Social Services. These recommendations present viable, low-cost solutions to issues related to administrative delays, technology, personnel, policies and procedures, and source of income discrimination, among others. 

Reducing Delayed Payments to Non-Profits

• Despite their essential role, nonprofit service providers face significant challenges due to the City’s routinely late contract payments.  To reduce payment delays to city-contracted non-profit human services organizations and ensure the timely delivery of critical services to New Yorkers, the Council will take the following actions: 
  • Advance legislation to reduce delayed payments to non-profits by shifting contracts to a grant-based model
  • Advance legislation that requires City agencies to submit corrective action plans for Retroactive Contract Registrations
  • Advocate for the Administration to restore funding to the Mayor’s Office of Contracts Services (MOCS)

Strengthening Community Planning for Housing & Neighborhood Development 

• In December 2022, Speaker Adams released a Planning and Land Use Toolkit, which serves as a principled guide and set of options for Council Members, local communities, land use applicants, and city agencies to employ for successful outcomes that balance citywide goals with neighborhood needs in development.
• To strengthen more inclusive community involvement and create a more equitable planning process, the Council will release a Community Planning Framework that builds on the Planning and Land Use Toolkit.

Expanding the Continuity of Mental Health Care

• Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) and Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs provide essential, high-intensity treatment and wraparound support services for individuals with severe mental health challenges. However, demand for these services far exceeds capacity. To address the wait lists for IMT and ACT programs and strengthen the continuum of care, the Council will fund the creation of a pilot step-down program for clients who have progressed in their recovery and require less-intensive services.

An accompanying report on the Speaker’s proposals can be found here.

A list of the previous State of the City proposals that have been implemented by the Council can be found here.

The speech was simultaneously broadcast in Spanish, Mandarin, Bangla, and American Sign Language (ASL). The video of the speech can be found on the Council website via this link.
 

“Our members in the human services sector continue to face economic uncertainty, despite showing up and doing the delicate work of supporting the city’s most vulnerable populations, including our children,” said Henry Garrido, Executive Director of District Council 37. “We applaud Speaker Adams’ commitment to reducing payment delays to city-contracted non-profits and look forward to working with the City Council to push forward legislative solutions that will ensure our human service workers are paid on time.”

“As Speaker of the New York City Council, Adrienne Adams has been a staunch advocate for fair housing policies, social justice, and workers’ rights,” said Manny Pastreich, President of 32BJ SEIU. “We applaud her leadership on behalf of working New Yorkers and thank her for always standing up for 32BJ members.”

“During her time on the City Council and as Speaker, Adrienne Adams has been a strong voice for the injustices that continually plague women and minorities in both the City of New York and the private sector,” said Gloria Middleton, President of CWA Local 1180. “She knows that pay inequality and lack of affordable and accessible child care are significant factors to career stagnation. She knows that increasing maternal death rates during childbirth particularly in Black and Brown communities and tensions between law enforcement and minority populations contribute to the escalating tensions of everyday life. She knows the problems that need addressing and she has been tackling them one by one.”

“Speaker Adams’ State of the City address today highlighted her critical leadership and dedication to lifting up New York’s working families,” said Rich Maroko, President of Hotel & Gaming Trades Council (HTC). “From taking aim at the city’s housing crisis to delivering critical safety protections for hotel workers, Speaker Adams has pursued an agenda that promotes working New Yorkers. Our union was proud to participate in this State of the City event to celebrate the victories and vision of the City Council under Speaker Adrienne Adams’ direction.”

“Last year, in the face of expiring federal stimulus funds supporting a slew of education programs, Speaker Adams and the City Council championed the needs of students and fought to ensure that many important programs would continue,” said Kim Sweet, Executive Director, Advocates for Children of New York. “Hundreds of thousands of students are benefitting today from programs that had been at risk of being rolled back or eliminated – from 3-K and preschool special education programs to school social workers and psychologists to community schools and shelter-based coordinators to immigrant family outreach and more. Beyond fighting for funding, the Speaker has engaged in the hard work of improving access to early childhood education with a focus not only on working families but on groups of children who too often get left behind. We are grateful for Speaker Adams’ leadership and look forward to continuing to partner with the Council to strengthen public education in New York City.”

