Restler explains vote - mayor's honest budget, FEPS, NYCHA vacancies remain
Council Member Restler discloses OMB (wife) and nonprofit (mother) associations. He credits Mayor Mamdani for an honest accounting of financial obligations and securing Albany funding. He celebrates FEPS but notes NYCHA and supportive housing vacancies remain too high. Votes aye.
Councilmember Ressler.
Great, thank you.
I will take the opportunity to engage from there.
I actually think that this mayor deserves credit for an honest accounting of our financial obligations.
When he came into office after years of corruption and cronyism,
He gave a real analysis of the actual costs that we're facing as a city and presented an honest budget.
And then went up to Albany and actually secured the billions of dollars that were needed to present a balanced executive budget.
It was...
An impressive performance.
I'm grateful to the mayor and the speaker and our finance chair and of course the council finance staff and the OMB staff for all the hard work that went in to this adopted budget.
You know, there are many good things in here for us to celebrate.
As always, there's more money for parks and more money for CUNY and more money for libraries and more money for cultural.
And lots of things like fair fairs that I'm really proud to see us investing in.
But most notably, our accomplishment on FEPS, led by Councilmember Pierina-Sanchez and supported by our speaker and this body and this body.
and many great advocates, was a remarkable achievement that will help tens of thousands of families afford to live in New York City.
We didn't get everywhere we wanted to on NYCHA vacant units, where there are more than 6,000 of them today, and there are going to be a similar number a year from now.
We didn't get everywhere we wanted to go on vacant supportive housing.
There's still going to be...
Too many a year from now.
But there were many good investments in this budget and for which I am proud to vote aye.
Council, remember your disclosures, please.
And on my disclosures,
The Mayor's Office of Management and Budget is funded in this budget, and I'm very proud of my wife who works there.
The Mercantile Library Association of the City of New York and the Brooklyn Heights Association are funded in this budget, and I'm proud of my mom who serves on the board of both of those organizations.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember.