By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced the release of a $114.5 billion Fiscal Year 2026 Preliminary Budget.
“Strong fiscal management, combined with our investments in making this a safer, more affordable city, is allowing us to make New York City the best place to raise a family,” Adams declared. “Our administration set the table for success by saving billions in taxpayer dollars, and now we are able to ensure the continuity of critical programs, as well as make the new, strategic investments that will move our city forward and improve quality of life for all New Yorkers without cutting services, laying off city employees, or raising taxes by a single penny. We are making major investments in affordable housing, addressing the severe mental health crises, keeping New Yorkers safe, providing our children with a world-class education and our families with affordable child care, developing major infrastructure projects and parks, investing in cultural institutions, and so much more. Our administration is working hard every day to deliver for working-class New Yorkers and make New York City the best place to raise a family.”
Robust growth in the local and national economies drove an increase in city tax revenues, which has been revised up by $1.1 billion in FY25 and $2 billion in FY26, compared with the November 2024 Financial Plan Update. These gains are driven by growth in business taxes fueled by strong Wall Street performance in 2024 that is expected to continue in 2025 and 2026, Adams noted.
Preliminary budget highlights include:
- Increasing swim safety programming by adding more lifeguards and staff to offer free swim lessons to an additional 4,800 students, taking the total of New York City youth getting free lessons to nearly 18,000 ($5.5 million).
- Enhancing City Department of Correction recruiting efforts with targeted advertising campaigns, in-person events, and more to help fill vacant positions ($5 million). “Correction officers have endured the worst staffing crisis out of any city agency and the only way to bolster our staffing levels is by investing in recruitment and retention,” said Benny Boscio, president, Correction Officers Benevolent Association. “We applaud Mayor Adams for his continued support of our workforce with the additional monies allocated in his preliminary budget. With our inmate population rising to the highest level it’s been in recent years, it’s imperative that the New York City Department of Correction makes recruitment and safety and security its top priorities.”
- Improving intersection safety by installing granite blocks or bike racks at hundreds of targeted locations, helping increase visibility and improve safety for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists ($3.9 million).
- Bolstering security and safety for staff and people in custody at DOC facilities with facility improvements ($2.5 million).
- Expanding bridge and tunnel repair capacity at the City Department of Transportation ($1.2 million).
- Expanding the City Department of Parks and Recreation second shift cleaning to 100 more hot spots at 64 parks, announced as part of Adams’ 2025 State of the City Address ($12.4 million). “Investing in the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation by expanding their cleaning crew, who will focus on cleaning 100 hotspots across the city, including one in my district, is vital for creating vibrant and safe public spaces. By maintaining clean, welcoming spaces and investing in the arts, we build a stronger, more connected community while driving economic growth,” said City Councilman Francisco Moya (D-Corona).
- Funding for 54 programming and support staff, such as recreation specialists and lifeguards, at the new Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center in East Flatbush that is set to open in fall 2025 ($4.8 million).
- Funding to create five additional Cultural Institutions Group members that will receive operating support from the city to help meet basic needs ($3 million).
- Hiring 12 additional staff to visit and treat up to 4,000 tree beds per year to help reduce the rat population and address public service requests ($924,000).
Adams also indicated that the City will invest $170 billion over the next decade to improve infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools, water and sewer facilities, libraries, and transportation systems in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. This is the largest 10-Year Capital Plan in city history. Through many of these investments, Hizzoner said the City is also renewing its commitment to working-class New Yorkers by using project labor agreements and community hiring goals on capital construction projects. This includes:
- $36.5 billion for the City Department of Environmental Protection and the City Department of Sanitation
- $32.1 billion for transportation
- $24.5 billion for affordable housing
- $23.6 billion for schools
- $15.9 billion for DOC, courts, and the City Police Department
- $37.4 billion for other city services, including:
- $10 billion for NYC Parks
- $2.8 billion for cultural institutions and libraries
Key investments include:
- $3.18 billion to build the Newtown Creek combined Sewer Overflow Storage Tunnel
- $1 billion for housing in the City Department of Housing and Preservation Development ($825 million) and the New York City Housing Authority ($175 million)
- $612 million for repairs on the Queensboro Bridge lower roadway
- $279 million for the replacement of the Passerelle Bridge
- $168 million for Governors Island, including support for the New York Climate Exchange
- $60 million in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for building upgrades and open space improvements
“As we make New York City the best place to raise a family, we have driven crime down by seizing nearly 20,000 illegal guns, removed 80,000 ghost cars and other illegal vehicles off our streets and shut down more than 1,300 unlicensed cannabis stores,” Adams said. “We have stimulated the creation of a record number of jobs and new small businesses and put billions of dollars back into the pockets of working class New Yorkers.
Several city leaders praised Adams’ preliminary fiscal plan.
“The Queens Chamber of Commerce looks forward to the next budget cycle and appreciates the work of the Adams administration to continue to support the efforts of all five NYC chambers as we continuously work to improve the small business environment,” said Tom Grech, president and CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce.
“Riverkeeper strongly supports the Adams administration’s proposed $190 Million in FY26 for the Newtown Creek Combined Sewer Overflow Storage Tunnel and applauds the administration for its commitment to ensuring this critical project comes to fruition,” added Tracey Brown, president, Hudson Riverkeeper. “The storage tunnel will improve water quality by drastically reducing raw sewage and polluted stormwater contamination into Newtown Creek, as required by the Clean Water Act and Superfund law. This funding marks the starting point to carry Newtown Creek forward from its past as an industrial sewer for oil and gas refineries to a haven for human and ecological communities in Brooklyn and Queens.”
