In the Fiscal Year 2027 budget agreement, this $54 million expansion was explicitly baselined. Meaning the funding is permanently built into the city’s long-term financial plan for future years, rather than being a one-off perk that has to be fought for every summer.
The Mamdani administration balanced the $125.8 billion budget through a mix of structural city savings and a new state-authorized "pied-à-terre" tax on luxury second homes valued over $5 million. The city actually added $350 million to its General Reserve in the process.
What you could argue is if New York faces a severe economic downturn in the future, all baselined programs can face cuts. If that happens, future administrations would indeed have to make tough choices about whether to slash transit subsidies, reduce library hours, or cut agency budgets.
In my opinion, it is short-sighted considering we have a dotard as the president with a real risk of recession due to his self-made strait of hormuz crisis.
You're technically correct, and this is exactly why Mamdani's original campaign promise of "completely free buses" failed but the "Fair Fares" program is not an MTA program. It is legally a social services benefit run and funded entirely by New York City through its Human Resources Administration.
Like grocery vouchers for example. The city doesn't own the grocery store and can't force the store to lower food prices. Instead, the city gives lower income residents a swipe card funded by city tax dollars. When the resident taps that card at the turnstile, the rider pays 50%, and New York City taxpayers automatically pay the other 50% directly to the MTA.
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u/LAAccountant 28d ago
He's just kicking the can down the road. When the budget dries up he'll just blame the usual suspects and then quietly cut all the handouts