City Hall, NY – Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Member Linda Lee, and Queens Public Library (QPL) President Dennis Walcott spoke at the Glen Oaks Branch about funding for the city’s libraries and enrichment programs, like City’s First Readers (CFR), to support the needs of communities and literacy development of children.

In the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget, $135 million in operating funds were allocated to QPL, including $12 million in proposed spending cuts that the Council successfully advocated to restore.

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“New York City is stronger when we prioritize racial justice and confront long-standing structural and systemic inequities that impact New Yorkers. The appointments of Sideya Sherman as Chief Equity Officer and MOERJ Commissioner and Linda Tigani as Chair and Executive Director of the Commission on Racial Equity are important steps forward to address racial disparities in our city. I look forward to working with them to create a more just and equitable city for all.”

“The Department of Education’s decision to broadly remove funding from the individual budgets of schools would leave them without the needed resources at this critical moment when they are being asked to do more for students. The Fiscal Year 2024 budget that the Council voted to adopt included funding to maintain school budgets at steady levels going into this academic year.

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17 Organizations to Support City’s Youngest in Reaching Reading Proficiency

Today at the Cortelyou Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) branch, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Member Rita Joseph, the Brooklyn Public Library and Jumpstart for Young Children celebrated over $5 million in City Council funding for early childhood literacy programs. The Council’s City’s First Readers (CFR) initiative supports nonprofit organizations that provide programming to help children five years old and younger to build their reading skills and attain reading proficiency by third grade.

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New York, NY – Speaker Adrienne Adams and Majority Leader Keith Powers, the lead sponsor of Introduction 279, which would make New York City the largest municipality in the nation to requires its fleet to consist of zero emission vehicles, released statements celebrating the legislation being signed into law. In addition to requiring the City to only purchase zero emissions light- and medium-duty vehicles after 2025 so that all such vehicles are electric by 2035, the bill would also require all heavy-duty vehicles purchased after 2028 to be zero emissions, and ensure the entire municipal fleet is converted by 2038.

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City Hall, NY – Today, Speaker Adrienne Adams delivered opening remarks at the Council’s Committee on Finance, Committee on General Welfare, and Committee on Oversight and Investigations’ joint oversight hearing on the costs and projections of the mayoral administration’s asylum seeker response effort. In her remarks, Speaker Adams expresses the importance of the City using taxpayer dollars efficiently and clients receiving effective services.

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Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member Carlina Rivera released the following statements, announcing the Council Speaker’s re-appointment of the Independent Rikers Commission, chaired by former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, to strengthen the roadmap to close Rikers and work with stakeholders on successful implementation.

“I’m proud to reappoint a renewed Independent Rikers Commission that will bring stakeholders together towards getting the plan to close Rikers back on course and helping ensure it finally closes,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams.

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The Council also voted on legislation to expand eligible documentation for IDNYC to support access for those returning from justice system and residing in emergency shelters

City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council voted to require the Department of Transportation to promote equity in infrastructure investment as part of its Streets Plan.

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Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Member Mercedes Narcisse and Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Kim Council held a press conference at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Jamaica Bay Branch announcing $4 million in capital funding to improve the library. Speaker Adams and Council Member Narcisse allocated $3 million, with the remaining funds provided by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, for the infrastructure improvements to the Jamaica Bay Library in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

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“It is unacceptable and unlawful for a civilian to ever bring a firearm to a rally or protest, and especially important for elected officials to model a respect for the law that is expected of all New Yorkers. It is the responsibility of the NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney to enforce the law in what is a criminal matter, and the Council will respect that process.

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