New York, NY -- Today, Mayor Adams’ Office of Management and Budget announced NYC’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Modification. The modification cuts crucial funding to libraries, education, housing, and other social services that keep our communities safe while continuing to invest in policing. Communities United for Police Reform sent a memo to New York City Council criticizing the mayor’s proposed cuts and urging investments to address the current public health crisis and build long-term safety. Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) spokesperson Obi Afriyie, (he/him) responded to the budget modification with the following statement from the memo:
“Instead of creating a wellspring of city resources to address these co-arising financial, public health and safety crises and restore city agencies and programs, at minimum, to pre-COVID levels, Mayor Adams has proposed a Budget Modification for FY23 that cuts essential resources and supports for New Yorkers, especially Black, Latinx, and other communities of color, including cuts to public schools, libraries, police oversight, services and supports for our elderly. In addition, the Mayor is doing little to address the slowdown in services and supports that are related to the city's high vacancy rate which is impacting the availability of supportive housing units, NYCHA operations, and New Yorkers being approved for public benefits such as SNAP. Instead, he is leveraging vacancies to make permanent cuts to the budgets and staff of city agencies. This will contribute to a growing backlog of people who are without stable housing, food and other critical services, causing further harm to New Yorkers and further strain on our city’s service providers.
“While cutting critical services and destabilizing New Yorkers’ health and lives, the Budget Modification protects and preserves the NYPD’s bloated budget from financial and personnel cuts, effectively increasing criminalization of the people the Mayor is neglecting to serve and support. During his first year in office, the Mayor has consistently positioned the NYPD to respond to public health and safety issues that stem from underinvestment in housing, health and education, which the NYPD is not qualified to address.
“We need to make changes to the city budget that pave a clear pathway to both recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future economic headwinds. The Mayor’s approach of unilaterally shrinking critical agencies while preserving NYPD budget bloat and expanding police power will not bring about the community health and safety New Yorkers so desperately want. It will only exacerbate the current public health crisis that we are facing and exacerbate inequity and poverty, which are root causes of the very safety concerns the mayor supposedly wants to address. The Mayor should ensure that critical city agencies can close the gaps in services and support that are leaving so many New Yorkers with unmet needs by cutting NYPD budget bloat and investing those funds where they are needed most. This includes addressing the vacancy crisis through thoughtful staffing decisions and policies, instead of bluntly cutting positions, and making strategic investments that support short-term and long-term recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach has the best chance of preparing New Yorkers for any economic headwinds in the next year and ensuring a safe and prosperous future for Black, Latinx, and other communities of color."
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About Communities United for Police Reform
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and reduces reliance on policing. CPR runs coalitions of over 200 local, statewide and national organizations, bringing together a movement of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change. The partners in this campaign come from all 5 boroughs, from all walks of life and represent many of those most unfairly targeted by the NYPD.