“During a time when language access and immigrant New Yorkers are under attack from the highest levels of government, Speaker Adams has stood strong,” said Amaha Kassa, Executive Director of African Communities Together. “The Speaker recognizes that diversity, including language diversity, is not a weakness, but a strength. Thanks to her leadership and the Council’s support of the Language Cooperatives Initiative, we have trained hundreds of new community interpreters, created a new certificate program at CUNY, and helped multilingual immigrant New Yorkers become language services professionals and entrepreneurs. And we are just getting started.”

“When we saw sweeping cuts made to public schools, the council, under Speaker Adams’ leadership, fought for restorations. Knowing our parents and families deserve better, the Speaker has called for the budget process to move away from restoring and instead towards strengthening and building,” said Smitha Varghese Milich, Alliance for Quality Education NYC Senior Campaign Strategist. “This approach orients us towards progress that would allow our public schools to be transformed instead of an austerity approach, which would impact working class New Yorkers the hardest.”

“ANHD has been proud to work with Speaker Adams on a range of initiatives that have helped make New York City a more just, equitable, and affordable place to live,” said Barika X. Williams, Executive Director of the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD). “From releasing a Planning and Land Use toolkit to passing Fair Housing Framework legislation, to winning the City for All package of affordable housing investments, this Speaker has been a leader and an ally in the fight to protect and preserve New York City’s communities, and ensure that all New Yorkers have the opportunity to thrive.”

“With the NYC Council’s support under Speaker Adams’ leadership, Astor Services has been able to transform the way we provide mental health services and support by diversifying our service delivery methods to meet New Yorkers where they are,” said Yvette Bairan, Astor Services CEO. “From our Trauma Recovery Center that was launched last year to our various school and community-based services, Speaker Adams and members of the City Council have been steadfast partners in ensuring that our city has the resources needed to thrive and prosper. Astor thanks Speaker Adams for her commitment and partnership in building a stronger, healthier, and more resilient New York City.”

“We are proud to be the first unconditional cash program in NYC to receive funding support from the City Council, focused on empowering pregnant women facing housing insecurity,” said Laura Clancy, Executive Director, The Bridge Project. “With a proven track record of improving maternal mental health, reducing stress levels, and supporting the transition to permanent housing, we are honored to partner in creating lasting change and brighter futures for these women and their families.”

“Speaker Adams’ and City Council’s dedication to abortion access have made a significant difference both for NYC residents and those forced to travel to NYC for care,” said Serra Sippel, Executive Director of The Brigid Alliance. “The Brigid Alliance helps abortion seekers forced to travel especially long distances for care, and the investments Speaker Adams and the Council have made in the abortion access fund, the abortion access hub, and NYC health & hospitals provide a haven for those facing often overwhelming barriers and stigma. And at a time when sexist and misogynistic rhetoric is skyrocketing, with shockingly cruel anti-abortion bills being introduced all over the country, their leadership is more important than ever.”

“The Brotherhood Sister Sol has been honored to work with Speaker Adams on the Young Women’s Initiative,” said Khary Lazarre-White, Executive Director and Co-Founder, The Brotherhood Sister Sol. “This effort is having a profound effect on young women in our city. It supports leadership development, the arts, college and career readiness, health and wellness, community organizing and the powerful development of voice and knowledge of self. We join the Speaker in a deep commitment to young women and gender equity, to advocacy and direct service, and to preparing young women to be social change agents who make our world more equitable – with true access and opportunity for all. We thank Speaker Adams for reviving and reinvigorating this historic initiative that makes our City a better place.”

