Record spending, no meaningful cuts, and billions in temporary budget fixes — Mamdani’s first budget may have cleared City Hall, but critics argue it simply postpones New York City’s fiscal reckoning.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani secured passage of New York City’s largest budget ever late Tuesday, with the City Council approving a record $125.8 billion spending plan that expands city spending by nearly $10 billion over last year despite mounting warnings about the city’s long-term financial outlook.
The budget cleared the Council by a 45-6 vote just hours before the Wednesday deadline following frantic last-minute negotiations that left both progressive and moderate Democrats unhappy. The spending plan contains no major spending cuts and represents roughly an 8.5% increase over last year’s approximately $116 billion budget.
While the first-term mayor successfully balanced the books, City Comptroller Mark Levine warned the budget depends on $6.1 billion in one-time savings and temporary measures rather than permanent solutions.
“This agreement gets the city through an exceptionally difficult year, but it does not resolve the structural challenges ahead,” Levine said. “With large out-year gaps, limited reserves and significant economic uncertainty, next year’s budget could be even more difficult.”
The comptroller’s office projects the city will face an $8.8 billion budget gap during the next fiscal cycle, setting the stage for another difficult round of budget negotiations.
Negotiations nearly unraveled after Mamdani backed away from a campaign promise to significantly expand the cityFHEPS housing voucher program, frustrating progressive allies who had made the initiative a top priority. A late compromise preserved the expansion by adding $175 million to the $1.7 billion already allocated while also ending a lawsuit tied to the program.
At the same time, moderate lawmakers criticized Mamdani for reversing course on a pledge to hire 580 additional NYPD officers, a proposal he embraced after previously campaigning on reducing the department’s footprint before later abandoning the staffing expansion amid pressure from progressives.
The final spending plan includes $6.6 billion for the NYPD, an increase of roughly $300 million over last year’s adopted budget, along with $38 billion for the Department of Education, $4.2 billion for the Department of Homeless Services, and $2.6 billion for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The budget also sets aside $350 million in general reserves to cushion against unexpected fiscal pressures later in the year.
Despite the record spending levels, fiscal watchdogs cautioned that the budget does little to address the city’s long-term structural imbalance.
“The budget ultimately fails to solve the city’s huge structural budget problem,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission.
More over at The New York Post:
Mamdani's $126B budget soars nearly 10% from last year, leaving NYC on verge of fiscal crisis https://t.co/nA8INFbCWI pic.twitter.com/lK1TpUaEcZ
— New York Post (@nypost) June 30, 2026
