Jacobin, CELINA SU, July 7, 2023

The New York City budget newly proposed by Mayor Eric Adams had little democratic input from average residents in the city and features more massive cuts to desperately needed public programs like public education.

Last month, New York City mayor Eric Adams ordered almost all city agencies to cut their budgets by 3 to 4 percent for the coming fiscal year, which begins in July. His new proposed executive budget, subject to approval by city council next month, outlines hundreds of millions of cuts to libraries, schools, and social services. Meanwhile, the New York Police Department chose to acquire two robotic dogs for approximately $750,000 — making two new dogs worth a year of preschool for approximately fifty-eight three-year-olds.

The mayor’s choices are both devastating and antidemocratic. Adams has blamed the city’s fiscal woes on the recent influx of asylum seekers in the city, pitting refugees against long-term New Yorkers and giving the public the impression that there aren’t enough resources to be shared. He has dismissed criticism from a significant number of city councilmembers, recommendations from policy experts, fierce opposition from community groups, and contrary information from watchdog groups like the Independent Budget Office, which actually projects a $4.9 billion surplus for 2023.

Unfortunately, some of the mayor’s premises — that repeating the phrase “fiscally responsible” often enough will justify making any and all cuts to our safety net — are hardly unique. The mayor’s cuts embody poor budget judgment on a local level, as well as the need for budget justice and democracy in cities nationwide.

In his instructions to agency leaders, budget director Jacques Jiha stated that they “should avoid meaningfully impacting services where possible.” This is not possible. I should know: I am a scholar who specializes in the study of urban policy and governance, a parent of a child in our public schools and a professor at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Three or 4 percent cuts don’t sound like much, until these cuts are put into context. They are actually the third round of cuts in just a few months. Mayor Adams has proposed a 50 percent cut in job postings in all agencies, without attention to whether these vacancies were for expendable positions or for ones that are absolutely essential to keep New York running.

And these three rounds of cuts follow steep, seemingly indiscriminate budget cuts last year, more than $370 million for the Department of Education alone. As reported in the City, this means that Brooklyn’s Middle School 859 had to work with 15 percent, or $825,000, less than it did the previous year. So several teachers were “excessed” over the summer, and the school eliminated leadership positions for teacher professional development, planned to increase class sizes from twenty-five to thirty-three, and shrank arts, music, and enrichment offerings.

These cuts also come exactly when students direly need moreresources to cope with learning and emotional losses they suffered during the pandemic. More than eighty-seven hundred children in NYC lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19; an investigation by a coalition of journalism organizations reports that “decades of underfunding mental health care left schools unprepared” to help these students.

These cuts are an act of self-sabotage. According to one Brookings Institution study, six of the country’s top ten four-year colleges for economic mobility are part of CUNY. We did not become the “People’s University” without resources.

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