“Minority-owned businesses are already so vital to New York City’s economy, but there is an enormous untapped opportunity to help more of these great businesses expand into larger, job-creating enterprises,” said Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of Center for an Urban Future. “A Minority Business Accelerator, modeled on Cincinnati’s successful initiative, can be a game-changer—helping Black-, Latino-, and Asian-owned businesses grow to new heights, build wealth in communities of color, and strengthen the city’s economy for everyone. We applaud Speaker Adams for helping to turn this idea into a reality.”

“Under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams, the City Council has been a champion for New York City’s children and families,” said Elysia Murphy, Interim Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children (CCC). “At CCC, we have worked alongside Speaker Adams and the Council to build a more just and equitable city – advocating for expanded access to early childhood education and care, advancing Fair Fares NYC and CityFHEPS programs, and fighting against harmful cuts to libraries, parks, and education programs. We are grateful that the Speaker is continuing to fight for child care affordability for families with young children. CCC’s research shows that more than 80% of families with children under five cannot afford child care in New York City, and the average family with one infant and one preschool age child spends 43% of their income on center-based care. We applaud the Speaker for proposing direct supports to make child care more affordable for more families with young children in our city.”

“Speaker Adams is an exceptional leader and true partner of the arts and cultural community in New York City,” said Coco Killingsworth, Chair of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG). We applaud Speaker Adams as she delivers her final State of the City address as Speaker of the City Council at a world-class cultural institution, Jazz at Lincoln Center – the second year in a row she has chosen a cultural venue for her values-driven annual speech. The Speaker has long recognized that our arts and cultural institutions are the lifeblood of our City. Speaker Adams and the entire City Council have fought alongside our community to advance a more just and equitable city and to ensure arts and culture is truly for all and we expect that her leadership and values will once again lead to historic investments in the arts.”

“On behalf of the children, families, and nonprofit organizations providing child welfare services in New York City, the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA) is pleased to acknowledge our partnership relationship with Speaker Adrienne Adams and her staff,” said Dr. Sophine Charles, Associate Executive Director, Downstate, COFCCA. “We have experienced and continue to experience Speaker Adams’ support with addressing the needs of youth and families, particularly, her leadership on advancing equitable access to mental health services. Currently, we are in collaboration with Speaker Adams on addressing procurement issues – delayed and outstanding payments to nonprofit agencies for unpaid services to the City. The Procurement Workgroup is moving in the right direction, it’s designed to assist Provider agencies with timely payments to enhance their ability to better service families and meet their expectations. COFCCA values our collaborative partnership with Speaker Adams.”

“Speaker Adrienne Adams is absolutely right: our city is becoming unaffordable to everyday New Yorkers, and we need bold action to change course,” said David R. Jones, President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York. “We commend her commitment to reducing evictions and homelessness by improving CityFHEPS and her leadership in addressing the city’s affordable housing crisis through “City of All” which will help keep New Yorkers in their homes with funding for public housing rental arrears and initiatives like the Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection program. We also applaud her strong support for expansion the New York City’s “Fair Fares” program, which provides half-priced bus and subway fares to more than 360,000 working New Yorkers struggling with transit affordability in a city with ever-rising costs of living.”

“We are grateful to Speaker Adams and the City Council for their ongoing support for CUNY programs, including CUNY Reconnect, which has helped nearly 50,000 New Yorkers who left college before completing a degree return to CUNY classrooms,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “The proposal to fund application fee waivers will sustain the program and eliminate another hurdle for aspiring college students. We look forward to working with our partners in government to build on our success and strengthen our city.”

“Many of my CUNY law students commented that the Estate Planning Clinic was a highlight in the work they did in the Disability Rights and Social Justice Clinic,” said Natalie M. Chin, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Disability Rights and Social Justice Clinic, City University of New York School of Law. “Each student worked closely with community members in Brooklyn and Queens, engaging in difficult discussions about end-of-life planning related to wills and health care decision-making. The end result provided peace of mind to many New Yorkers who executed wills, powers-of-attorney and health care proxies through the Estate Planning Clinic.”

