NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Mamdani outlined the “Adams Budget Crisis,” a fiscal emergency driven by years of staggering mismanagement under former Mayor Eric Adams that left New York City facing a $12 billion budget shortfall over fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Speaking at a press conference, Mamdani said the crisis stemmed from a pattern of underbudgeting essential services that New Yorkers rely on every day including rental assistance, shelter operations, and special education.
For example, Adams budgeted $860 million for cash assistance in fiscal year 2026, even though current projections put the cost at nearly $1.7 billion, almost double what was budgeted.
Under the Adams administration, budget gaps were consistently and intentionally understated.
In some programs, the true shortfall is nearly double what was publicly disclosed. Mamdani also pointed to a longer pattern of disinvestment driven by the state. During more than a decade under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City sent far more revenue to Albany than it received in return.
In 2022 alone, New York City sent $68.8 billion in revenue to Albany-and received just $47.6 billion back.
“That imbalance has hollowed out our city’s finances and left us with a chasm that can no longer be sustained,” Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said.
Mayor Mamdani said his administration will not allow working New Yorkers – who did not cause the crisis – to become victims of its solution.
He reaffirmed the city’s commitment to balancing the preliminary budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 on Feb. 17 and renewed his call to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and most profitable corporations in New York, while rooting out waste and inefficiencies in city government.
