New York City’s backlog of needed capital repair projects—to upkeep our century-old schools, water mains, public housing, roads, and bridges—grows by billions of dollars every year. The City identified over $14.1 billion worth of state of good repair costs across all agencies from 2024 to 2027 through the Asset Information Management System (AIMS) Report. However, this figure is likely underestimate of the need, given that the reporting excludes assets valued under $10 million, cost of infrastructure expansion and replacement, and assets leased to public benefit corporations. Meanwhile, the City fails to build the new infrastructure we urgently need for the future of our city—to deliver clean energy, fast and reliable internet, safer streets, and protection from the devastating impacts of climate change.
NYC’s infrastructure planning, design, procurement, and construction process is badly broken. The haphazard, reactive process by which the City decides how to spend billions of capital dollars each year fails to set clear goals, prioritize the infrastructure we need the most, distribute resources fairly, or plan for the long-term. Thoughtful front-end planning is needed to improve the City of New York’s capacity to plan and budget for capital improvements and ensure the state of good repair of our infrastructure.