“Early Childhood Education is a key investment that makes the City more just and equitable for families and for the hardworking and talented teachers, directors, support staff, and providers who make up the early care and education workforce,” said Tara N. Gardner, the Executive Director of the Day Care Council of New York. “The Day Care Council of New York looks forward to continuing to partner with Speaker Adrienne Adams and the New York City Council to ensure that our City provides the investments and supports for early childhood education provider organizations that will empower them to ensure that all families can access high-quality early childhood education and that the early childhood workforce is paid fairly and treated with the respect they deserve.”

“We are grateful for Speaker Adams’ strong and consistent leadership to close Rikers Island and finally erase this stain on our city,” said Darren Mack, Co-Director of Freedom Agenda. “In recognizing that Rikers has long undermined public safety, the Speaker has focused her efforts on scaling up evidence-based solutions that create stability and well-being. We look forward to working with her again this year to secure the resources that our communities have always deserved, and that will close the pipelines that feed Rikers.”

“Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) centers the leadership of Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color to achieve gender and racial justice,” said Joanne Smith, Founder and Executive Director, Girls for Gender Equity. “Partnership and support from Speaker Adrienne Adams and NYC Council has bolstered our work to amplify the perspectives of youth survivors and aspiring civic leaders and organizers. Through initiatives including the Young Women’s Initiative (YWI), STARS, ATI and DOVE, Speaker Adams and NYC Council Members are prioritizing the lived perspectives of young people, to ensure their equal representation. GGE’s agenda is critical, now more than ever, as our youth face heightened attacks on their cultural and gender identities, sexual orientation, and bodily autonomy. We stand in solidarity with Speaker Adams and the New York City Council in advancing resources and continuing support for Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color.”

“Good Shepherd Services applauds City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams for her steadfast leadership and unwavering commitment to supporting New York’s most vulnerable – especially foster care youth, working families, and new arrivals,” said Michelle Yanche, CEO of Good Shepherd Services. “Her leadership in advancing policies that protect essential services – from her collaboration on the New Arrivals Strategy to her vigorous advocacy to prevent debilitating funding cuts through the Campaign for Children – has ensured critical social programs remain accessible to families across New York City. As we seek to create systemic change within our city, we thank the Speaker for her dedication to transforming our communities for the better.”

“We are grateful to Speaker Adams for her partnership and her leadership on efforts to end solitary confinement in New York City,” said The #HALTsolitary Campaign and Jails Action Coalition. “Solitary confinement is torture. It causes immense suffering, inflicts devastating physical and mental health impacts, and worsens safety for everyone. Solitary has caused the deaths of numerous New Yorkers, including Kalief Browder, Layleen Polanco, Brandon Rodriguez, Erick Tavira, Elijah Muhammad, Jason Echevarria, Bradley Ballard, and countless others. At the same time, alternative forms of separation that are the opposite of solitary and involve full days of out-of-cell group programming and engagement have been proven to reduce violence and better protect people’s health. Rognizing the harms of solitary and the benefits of alternatives, Speaker Adams and her team partnered with our campaigns and carried out an extensive deliberative legislative process involving all stakeholders over multiple years, leading a supermajority of the City Council to enact Local Law 42 in order to stop torture, save lives, and improve safety for everyone. Since enactment, Speaker Adams and the Council have continued their leadership to make the law a reality and push for full and effective implementation of this urgent and critical policy change.”

“The Speaker has been a strong and consistent supporter of strategies to help ensure New Yorkers have access to. permanent housing,” said Kristin Miller, Executive Director, Homeless Services United. “As a champion for CityFHEPS she knows the importance of rental assistance and how State and City systems and agencies need to work together to address housing and homelessness. We are proud to call her a dedicated partner.”

