Op-Ed | The updated financial plan puts working-class New Yorkers first and makes our city safer and more affordable
From day one, we have put New Yorkers first, working to make this city safer, more affordable, and more livable. Thanks to our strong fiscal management — including saving nearly $900 million in taxpayer dollars over just two fiscal years, last week, we were able to deliver the November 2024 Financial Plan Update that invests in public safety, the programs and benefits that New Yorkers rely on, and improves quality of life for our city’s 8.3 million residents. Because we made smart and tough budget decisions early on, we are able to continue investing in working-class New Yorkers and their families. And we are stepping up to fund critical programs that had been supported with temporary federal stimulus funds.
This administration has been committed to cleaning up crime and disorder across the five boroughs. We are pro-public safety, and we are making sure our families and kids can feel safe and be safe. The November 2024 Financial Plan Update puts more cops on our streets, adding an additional 1,600 police officers to our neighborhoods over two new police classes by next October. This will increase our uniform force to nearly 34,000 officers to keep our communities safe.
Our officers work every day to keep us safe, and they need a leader who is spending every minute of every day keeping us safe, too. That is why, last week, I also announced the appointment of Jessica Tisch as next police commissioner. Commissioner Tisch is a 12-year veteran of the NYPD and a 17-year veteran of city government, who has dedicated her professional life to serving the people of New York City. Most recently, Commissioner Tisch served as commissioner of the Department of Sanitation. She led the ‘Trash Revolution’ in our city, delivering generational change through our containerization program and universal curbside composting service. Commissioner Tisch literally cleaned up our streets as sanitation commissioner and will now figuratively do it as police commissioner. She is the right leader in this moment and will ensure that New York City remains the safest big city in America.
The November plan also funds staffing technology and other needs at the Bellevue Outpost Therapeutic Housing Unit to treat justice-involved patients with serious health conditions. And it expands the New York City Sheriff’s Electronic Ankle Monitoring Program with funding for 51 new positions to help increase safety. It puts more money into New York City Department of Correction to support programs that reduce recidivism in our city.
New Yorkers work hard every day to provide for themselves and their families. They not only deserve a safe city, but a fair shot and their fair share, and in this November plan we are giving it to them. This plan helps working-class New Yorkers pay for necessities like housing, groceries, and bills by putting over $467 million in the cash assistance program and $115 million into our CityFHEPS rental assistance program to help families find housing and stay in their homes.
The plan also deepens our commitment to New York City Public Schools by filling gaps in the budget left by expiring stimulus funding. I am a public-school graduate; I know how important our public schools are for our kids and how important school nurses are to providing care for our kids. That’s why we are stepping in and continuing to fund school contract nurses with a goal that there’s a school nurse in every school building. Additionally, we are allocating $80 million for New York City Public Schools technology resources to make sure that administrators, schools, and our kids have the best technology at their disposal.
New Yorkers love their parks, and we are taking care of our green spaces by fully containerizing all Department of Parks and Recreation curbside trash locations with 9,000 lockable steel bins. This will continue our ‘Trash Revolution’ across the five boroughs and make sure our streets get even cleaner. We are kicking trash to the curb, reclaiming public space, fighting rats, and so much more.
Early in our administration, we made it clear that our mission is to support working-class New Yorkers by keeping them safe, making the city more affordable, and improving quality of life. In this November Plan we are building a future for working people, one that is safer, cleaner, and more affordable for all New Yorkers.
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