Here's a hallmark of a thriving, functioning city, especially one that likes to market itself as the cultural capital of the world—every year (at least under fiscally conservative leadership regimes), our city's greatest cultural institutions become bargaining chips in the annual budget dance between the mayor and the City Council.
Consider the library funding battle of the past year: Eric Adams, whose cuts already reduced library service to six days a week last November, had initially proposed eliminating $58 million more from library funding in next year's budget, cuts that the heads of the city's three library systems warned would reduce service to a mere five days a week.
As it turns out, that proposal was, as he himself said, just a "negotiation" tactic, and the mayor and the City Council have reached an agreement to reverse those cuts. Via the New York Times:
A major second wave of cuts to the New York City library system has been averted in an 11th-hour deal announced on Thursday by the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams.
The restoration of $58 million in proposed cuts to the city's three major library systems, part of a broader city budget agreement expected to be announced on Friday, has been one of the main focal points of the City Council speaker, Adrienne Adams. It is expected to allow libraries to reopen on Sundays and remain open on Saturdays.
The deal also restores $53 million in budget cuts for arts institutions, as well as the cuts made to community composting programs (though perhaps that's too late for all the workers who have already been laid off).
This is all good news, but it's hard to feel particularly thrilled about a resolution to a series of cuts that closed library doors and got rid of compost sites, one that ultimately felt a bit like smoke and mirrors. Sure, this budget agreement is possibly a sign that Mayor Adams is feeling weakened (maybe he looked at some recent polling). And sure, the City Council gets to give itself a pat on the back for pushing back on the mayor, but meanwhile, has there been any progress at all on reining in the NYPD's outrageous overtime spending?
The budget is due June 30. A "handshake deal" between Mayor Eric Adams and City Council speaker Adrienne Adams is expected at some point today.
And some links that are always fully funded:
- Let's hope he takes his brain juice before this visit to Stonewall.
- Via the New York Post: "Mayor Eric Adams declared Thursday that 50 public swimming pools are open for the summer, although City officials later clarified the sites will continue to face partial closures because of an ongoing lifeguard shortage—and there was a temporary shutdown hours later at the very pool where Hizzoner made his splashy announcement."
- Here's where lower speed limits are being implemented, thanks to the passage of Sammy's Law.
- Via Streetsblog: "A Brooklyn senior was fatally struck by a truck driver who initially yielded the right of way before growing impatient and killing her—the latest death in a year that is experiencing a 26-percent rise in pedestrian fatalities."
- More older New Yorkers are becoming homeless and ending up in the shelter system.
- "'When we actually looked at the total number of listings on Airbnb, from October, once the dust had settled, to pre-law going into effect, it was only about a 14 percent decline,' Lane said."
- "Governor Hochul leaves New York's Parole System in Crisis"
- At a press conference pushing his ban on masks at demonstrations, Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz compared people who wear keffiyehs to the KKK: "'You know what the difference (is) between the people who wrap those things around their heads leaving only room for their eyes and somebody wearing a white hood with just room for their eyes?' asked Dinowitz, referring to Palestinian protesters who have wrapped Palestinian keffiyehs around their faces in ways that conceal their identities. 'The difference is there is no difference—they're the same, their motives are the same and they’re just as evil as each other.'" (Dinowitz later said he should have spoken "more artfully.")
- "A Rikers Detainee Made a Daring Escape. The Getaway Car? A City Bus."
- E-scooters are coming to Queens.
- Some Republican shenanigans are afoot in a Hudson Valley congressional district.
- And finally, Joey Chestnut will be eating hotdogs on the Fourth of July, but not in New York City.