“Human service workers and leaders are grateful for Speaker Adams and the Council’s leadership in the nonprofit sector, which helped procure a long-overdue 9.27% cost-of-living adjustment and workforce enhancement for our human services workers last year,” said Michelle Jackson, Executive Director, Human Services Council. “Speaker Adams has championed our workforce and the many hurdles nonprofits face in getting paid on time. I am proud to partner with her in honoring the tireless work of the sector and treating our workers as the essential pieces they are in the fabric of our communities.”

“New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is a blessed leader, whose landmark vision and deep-seated concern for the communities and families of our city is evident in her unwavering commitment to equity and service,” said Rabbi Moshe Wiener, Executive Director, Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island. “She ensures that even the most underprivileged New Yorkers are not forgotten, and that vital services are accessible to all. One of the many ways this remarkable leadership has been demonstrated is through Speaker Adams’ recognition that New York State was without a Trauma Recovery Center (TRC), despite the documented success of the TRC model in other states throughout the nation. She not only identified the need but also provided the necessary resources to establish the first three Trauma Recovery Centers in the state. These centers are focused on providing specialized care for individuals who have experienced traumatic events, offering tailored treatments for survivors who might otherwise struggle to access traditional mental health services. The Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island (JCCGCI) has been privileged to work alongside Speaker Adams on numerous local and citywide initiatives, and we are profoundly grateful for the opportunity to open one of the first Trauma Recovery Centers in New York State. This initiative will undoubtedly continue to bring healing to countless individuals, and we thank Speaker Adams for her compassionate leadership and her tireless efforts to better our city.”

“The City Council’s ‘City for All’ plan is a critical step toward ensuring safe, stable, and affordable housing for all New Yorkers,” said Legal Services NYC’s Executive Director Shervon Small. “Under Speaker Adams’ leadership, the Council has secured essential funding for tenant protection vouchers, NYCHA repairs, and the Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection (AHTP) initiative—key investments that will strengthen communities and protect low-income tenants. LSNYC is proud to stand with the Council in the fight for housing justice.”

“The LEAP-AHTP Coalition is grateful to the Speaker and City Council for restoring nearly $8 million in Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection funds,” said Keriann Pauls, Interim Executive Director, LEAP-AHTP Coalition. “AHTP providers play a crucial role in the fight against tenant harassment and displacement of our communities. The Speaker’s advocacy to secure future funding for this program demonstrates the commitment to access to justice for Tenants across NYC.”

“Speaker Adams has demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to educational equity and language access for the 2.2 million adults in NYC who do not have English language proficiency or a high school diploma, the majority of whom are poor and working class, immigrants, women, and people of color,” said Ira Yankwitt, Executive Director, Literacy Assistance Center. “Last year, the Speaker led the Council in making the single largest City investment in community-based adult literacy education since the 1980s, providing the foundation for wider economic opportunity, greater access to essential resources, and increased civic participation for thousands of New Yorkers.”

“As an organization committed to fighting racial inequities and poverty through the power of the law, NYLAG sees how the lack of access to estate planning can lead to the loss of homeownership and intergenerational wealth for families, with a disproportionately devastating impact on communities of color,” said Maria Hunter, New York Legal Assistance Group. “NYLAG was honored to partner with the Speaker’s Office on the city-wide Estate Planning Day initiative, empowering low-income New Yorkers to document their wishes and preserve their homes for future generations. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Speaker’s Office on this and similar initiatives to advance equity and justice.”

Speaker Adams is an invaluable partner to the arts and culture sector in our city. Her fierce advocacy and leadership during last year’s budget work resulted in a historic reversal of devastating cuts to culture funding,” said Lucy Sexton, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Culture and Arts. “Most importantly, the Speaker fights for support for culture in EVERY neighborhood—understanding that communities with arts in schools and senior centers, with gardens, zoos, and cultural centers, are stronger, safer, smarter and healthier. She has helped move us toward a more equitable and vibrant city where New Yorkers of every background have a voice.

