The State finally passed its 2024-2025 budget. At $237 billion, it is the largest budget in the history of the state and includes a number of critical policy measures. Some highlights about housing, class size reduction and safer streets from our council member Lincoln Restler below:
Housing: The State included a series of housing policies to help alleviate the housing crisis in NYC. A new tax incentive – 485x -was approved that will generate more rental housing, including some affordable housing. The long sought Good Cause Eviction policy was approved, which will reduce evictions, place caps on extreme rent hikes and require lease renewals in most instances. While the legislation was watered down (excluding buildings constructed after 2009 and small landlords) this bill will ensure more working and middle class New Yorkers can remain in their homes by preventing extreme rent hikes.
Transportation: The State also finally passed Sammy’s Law – almost a decade after 12-year old Sammy Cohen Eckstein was tragically killed in Park Slope. The City Council now needs to pass it into law to reduce the speed limit to 20 miles-per-hour on most streets in New York City.
Education: State funding for schools increased in this budget. At the very end of budget negotiations, Mayoral control of NYC schools was extended until 2026. The extension of Mayoral control includes a stipulation that the NYC budget must include funding and provisions to ensure that class size requirements are met. Class sizes have been increasing under Mayor Adams and now the City will have to ensure it has the schools and teachers needed to comply with lower class size mandates beginning this September (with gradual implementation over next four years). The new law requires that kindergarten to third grade classrooms in public schools have 20 or fewer students, fourth to eighth grade classes have no more than 23 students, and high schools classes have 25 or fewer. The law takes effect in phases – requiring that 20% of classrooms across the city meet the mandates by this September, and 40% satisfy the requirements by September 2025. The entire city will have to be in compliance by September 2028.
City Executive Budget: The preservation of over $500M of educational programs that had been previously funded with temporary federal dollars are a major boost for our public schools. Similarly, many deep cuts to cultural institutions have been averted. However, the Mayor’s budget included cuts that reduces many libraries to five days per week service, maintains a Parks hiring freeze until 2026 that would significantly deteriorate conditions in our parks, and imposes a $170M cut to the 3K program that would make it even harder for a family to access free early childhood education. The City Council Executive Budget hearings begin next week and these cuts might get restored.
