NYC has a new budget. What does it mean for Queens?
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Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the site of new police precinct in Rosedale in 2017. The new city budget delays funding for the stationhouse. Photo via nyc.gov
By David Brand
The New York City Council voted to pass a controversial new budget late Tuesday night, slashing spending for social services and cutting some funding to the NYPD amid the devastating economic impact of COVID-19 and widespread calls for police reform.
The $88.1 billion budget passed with little time to spare ahead of the midnight deadline, despite opposition from Queens councilmembers on the left, who said NYPD cuts did not go deep enough, and members on the right, who assailed the erosion of police spending. New York City faced a $9 billion gap in tax revenue, according to the Mayor’s Office, prompting the first budget cuts of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s tenure.
The majority of Queens councilmembers voted in favor of the budget, with Councilmembers Adrienne Adams, Daniel Dromm, Barry Grodenchik, Peter Koo, Karen Koslowitiz, Rory Lancman, I. Daneek Miller, Francisco Moya and Paul Vallone all voting yes.
Councilmembers Donovan Richards, Jimmy Van Bramer and Antonio Reynoso, whose district includes a piece of Ridgewood, all voted no, stating that NYPD budget cuts were too shallow.
Councilmembers Robert Holden and Eric Ulrich voted no for the opposite reason. “This budget will make New York City a more violent place,” Ulrich said.
Councilmember Costa Constantinides was in a hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19 treatment and did not cast a vote.
The budget will have a significant impact in Queens. Here’s where:
New Queens police precinct delayed
Money earmarked for a new 116th Precinct stationhouse in Rosedale is on hold.
The site was first announced in 2017 after decades of advocacy from Southeast Queens community members who said a new stationhouse was necessary to cut down response times in the 105th Precinct’s large geographic zone. “Every New York City neighborhood deserves the same quality of service and safety we’ve come to expect from the NYPD,” de Blasio said in 2017. “That is why we are making unprecedented investments in establishing high-quality precincts.”
Instead, the city will redirect money for the precinct to youth programs and recreation centers, including improvements at the Roy Wilkins Community Center in Jamaica’s Roy Wilkins Park, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press briefing Tuesday.
Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman questioned why Southeast Queens couldn’t get funding for both the park and the precinct.
“I think we deserve the services that Roy Wilkins Southern Park Association needs and the precinct,” Hyndman said. “In this case it seems ‘delayed’ means ‘denied.’”
“They did all the research, had the press conference and then they take it away. It seems retaliatory,” she continued.
Hyndman said she wondered if the city decided to delay the stationhouse because community members and elected officials have spoken out about law enforcement misconduct and racist police violence. The Mayor’s Office did not respond to an email about her claim.
“We want good policing. We want to be able to pick up the phone and call 911 and we deserve to feel safe,” she said. “We also deserve parks. So to put one in front of the other, i don’t understand why that had to be cut.”
Police Academy class canceled
There will be no new class of cadets heading to College Point next month. The city froze the NYPD’s 1,163 recruiting class.
Senior service cuts
Ahead of the budget vote, Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee blasted pending cuts to senior services this fiscal year.
The City Council Senior Services Initiatives will be slashed by over 12 percent from FY2020, including major cuts to discretionary funding from the Department For the Aging. Nearly $325,000 of that fund serves Queens.
“Queens elders are yet again shafted and disproportionately shortchanged by the City’s budget,” Lee said. “Nearly a third of the city’s elders reside here in Queens, yet the City has persistently spent the lowest per-capita for Queens seniors out of all five boroughs — a sharp, historical disparity only worsened by this to-be-adopted budget.”
Affordable housing gutted
The budget cuts funding to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which affordable housing advocates say could lead to the loss of 21,000 affordable homes over the next two years. Tens of thousands of Queens residents are at risk of becoming homeless as a result of the COVID-19 economic shutdown.
“The decision to dramatically cut the capital budget will have a devastating impact on the city's ability to provide adequate housing for thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers,” said Jolie Milstein, president and CEO of New York State Association for Affordable Housing. “These cuts mean tens of thousands of fewer affordable and supportive housing units over the next two years alone and they cast serious doubts on the city's commitment to solving our housing crisis.
In an op-ed for Gotham Gazette, Milstein described how a senior housing complex in Astoria could be delayed or halted entirely as a result of the budget cuts.
“There is a shadow of doubt over the entire pipeline and it is older New Yorkers that will be left behind,” wrote Milstein and two other leading advocates, Allison Nickerson, the Executive Director of LiveOn NY, and Karen Haycox, CEO of Habitat for Humanity NYC and president of the Habitat NYC Community Loan Fund.
Councilmembers celebrate modest victories
Despite deep cuts, some councilmembers were quick to frame the budget as a win for their communities.
Councilmember Peter Koo praised funding for a new community center for the South Asian Council for Social Services, upgrades to Kissena Corridor Park and new medical equipment for Flushing Hospital and New York Presbyterian-Queens in Flushing.
Councilmember I. Daneek Miller highlighted the $1.2 million allocation for a new gym at Richard S. Grossley Junior High School and $500,000 for renovations at the St. Albans Library. The Queens Borough President’s Office had already pitched in $5.9 million for the project.