“At a time when immigrant New Yorkers are increasingly under threat from city and federal leadership intent on scapegoating our new neighbors, the City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Adams, has served as a bulwark against policies that would devastate our communities,” said Harold Solis, Co-Legal Director of Make the Road NY. “The Protect NYC Families initiative has allowed Make the Road New York to expand our reach, and ensure that all New Yorkers—whether your family arrived generations or weeks ago—have a better chance to thrive and live in dignity in this city.”

“We are deeply grateful to Speaker Adrienne Adams and the City Council for their bold leadership and their clear commitment to addressing the mental health crisis in our city,” said Matt Kudish, CEO of NAMI-NYC T”he Mental Health Roadmap’s focus on family support and educational programs reflects a real understanding of what New Yorkers need — especially families caring for loved ones with mental health challenges. We are also excited to continue partnering with the Council to develop innovative, peer-led mental health programs for youth and to ensure every student in NYC schools has access to meaningful mental health support,”

“The National Alliance of Trauma Recovery Centers (NATRC) appreciates the vision and leadership of the NYC Council and Speaker Adams in bringing the Trauma Recovery Center model for serving survivors of violence to New York City,” said Stacey Wiggall, Director of NATRC Training and Technical Assistance. “Through our close partnership, the Council has invested in a well-trained and supported network of TRCs that are opening doors to wellness and healing for the most vulnerable survivors in NYC.”

“The New York Foundling is deeply grateful to New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams for the care and support offered to the many New Yorkers that we serve, from young people in foster care, to those impacted by the criminal justice systems, to families seeking mental health services – and the critical relief they are finding through the Speaker’s already impactful Mental Health Road Map, said Melanie Hartzog, President and CEO of The New York Foundling.“

“In the midst of New York City’s ongoing housing and affordability crises, Speaker Adams has been an incredible advocate and leader,” said Rachel Fee, Executive Director, New York Housing Conference. “From spearheading the Council’s Fair Housing Framework to ensure every neighborhood plays an equitable role in housing creation to being a strong proponent of City of Yes and securing billions of dollars to invest in City for All, the Speaker’s priorities have never wavered. We look forward to continuing to work with her to increase housing and make our city more affordable and livable for all New Yorkers.”

“At a time when New Yorkers are facing unprecedented attacks from Donald Trump and his administration, the City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams, has remained steadfast in its support of immigrant New Yorkers,” said Murad Awawdeh, President & CEO, New York Immigration Coalition. “The Speaker has been a visionary in integrating our recent arrivals into the fabric of New York City, and in championing policies and initiatives that protect our neighbors and fundamentally advance the mechanisms of how they can access City services. Programs like the NYC Community Interpreter Bank and the Language Services Worker-Owned Cooperatives are reshaping language access for the communities that need it the most; Access Heath NYC connects  more people to services to keep their families healthy; and Key to the City gives people in all five boroughs the opportunity to access essential social services. In the face of austerity and mass deportations, Speaker Adams has ensured that our City continues to work for all New Yorkers.”

“It is so refreshing to witness an elected leader govern holistically with an eye to inclusion and equity and with a heart to change the trajectory of statistical data to ensure that all people are born well, live well, and that pregnancy and childbirth are not a time where Black and Brown women lay down their lives, instead of embracing motherhood while living, breathing, and loving,” said Helena Grant, President, New York State Midwives. “City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams was intentional and unapologetic in how the Maternal Health Steering Committee was formed. Bringing together maternal health clinicians, research experts, community, health organizations, legislators, and advocates in open forums that SHE HERSELF ATTENDS is proof positive that there is no stone she was willing to leave uncovered to unpack the root of the issue and come to viable solutions. In these spaces, hard conversations are occurring, data reports are being reviewed, international systems that work are being shared, and truth-telling is happening amongst entities not previously brought together. Her leadership within this committee is a significant and actionable step to making pregnancy, labor, and birth a safe, satisfying, and sacred experience in New York City.”

