Protesters rally outside NYC’s City Hall over Mayor Eric Adams’ budget cuts
Dozens of protestors descended on City Hall Friday to demand Mayor Eric Adams roll back his sweeping city-wide budget cuts, arguing that every day New Yorkers will only suffer.
Brandishing signs declaring “No More Cuts” and “We Need a People’s Budget”, the rallygoers marched through City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan — a day after Hizzoner revealed all city agencies would have their budgets slashed by 5% as part of his updated 2024 financial plan.
The crowd, made up primarily of teacher union members, community groups and local elected officials, railed against Adams for primarily blaming the Big Apple’s financial woes on the escalating migrant crisis, which he has estimated will set the city back $12 billion over the next three fiscal years.
“You don’t close budget gaps by putting some New Yorkers against other New Yorkers,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander told the roughly 60 chanting protestors.
“The budget is a process of us coming together to make good decisions about how to invest in our future, not blaming the newest arrivals for budget cuts being implemented, and also being implemented in a broad way and not a strategically targeted way.”
Rallygoers scoffed at the mayor’s notion that his financial plan would have “minimal disruption” to city-wide services, claiming New Yorkers would feel the brunt.
“People are going to feel this round of cuts,” said Zara Nasir, executive director of The People’s Plan Coalition.
“They’re going to go to their libraries on Sundays and see that they are not open, they’re going to want to go and enroll their kids in summer programming, or after school programming, or childcare, and they’re going to see that there are not seats available.”
“There is other ways to address these budget shortfalls that do not involve cutting to the bone and even further the city services that New Yorkers rely on,” she added.
In addition to calling out Adams, protestors urged the City Council to block the cuts that will see, in part, school funding slashed, the NYPD’s force reduced considerably and a reduction in Sanitation Department pickups.
Amshula Jayaram, a campaign director with the Alliance for Quality Education advocacy group, said it was time the mayor to “take ownership of the problem.”
“He is blaming everyone but himself for this situation. He’s blaming the migrants, he’s blaming the state, he’s blaming the federal government — and we’re saying it’s time to take ownership of this problem,” Jayaram told The Post.
“We’re here to call for the mayor to step up, to show some moral clarity, moral leadership, use that money and then create a plan to put us in a stable fiscal place.”
