Statement from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander on Mayor Adams’ FY 26 Preliminary Budget
New York, NY – New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the following statement in response to Mayor Eric Adams’ Fiscal Year 2026 preliminary budget proposal:
“The Mayor’s proposed budget for FY26 still reflects $3 billion in structurally underbudgeted costs, continuing the budget fiction that my office and other fiscal watchdogs have repeatedly called out. Despite a 5.6% increase in tax revenues, it adds nothing to reserves.
“Perhaps the biggest gimmick here is that $2.4 billion of the $2.7 billion that the Mayor is claiming in savings is merely correcting for his past overbudgeting of asylum seeker costs, which the Independent Budget Office has highlighted. It’s really stretching the budget dance to scapegoat immigrants for the city’s problems, overbudget expenditures on asylum seekers, needlessly threaten to make cuts to libraries and parks, and then claim it as savings.
“Earlier this week, Mayor Adams announced $650 million in new mental health initiatives, but failed to mention that this funding is stretched over five years — the investment for fiscal year 2026 is only $137 million, so it’s less than meets the eye. And he is neglecting to scale up this City’s very small ‘housing first’ pilot (aka Street to Housing), preferring to stick with the ‘housing last’ models that leave people with serious mental illness falling through the cracks.
“The budget also lacks sufficient funding for 3K, which educates our youngest New Yorkers and provides relief to parents and guardians who feel the squeeze from child care costs. Our CUNY schools, which provide a gateway to success for so many New Yorkers, remain stripped of funding. And City agencies are not seeing the investment necessary to get our human service and other contractors paid on time.
“Many of the risks my office has repeatedly raised remain unaddressed– including funding for the decrease in class sizes mandated by the state legislature and needed legal aid to enable asylum seekers to get work authorization. Failing to factor in these costs jeopardizes the City’s fiscal future and may force us to make further cuts to critical services.
“In the coming weeks my office looks forward to digging into the full preliminary budget proposal and providing the Administration, the City Council and New Yorkers with a detailed analysis. But even with deeper review, New Yorkers will find little in today’s proposed budget that will restore their trust or confidence in City Hall.”
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