April 5, 2022 — After advocates and council members rallied on March 16, 2022 with The People’s Plan against Mayor Adams’ proposed austerity preliminary budget, the City Council released its official response that endorses many of the demands made in the People’s Plan letter signed by over 100 community groups and advocacy organizations as well as 12 council members. This alignment signals a united front around critical issues going into the first budget fight of the new administration. 

“The People’s Plan and our alliance of organizations are glad to see this new council take on its critical oversight role seriously, and push back against the regressive austerity budget that the mayor proposed in February,” said Zara Nasir, coordinator of the People’s Plan. “From pushing against cuts to bulking up life-affirming housing, health, education, transit, sanitation, and infrastructure budgets to true pay parity for workers and scaling up alternatives to the failed approaches of policing and mass incarceration to keep New Yorkers safe, advocates stand with our allies in the council to advocate that the final budget serves the needs of all New Yorkers.”

A few key pieces from the council response:

• On Adams’ austerity measures: “The Council takes serious issue with implementing a PEG program without understanding the full impact it will have on the City’s ability to retain and hire staff, and the impact it will have on an agency’s ability to deliver key services.”
• On the raids on homeless New Yorkers: “Additionally, the Administration has started to clear homeless encampments, and very few individuals have transitioned over to the shelter system. No funding was added to the Preliminary Budget to fund these additional Safe Haven and Stabilization Beds, nor the additional Drop-In Centers.”
• On what the response terms a “crisis on Rikers Island”: “The Department [of Corrections] does not need additional resources and must adjust its practices responsibly within its current budget in order to improve conditions on Rikers Island for both staff and people incarcerated alike.”
• On the gun violence program: “The Mayor and the NYPD should… adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards any adverse effects on communities of color.”
• $4 billion dollars in capital funds for affordable and public housing, and $3.1 billion for the Streets Plan
• Increased funding for trauma recovery centers, overdose prevention centers, hate violence prevention, and violence interruption programs
• Increased supportive housing, especially for domestic violence victims, children, and LGBTQ people
• Cost of living adjustments and pay parity for workers across sectors
• On education and support for students: expanding on restorative justice and hiring more support staff
  • $14.1M to hire social workers & counselors at 100 schools
  • Expand restorative justice practicum in 250 schools in FY23, growing to 500 schools by FY24
  • $59M investment in RJ coordinators in 250 schools FY23

The People’s Plan is a collective vision for a City that provides dignity, care, and justice for all New Yorkers. It offers the priorities of hundreds of organizers and advocates through a comprehensive, multi-issue roadmap around housing, anti-criminalization, education, economy, climate, transit, and health. The intent of The People’s Plan is to set the agenda for a racially and socially just city and provide a clear people-centered mandate for 2022 and beyond.