As Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council came to a last-minute agreement on a $126 billion city budget for Fiscal Year 2027, Bronx representatives applauded several wins for the borough — but not all are celebrating.
The council adopted the budget June 30 by a vote of 45 to 6, with Althea Stevens of the Bronx as the only Democrat to join Republicans Joann Ariola, David Carr, Frank Morano, Vickie Paladino and Inna Vernikov in opposition.
Mamdani was tasked with closing a larger-than-expected $12 billion deficit, which he blamed on fiscal irresponsibility by his predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams. But many weeks of difficult negotiations resulted in a balanced budget that still preserved critical services and institutions, Mamdani said.
“We balanced the budget without asking working New Yorkers to shoulder the burden once again. We balanced the budget without slashing the services that New York is relying on, the cultural institutions and public transportation that connect people to the city and to one another. And we balanced the budget by governing with a fiscal responsibility that has been absent for far too long from City Hall,” Mamdani said in a statement.
While the likelihood of a future deficit still looms, City Council celebrated many wins in the current budget, including an expansion of Fair Fares for low-income transit riders, universal savings accounts for public school kindergarteners and increased investment in CityFHEPS housing vouchers to prevent homelessness.
Stevens told the Bronx Times that the budget included significant investments that will improve many residents’ lives but that District 16 —one of the city’s poorest— needs more.
Stevens’ district, which includes the neighborhoods of Morrisania, Concourse and Highbridge, has a poverty rate of double the citywide average and ranks near last in the city for employment and median household income at less than $42,000, data shows.
Amid these challenges, Stevens said her residents “deserve a budget that reflects both the urgency of those challenges and the promise of their potential. Instead, the investments allocated to our district were deeply disappointing.”
The Bronx Times inquired about specific items left out, to which a spokesperson replied that Stevens generally “would like to see more equity in investments, especially in a neighborhood like the west Bronx who are fighting for basics, when neighborhood with higher incomes and greater access received larger investment.”
Stevens’ statement acknowledged that her vote did not sway the outcome but represented a greater principle.
“My ‘no’ vote was, in many ways, symbolic, but symbols matter. They send a message about what we are willing to accept and what we are not. I could not, in good conscience, tell the families of District 16 that this budget fully reflects their needs when it does not.”
Council Speaker Julie Menin has pushed back against the idea that Stevens’s district, or the Bronx in general, is facing disinvestment.
In a statement to the Bronx Times, an office spokesperson said that Stevens “received more than $11.1 million in capital and expense funding this year and the Council delivered hundreds of millions in historic investments across the Bronx. We’re proud of this budget, and the overwhelming support it received from 45 Democratic Council Members.”
Housing voucher battles
The adopted budget also borough a win for housing advocates in the wake of the city’s first-ever rent freeze for both one- and two-year leases on rent-stabilized apartments.
Council Member Pierina Sanchez, who represents the northwest Bronx and chairs the Committee on Housing and Buildings, led the fight to expand the CityFHEPS voucher program and walked away with what she characterized as a victory, though somewhat of a compromise.
As many as 46% of CityFHEPS voucher holders are in the Bronx, even though the borough makes up only 16% of the city’s population, according to City Limits.
Negotiations over the rental assistance, which helps people facing eviction or homelessness, came down to the last minute, as Sanchez and other advocates argued that vouchers are far less costly than housing people in shelters.
In the end, the council and mayor agreed to end the CityFHEPS lawsuit originally brought against the Adams administration and increase investment in vouchers for those at risk of homelessness without adding a work requirement.
The FY27 Adopted Budget now includes $175 million to implement the CityFHEPS expansion and baselines at least $125 million for the following year.
Sanchez said in a statement that the agreement represented “a historic win for vulnerable New Yorkers.”
“I am deeply grateful to Speaker Julie Menin for holding the line, to my colleagues on the Progressive Caucus for uplifting this priority, to the Homes Can’t Wait Coalition for refusing to give up on the New Yorkers they represent, and to Mayor Mamdani for staying at the table and reaching this agreement,” she said.
“Today marks a turning point—but there is more work to be done. We can and must meet the urgency of the crisis while demanding better governance, stronger oversight, and real accountability.”
Wins in the Bronx
Justin Sanchez, whose district includes Mott Haven, Hunts Point and Longwood, said in a statement that the budget will “deliver services that we will see, feel, and benefit from immediately here in the South Bronx.”
Among his budget wins were $25 million over the next two years to modernize the Fulton Fish Market Co-op and make it more easily accessible to the public.
He also cited $7 million to upgrade the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Lincoln Hospital, which he said currently “no longer meets modern standards for infection control, family-centered care, or neonatal technology in one of New York City’s busiest maternity hospitals.”
Amanda Farías, who represents the Soundview and Parkchester area and co-chairs the Bronx delegation, said she managed to secure more funding for her district in particular.
In a social media post, Farías said she secured an additional $2.1 million council investment for her district and worked with Borough President Vanessa Gibson to effectively double the capital dollars available for her district.
Council Member Kevin C. Riley served on the budget negotiation team and said in a statement that the budget is fiscally responsible and benefits the city’s working people.
For his district, he said the budget “delivers meaningful investments for the residents of the northeast Bronx, advancing priorities that improve public safety, expand educational opportunities, protect public health, strengthen neighborhood services, and enhance quality of life for District 12 residents.”
“I am proud to support a budget that invests in working families today while laying a stronger foundation for a more affordable, equitable and prosperous New York City tomorrow,” Riley said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
