New York City to Restore Library Funding in Looming Budget

NEW YORK – After a prolonged campaign recruiting Hillary Clinton, rallies with councilors and much of memes blaming the mayor Eric Adams by cutting Sunday service, the city’s three library systems will receive the restoration of $58 million in funding cuts.

Thursday night’s announcement from Mayor and City Council President Adrienne Adams came as tense budget negotiations neared a resolution. The informal agreement also included guarantees that a group of city-funded cultural institutions will receive restoration of $53 million in cut funding.

“These institutions are a critical part of the social fabric of New York City, which New Yorkers depend on for the growth of their children and the vitality of our city,” Mayor Adams said in a statement. “The budget will ensure these essential institutions will have what they need to serve New Yorkers and attract visitors every day of the week.”

The deal — which is expected to be celebrated in a handshake agreement on Friday and then approved by the Council before a Monday deadline — will also include an additional $2 billion in capital for affordable housing over the next two years, according with a person familiar with the subject. the project. Additional equity financing was first reported by the Daily News.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City Ballet and affiliated institutions previously celebrated with the mayor an earlier announcement of $22 million in additional funding ahead of the release of its executive budget of US$112 billion. Then they went back to lobbying his office and mobilizing in public to have the additional funding restored – and they achieved their goals.

Library systems, however, were unsuccessful in reversing budget cuts until a final agreement began to materialize, with the speaker of the House suggesting on several occasions that institutions use their endowments rather than asking for more money from the library. city. The deal announced Thursday means libraries will receive an increase in base funding to $43 million over the next few years, according to Gothamist, who first reported the deal.

The restorations cap a tumultuous budget cycle in which the House speaker announced multiple rounds of cuts, citing fiscal challenges, and then restoring funding in response to improved revenue projections.

The strategy had a huge cost. There were massive protests after the mayor first revealed the spending reductions in September, with especially strong disapproval of library cuts. The mayor poll numbers suffered as a result.

The mayor defended his previous proposal as fiscally responsible. He said fiscal cliffs caused by decisions made during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, as well as the unexpected and substantial costs of housing and caring for more than 200,000 migrants over the past two years, left him no choice. .

The Council stated that the Mayor’s budget office was being overly cautious in its revenue projections, pointing to evidence that it projected $12 billion less last year than it actually received. And throughout the process, the speaker was adamant that cuts to libraries, cultural institutions and other budget sectors were unnecessary.

Thursday’s agreement represents a political victory for her over the mayor amid a period of greatest tension in your relationship.

“The Council has consistently advocated for funding restorations for these institutions as a top priority, and we are proud to reach an agreement with Mayor Adams and the administration to successfully secure these critical investments for them in the city budget,” said Adrienne Adams in a statement.