NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – Budget season is heating up in New York City.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council leaders sparred on social media Wednesday after the council released its budget response.
Speaker Julie Menin announced that the council found a $6 billion budget solution that does not require an increase in property taxes or cuts to city services.
City Council Member Lincoln Restler told PIX11 News that balancing the budget without additional help from Albany is “unrealistic.” The council’s proposal includes only a “very modest” amount of new revenue from the state, he said.
“It’s just not realistic that there’s $6 billion in efficiencies in the city budget that you could cut without impacting services,” Restler said. “We need more support from Albany, ideally taxing the wealthiest among us.”
Restler’s comments on PIX on Politics Daily echo the mayor’s.
“Speaker Julie Menin’s preliminary budget proposal would result in slashing billions of dollars from agency budgets, which would force the City to cut services,” Mamdani said in a post to X. “Any proposal that claims we can close this gap without significant new revenue is unrealistic.”
On Wednesday, Menin said she supports “progressive taxation” and encouraged Albany to beef up support for the city.
The budget debate spilled out of City Hall and onto social media, with Mamadani and Menin both posting videos explaining their positions.
“I didn’t know budget negotiations were reduced to social media back-and-forth,” said Council Member Nantasha Williams, chair of the Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics. “Debate the budget all day, but do it with facts not confusion, finger-pointing, and fake outrage.”
Watch the video player for the full interview.
Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here.
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