Care Not Cuts

All New Yorkers should have access to housing, livelihood, and resources to thrive. There are no “deserving” and “undeserving” New Yorkers. New Yorkers in every city council district use our city’s vital public resources, from libraries to parks to schools to arts programs to elder care and workforce development. But these resources are under attack from a mayor determined to cut corners and slash essential services. We have a different vision: one where every part of our city, every district, and every block, is a nurturing, stable home for all of its residents.

Since June 2022, Mayor Eric Adams has time and time again cut core public services, starting with cutting schools by $469 million, and announcing further cuts to care-based agencies and workforces through the FY23 November Plan, including CUNY, 3-K early education programs, and libraries. These harmful cuts most deeply impact low-income New Yorkers of color who rely on the City’s public social safety net, schools, and institutions. The Mayor’s budget cuts are unacceptable for a city that is home to the most billionaires in the world–a group whose wealth has grown astronomically during the pandemic.

Care-based services provide New Yorkers the means to meet their basic needs: food, water, housing, clothing, medicine, health and mental health care, finances, sanitation, safe environments, and education. In the long run, divesting from these necessities will make NYC a less safe, stable, healthy, and desirable place to live. We need investments in programs and services that directly aid New Yorkers in need, not cuts.

The mayor and the council need to hear from New Yorkers like you! Fill in your return address in the form on the right and click ‘Start Writing’ to get started.