NYC Budget: New Plan Adds Cash For Schools, Homeless, NYCHA

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a revised $89 billion 2019 budget plan Thursday that would add millions of dollars in new spending for education, public housing and homeless services. The money will help get more kids reading at grade level by third grade and draw down a massive repair backlog at the New York City Housing Authority, de Blasio said.

"These investments this year are more modest than in some previous years but we still think they're going to make a very big impact," de Blasio said Thursday.

De Blasio's executive budget is about $400 million bigger than the preliminary plan he presented in February. It doesn't include some key items from the City Council's wish list, such as $212 million in so-called "Fair Fares" subsidies to halve MetroCard prices for poor New Yorkers, a property tax rebate and $2.45 billion in capital funding for NYCHA.

It also doesn't add any new reserves, despite the mayor's laments of cuts and cost shifts from the state and federal governments.

But there is $30.5 million to help young students read as well as they need to by third grade, a key piece of de Blasio's educational equity initiative.

The money will help boost resources — such as after-school programs, teacher training and additional literacy coaches — for kids who need the most help, including those who are in homeless shelters, are learning English or have special needs.

"It is very much about helping our teachers be effective at addressing the needs of kids at this age and really honing in on what each child needs to get to full literacy," de Blasio said.

The mayor also proposed spending $10 million in each of the next two years to finally make 50,000 delayed repairs at NYCHA apartments.

The beleaguered housing authority faces a shortage of skilled workers such as plumbers, plasterers and carpenters, meaning residents have faced long waits for fixes that require those skills, de Blasio said.

The extra money will address that longstanding backlog, he said, but the city also wants to change labor rules that play a role.

The new budget plan shows a huge increase in spending for homeless services — $314 million for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years combined.

That's partly because of de Blasio's plan to build 90 new homeless shelters across the five boroughs, he said. The city is also using costly hotel rooms to house the higher number single adults entering the shelter system as well as people leaving notorious "cluster" sites, which are being phased out, he said.

The mayor said costs will eventually fall as the new shelters open and the plan starts to take hold.

"This could be the last major increase in investments and after that we start to finally see the reduction in shelter population and the reduction in cost," he said.

City Council lawmakers plan to continue pushing de Blasio's administration to fund the top priorities in their budget plan unveiled earlier this month.

The city should use some of the nearly $1 billion in extra revenue projected for this year to add $500 million to its reserves and fund policies that would strengthen its "social safety net," three top lawmakers said.

"With the tax rebate and Fair Fares, we have the opportunity to make life better for New Yorkers who desperately need a break, and the reserves will undoubtedly help us in the future," Speaker Corey Johnson, Councilman Daniel Dromm and Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, all Democrats, said in a joint statement.

The Council will hold hearings on the executive budget in May before approving a final budget by early June.

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio presents is 2019 executive budget on Thursday, April 26, 2018. Photo by Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)