Good morning. It\u2019s Friday. We\u2019ll take a closer look at the state budget that Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders agreed to in a handshake deal. We\u2019ll also find out about an alternative to free buses that would help low-income passengers. It has the backing of the City Council speaker.<\/p>\n
The state budget was 37 days late when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a handshake deal with legislative leaders on Thursday.<\/p>\n
For a while, at least, it seemed as if her announcement \u2014 and the 2,600-word news release that her office issued \u2014 had come early. The Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, said that it had been \u201cvery premature\u201d to describe what had been agreed to as a deal. A spokesman for the Democratic majority in the State Senate said much the same. There was an agreement on \u201cbig concepts,\u201d he said, not on an overall deal.<\/p>\n
But to Hochul, a Democrat who is running for re-election, the budget process is an opportunity to promote policy priorities that have little to do with spending. Her appearance on Thursday was as much about building her case for another term as it was about saying that there was a spending plan for the fiscal year that began on April 1.<\/p>\n
The source of Heastie\u2019s frustration was that so many details still had to be worked out. But they will be, even if it takes time. The difference between a budget that is 37 days late and a budget that is 50 or 60 days late is probably not that significant to the governor \u2014 or to Heastie, who would not even say that the Legislature had agreed to the top-line spending total of $268 billion that Hochul referred to.<\/p>\n
Here are four of the top policy priorities in the budget, as outlined by Hochul.<\/p>\n
A ban on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents\u2019 wearing of masks.<\/p>\n
The budget package calls for some of the strictest rules for immigration agents and officials yet proposed by any state in the country. State and local officials would also be prohibited from formally cooperating with ICE. And ICE will be prohibited from using local jails and from conducting warrantless searches in homes, hospitals, schools and churches.<\/p>\n
Many Democrats expect the measures to face legal challenges. And Tom Homan, President Trump\u2019s border czar, has already threatened to \u201cflood the zone\u201d if such rules are approved. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see more ICE agents than you\u2019ve ever seen before,\u201d he said in a speech on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Hochul\u2019s response to that: \u201cI don\u2019t take well to threats.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new tax on multimillion-dollar second homes in New York City.<\/p>\n
How much will the much-talked-about tax cost people with expensive pieds-\u00e0-terre who don\u2019t live in New York full time? That is one of the still-to-be-worked-out details of the budget. So is how the value of an apartment would be calculated. It\u2019s not even clear how many apartments would be subject to the new tax.<\/p>\n
The goal is to bring in $500 million annually, money that would go toward closing the city\u2019s estimated $5.4 billion deficit.<\/p>\n
The fact that a second-home tax made it into the budget reflects how Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s economic populism has caught on, and how Hochul\u2019s own political calculus has changed. A moderate Democrat who has raised significant campaign donations from real estate developers and executives, she had long fought off efforts by the Assembly and the State Senate to raise taxes on the megarich.<\/p>\n
Expanded child care in New York City.<\/p>\n
The $4.5 billion in the budget is not as much as Mamdani wanted, but it will help him move toward fulfilling his campaign promise to provide universal prekindergarten and 3-K in New York City. The allocation will also let the city start a handful of pilot programs for 2-year-olds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been asked to do a lot for the city,\u201d the governor said. \u201cWe have given unprecedented amounts of support.\u201d<\/p>\n
A delay on pollution mitigation regulations under the state\u2019s landmark climate law.<\/p>\n
Hochul said that going ahead with the ambitious regulations would be too costly for consumers. Implementation will now be pushed back to 2028. There will also be a change in the way methane is calculated. That would make it easier to reach emission reduction targets.<\/p>\n
While environmentalists called the budget deal an abdication of leadership, my colleagues Grace Ashford and Benjamin Oreskes write that Hochul defended the changes as necessary if unpalatable. The state has been struggling to meet its climate goals, with renewable energy projects faltering in the face of economic uncertainties and political headwinds from the Trump administration. And since the closing of the Indian Point nuclear plant in 2021 \u2014 when Andrew Cuomo was governor \u2014 New York has used more fossil fuels to generate electricity than it otherwise would have.<\/p>\n
Weather<\/p>\n
Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Expect isolated showers tonight, and temperatures around 53.<\/p>\n
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING<\/p>\n
In effect until Thursday (Solemnity of the Ascension).<\/p>\n
QUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the message that those gates would send is, \u2018This park is to be respected.\u2019\u201d \u2014 Brian Meister, on a proposal to install permanent gates blocking access after midnight to Washington Square Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n What about Fair Fares, the City Council says<\/p>\n As a candidate last year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for making buses in the city free for all riders. There\u2019s been little apparent progress on making free rides a reality, but now the City Council and some transit advocates are pressing for a more targeted approach.<\/p>\n They want to concentrate on riders who need the most help.<\/p>\n My colleague Stefanos Chen writes that the city is looking to revamp an existing program called Fair Fares, which provides half-price subway and bus fares to low-income New Yorkers.<\/p>\n Transit riders, advocates and some elected officials have argued that in its current form, it excludes about 575,000 of the roughly one million residents who are eligible. Supporters of the changes say that enrollment has been held back by the application process, which involves complicated paperwork.<\/p>\n The mayor angered some advocates this year when he did not include funds in his preliminary budget to expand the Fair Fares program. Now the lack of apparent progress on his free bus plan has opened a door to more specific proposals from the City Council. On Wednesday, Julie Menin, the Council speaker, said that she supported plans to enroll lower-income people in Fair Fares automatically \u2014 and to make public transit free for them.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are literally forgoing meals because of this cost,\u201d she told a news conference. \u201cIt is shameful.\u201d City Hall did not respond to requests for comment on the Fair Fare plans.<\/p>\n Susie Kamara, a home health aide who lives in the Bronx, said at the news conference that she had been turned down for Fair Fares because she makes about $1,000 more than the current income threshold. She pays full fare for the Bx12 bus and the No. 2 train that she takes on her commute.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a choice,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause my patients are waiting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Then she directed her comments to an audience of one.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor Mamdani, expand Fair Fares,\u201d she said. \u201cMake it fair \u2014 now.\u201d<\/p>\n METROPOLITAN diary<\/p>\n Central Park Zoo<\/p>\n Dear Diary:<\/p>\n Years ago, our nanny would take our son and daughter to the Central Park Zoo, where they could be set free from their stroller.<\/p>\n It was safe because the children loved the zoo and always stayed in the nanny\u2019s sight and because the zoo\u2019s walls meant there was no way they could leave.<\/p>\n One spring day when I was not working, I decided to accompany them all on a walk through the park, with the kids in their stroller.<\/p>\n As we passed the zoo, a guard at the entrance beckoned our nanny over and had a deep consultation with her.<\/p>\n She was laughing when she came back.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wanted to know who was that strange woman walking with me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u2014 Georgia Raysman<\/p>\n Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here<\/a> and read more Metropolitan Diary here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning. It\u2019s Friday. We\u2019ll take a closer look at the state budget that Gov. 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