“NYSNA commends New York City Council Speaker Adams on her State of the City address, which once again prioritizes access to healthcare, worker rights, and the priority issues we are all fighting for,” said said Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, President of New York States Nurses Association. “The New York City Council with Speaker Adams’ leadership has championed real investments in our public health system and continues to fight for positive health outcomes for the communities that need them most.”

“Speaker Adams continues to be a champion for our city’s riders, particularly those who most need access to affordable transit,” said Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC). “Last year’s expansion of Fair Fares eligibility from 120% to 145% of the Federal Poverty Level would not have happened without her commitment to improving and expanding the program, nor would its inclusion as a line item in the budget. We’re confident that together we’ll achieve an increase to 200% FPL and an expansion to the commuter railroads within NYC. We’re thankful for Speaker Adams’s partnership to ensure that all New Yorkers can afford fast, safe, and reliable transit.”

“As we enter the final year of the Speaker’s term, PSC recognizes the contributions of this city council to defend CUNY,” said James Davis, President of PSC-CUNY. “Under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams, the council has championed our members and students.  Even as the mayor has slashed nearly $100 million from CUNY, she helped increase student enrollment with the CUNY Reconnect program and supported important initiatives, such as more advisors in our community colleges. We look forward to making additional progress for CUNY together.”

“Fair Fares is a transformative lifeline for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers — but too many riders barely making ends meet are still shut out entirely,” said Danna Dennis, Senior Organizer, Riders Alliance. “Speaker Adrienne Adams has been a steadfast champion of transit affordability throughout her tenure, successfully winning expansions of the program in back to back budgets, despite challenging fiscal times. We urge Mayor Adams to finally get on board and increase eligibility to 200% of the poverty line in the City budget this year.”

“Rising Ground is excited to be part of the Council Speaker’s initiative bringing Trauma Recovery Centers to New York City,” said Susan Sampogna, Chief Program Officer of Rising Ground. “Serving East Flatbush, Rising Ground’s TRC provides evidence-based, and trauma-informed mental health support for individuals who face the compounded challenges of acute trauma, the impact of violence, social injustice, and economic instability. The TRCs demonstrate the Council’s commitment to advocating for and increasing access to mental health services, recognizing that the most harmed and vulnerable are often the least served – communities Rising Ground is well-placed to support.”

Thank you, Speaker Adams, for your leadership in advancing a more just and equitable city,” said Candice Braun and Power Malu, Co-Founders, Resources, Opportunities, Connections & Community (R.O.C.C.) Program. “Your dedication to New York City’s most vulnerable populations is truly inspiring, commendable, and deeply appreciated. The creation and support of the Monthly Asylum Seekers Advocates Meeting at City Hall have allowed organizations working with immigrants to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another. Over the past couple of years, these monthly convenings—guided by your leadership and your team’s invaluable support—have strengthened our collective response and deepened our commitment at a time when we, and New York’s newest residents, have needed it most. Thank you for your unwavering advocacy, for standing up for those who need your voice, and for pushing back against those who seek to hinder their progress.”

“Speaker Adrienne Adams’s New Arrivals Strategy Team highlighted the challenges facing limited English Proficiency New Yorkers, who comprise over 25% of our city’s population,” said Berta Colón, Executive Director, Riverside Immigrant Services & Empowerment. “Her advocacy for adult literacy programs and community-based translation services has been essential and deserves broader implementation. Though much work remains to ensure all New Yorkers, particularly those with limited English proficiency, can fully participate in city life and access necessary services, the Speaker’s collaboration with community partners marks important progress toward addressing these issues.”

