Mayor Mamdani Cuts $12B Deficit to $0 In 132 Days

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]New device that Jumaane Williams came into office with a historic $12 billion deficit, worse than the Great Recession.

[00:00:08]And he was told the only way you're going to make up that gap that Eric Adams left him was to cut critical resources for libraries, and for schools, and for hospitals. And he said, "Hell no. We're going to tax the rich, and we're still going to open child care, we're still going to invest in libraries, we're still going to invest in schools." And now, 132 days in, what do we see? Is zero deficit. He has taken $12 billion, and without cutting a single community resource, cut it down to zero. This is what true government efficiency looks like. This is the scary socialism that they tried to warn you about. He's actually showing you what government can do when it is funded by the people, when it works for the people, when the people in charge are not looking to make self-profit, but are looking to elevate every single person around them. Watch this video, and tell me you're not inspired. New York, it's executive budget season. And I'm proud to announce that our city's budget is fully balanced. This budget isn't just about numbers on a page. It determines if our libraries get funded, if a street is safe to cross, if snow is actually shoveled after a storm. And you deserve to know exactly how we [music] got here. We inherited a $12 billion budget deficit. We are speaking about a fiscal crisis at the scale greater than the Great Recession. What was the Great Recession? Great Recession. Many said the only way out of this was slashing services and passing an austerity budget. We rejected that. After months of painstaking work, that deficit is now zero. Our city is now [music] on firm financial ground. We achieved this in two major ways: increasing revenue and support from [music] Albany, and cutting waste and finding savings here in New York City.

[00:01:45]Thanks to Governor Hochul, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, [music] and months of organizing from New Yorkers, we taxed the rich.

[00:01:54]That tax alone will raise half a billion dollars per year. [music] And that's not all. Thanks to Governor Hochul and our partners in Albany, we finally got a better deal for New York City. We're getting billions more from the state to help tackle the gap. At the same time, we've been pouring over the city [music] budget to identify savings. We reduced unnecessary overtime and found smarter ways for government to deliver services.

[00:02:12]This all added up to 1.77 billion dollars in total savings. Our budget isn't just about closing deficits. It's about building a city New Yorkers can actually afford. On day eight of our administration, we announced [music] a historic partnership with Governor Hochul to finally deliver universal child care. That's 1.2 billion dollars in new funding from Albany. And this was just the beginning. Investments [music] in citywide trash containerization, cheaper groceries, safer streets, relief for taxi drivers are all on the way. And we're increasing funding for libraries, parks, and [music] cultural institutions. I promised to make sure you were part of this budget process every step of the way. This is your city. These are your tax dollars.

[00:02:47]>> [music] >> And this budget should reflect your priorities. We're proud to put forward a budget for the working people of this city. And we're going to do it again next year. And next year, and next year, and next year.

[00:02:59]I dare you to tell me that we can't demand this for every single elected official. Remember, every time a politician says that we can't do it or it's not possible, all they're doing is projecting their own fears and insecurities on you. That's the first sign you should vote that person out and vote in someone like Mayor Eric Adams and I. God bless this man. I love this guy. He's crushing it because he's serving working people. We need more like him.