Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council have reached a deal on a $125.8 billion budget that includes the largest-ever expansion of the Fair Fares program and increased funding for housing vouchers.
The handshake agreement comes six weeks after Mamdani unveiled his executive budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, he said at a joint press conference with City Council Speaker Julie Menin Tuesday.
What You Need To Know
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council have reached a deal on a $125.8 billion budget that includes the largest-ever expansion of the Fair Fares program and increased funding for housing vouchers
The handshake agreement comes six weeks after Mamdani unveiled his executive budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, Mamdani said at a joint press conference with City Council Speaker Julie Menin Tuesday
Mamdani said the budget will help make public transit more affordable for low-income New Yorkers
“We have worked together to usher in a new era of fiscal health for our city,” the mayor said. “One that is sustainable, one that is durable, and one that makes needed investments in a safer, more affordable New York.”
Mamdani said the budget will help make public transit more affordable for low-income New Yorkers, increasing the baseline for the city’s half-price transit program, known as Fair Fares, by $54 million.
In a release, the City Council said eligibility for the program will increase to 200% of the federal poverty level, up from 150%.
“An additional 340,000 low-income residents will soon have access to half-price subway, bus, and paratransit fares, raising total eligibility to approximately 1.3 million New Yorkers,” the release said.
On housing, the budget agreement includes new funding to expand rental assistance access and eligibility for New Yorkers, while keeping the city’s existing housing voucher program, known as CityFHEPS, in place.
The new housing voucher program will have to be passed by the City Council and signed off on by the mayor. It would expand eligibility for around 30,000 new people.
On health and safety, the budget includes a new public online portal that will house documents on post-Sept. 11 air quality and health risks, the first of which will be released before the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
“For too long, New Yorkers who have become sick have had to fight for information that should have been theirs from the very beginning,” Mamdani said. “We will provide the transparency that New Yorkers living with post-9/11 health concerns deserve.”
The budget also expands funding for mobile mental health treatment, crisis-to-care programs and immigrant legal services, the mayor said, while adding nearly $80 million to fully restore funding for libraries, parks and cultural institutions, according to the City Council’s release.
“Above all else, this budget offers a roadmap for the years to come. This is only the first budget of our administration,” Mamdani said. “Many more will follow, and every budget that follows will build on the principles established here: honest budgeting, fiscal discipline, transparent government and an unwavering belief that working people deserve a City Hall that delivers for them every single day.”