“I believe what Madam Speaker Adrienne Adams is doing is just the bold move that New York City deserves,” said Bruce Mcintyre III, Co-Founder, saveArose Foundation. “She has carefully hand picked a committee that has been making strides over the years individually in the name of black maternal health and has brought us all together to have a seat at the table. Many of us come from different backgrounds and may not have seen eye to eye in the past which to me is special because it allows us to settle our differences and come together as a collective to not only create awareness, but will create real solutions that will save lives.”

“When Speaker Adrienne Adams invited me to join the Maternal Health Steering Committee, I did not hesitate to say yes because of who she is and how she shows up as a leader and champion for the people of New York City,” said Shawnee Benton Gibson, CEO, Spirit of a Woman (S.O.W.), LLC. “Speaker Adams is a revolutionary leader with an unshakable commitment to justice, equity, and the well-being of our communities. She leads with authenticity, vulnerability, and passion, bringing her whole self into every space that she enters and every issue that she addresses on behalf of the people. That kind of leadership creates trust—it is the foundation for powerful partnerships and the catalyst for real and sustainable transformation. Her words and actions are not performative; they are deeply personal, principled, and purposeful. I personally witnessed the depth of Speaker Adams’ integrity and compassion when she hosted a community screening of the Aftershock documentary, which chronicles the story of my family’s activism, after the tragic and preventable death of my daughter, Shamony Makeba Gibson. She didn’t just watch the film—she felt it’s impact on a visceral level. She allowed herself to be touched, moved and convicted by Shamony’s death, and she utilized the information and energy to fuel her commitment to systemic change. She recognized that stories like Shamony’s, and so many others, are not just tragedies to be acknowledged but calls to action toward meaningful and lasting solutions.”

“Affordable child care in New York City is increasingly out of reach for families – especially those with children under five,” said Daniel Rosenthal, Vice President, Government Relations, UJA-Federation of New York. “This financial strain threatens the economic stability of families across New York, and we applaud Speaker Adams for advancing policies and investments that support and lift-up young families.”

“We are grateful for Speaker Adrienne Adams’ leadership and the City Council’s commitment to ensuring all New Yorkers have access to critical immigration legal services through the Protect NYC Families fund,” said Tania Mattos, Executive Director of UnLocal’s states. “This recent initiative strengthens our ability to support vulnerable communities, ensuring they receive the legal guidance they need to navigate current immigration legal challenges. Our partnership will helped equip families with vital resources, further advancing our shared mission of a more just and equitable city where no one is left behind.”

“Speaker Adams’ leadership has been transformative for New York City, ensuring all New Yorkers have the necessary resources for success. Among her numerous accomplishments, the Welcome NYC program has provided critical capacity building supports for burgeoning community-based organizations across our city,” said Grace Bonilla, President and CEO of United Way of New York City. “Speaker Adams’ excellence has been demonstrated consistently. For example, she played a key role in the allocation of resources used to implement a Latine Studies Curriculum, which builds upon the success of the Black Studies as the Study of the World curriculum. United Way of New York City looks forward to continuing this partnership to advance a more just New York.”

“Amid the worst homelessness crisis in generations, our city demands bold and urgent action. Under Speaker Adams’ leadership, we are making real progress in our efforts to end the cycle of homelessness and support New York’s most vulnerable families,” said Win President & CEO Christine Quinn. “From steadfast advocacy for the expansion of CityFHEPS, to securing critical reforms to City of Yes, to standing up for New York’s newest arrivals, Speaker Adams and the City Council have been critical partners in confronting some of the greatest challenges facing our city. Win thanks Speaker Adams for her partnership and unwavering commitment to making New York City a more inclusive and accessible city for all.”

“Under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams, the Council has prioritized and secured significant funding for the human services workforce and programs such as adult literacy, early childhood education, swimming access, lifeguard training, and K-12 education,” said Sharon Greenberger, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York. “We look forward to working with her and the Council on continuing to invest in these programs and services that positively impact children, families and the workforce.”

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