NYC Deficit Erased Without Tax Hike

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]We inherited a $12 billion budget deficit. We are speaking about a fiscal crisis at the scale greater than the Great Recession. Many [music] 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 on firm financial ground. We achieved this in two major ways: increasing revenue and support from Albany, and cutting waste and finding savings here in New York City.

[00:00:24]Thanks to Governor Hochul, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and [music] months of organizing from New Yorkers, we taxed the rich.

[00:00:33]That tax alone will raise half a billion dollars per year. And that's not all.

[00:00:37]Thanks to Governor Hochul and our partners in Albany, we finally got a better deal for New York [music] City.

[00:00:41]We're getting billions more from the state to help tackle the gap. At the same time, we've been pouring over the city budget to identify savings. We reduced unnecessary overtime and found smarter ways for government to deliver services. This all added up to $1.77 billion in total savings. Our budget isn't just about closing deficits. It's about building a city New Yorkers can actually afford. eight of our administration, we announced a historic partnership with Governor Hochul to finally deliver universal child care. That's $1.2 billion in new funding from Albany. And this was just the beginning. Investments 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 cultural [music] 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, and this budget [music] should reflect your priorities.