New York Mayor Mamdani Applauded for Closing $12 Billion Budget Deficit Without Austerity Measures

In announcing New York City's executive budget for the 2027 fiscal year on Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani proved that when city governments "stand with working families, not billionaires, there is nothing they cannot accomplish," said US Sen. Bernie Sanders, an early backer of the democratic socialist leader.

"Congratulations to Mayor Mamdani," said the Vermont independent senator. "He inherited a huge budget deficit, brought it down to zero, and still invested in childcare, housing, and city infrastructure."

Sanders was among the progressives applauding the announcement by Mamdani and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul of new agreements between the city and Albany that, along with savings found by Mamdani's administration in the city budget and new taxes on wealthy households, resulted in a balanced budget for the city just four months after the mayor "inherited a $12 billion budget deficit" from former Mayor Eric Adams.

"We didn’t close the gap on the backs of working people," said Mamdani. "We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets, and making historic investments in public housing. Call it pothole politics. Call it democratic socialism. It's government that delivers for the people who make this city run. That’s what New Yorkers deserve. And that’s what we will keep fighting for every single day."

Mamdani emphasized that negotiations with Albany and "months of painstaking work" to analyze the city's spending had allowed the city government to arrive at a "fully balanced budget" without slashing essential services for working New Yorkers.

"Many said the only way out of this was slashing services and passing an austerity budget," said Mamdani in a video his office posted on social media. "We rejected that."

Mamdani and Hochul announced that negotiations between the city and state had resulted in an additional $4 billion in funding from Albany, building on $1.5 billion the governor had committed to providing in February and funding for the city's universal childcare program.

The budget—which is still subject to negotiations with the City Council and final resolution with the state budget—includes the pied-à-terre tax Mamdani announced last month, with second homes valued at over $5 million subject to the tax, as well as a proposed unincorporated business tax on sole proprietorships and LLCs. Those new taxes are set to raise an estimated $500 million and $68 million, respectively, reported David Dayen at The American Prospect.

As Common Dreams reported in March, Mamdani's government found $1.77 billion in savings by combing through the city's spending and finding ways to cut expensive software and technology contracts, shrink the government's "physical footprint" and rental expenses by giving up excess property, and reduce unnecessary overtime. The savings, Mamdani noted, were not achieved by slashing programs for New Yorkers in need.

Dayen reported that the deficit was also closed by delaying a class size reduction law, primarily affecting higher-income schools; restructuring the timing of certain pension payments while making no changes to benefits and continuing to fund city pension funds above the national average; centralizing support funds and making other changes to a rental assistance program; and reducing the use of Carter cases, which allow students with disabilities to have private school education expenses reimbursed by the city.

"Despite endless speculation that a socialist couldn’t manage a budget, Mayor Zohran Mamdani helped close a $12 billion deficit without major cuts to public services—all while continuing investments in parks, libraries, safer streets, public housing, and continuing to inspire millions of people that government can work for the people," said the grassroots progressive political advocacy group Our Revolution.

Olivia Leirer, co-executive director of the local grassroots organization New York Communities for Change, applauded the proposed budget and said the group plans to work with the mayor's office and the City Council to push for a $10 million investment to help low-income families replace inefficient and polluting oil and gas boilers, as well as more investments in childcare for the city's lowest-income families.

"Mayor Mamdani was always going to have to contend with the gaping $12 billion hole that Eric Adams left in our city budget," said Leirer. "While this budget proposal falls short in some areas, it shows that it’s possible to balance the budget without balancing it on the backs of working people. We commend the mayor for pushing Governor Hochul to tax luxury second homes, and we also appreciate the administration’s meaningful investments in childcare and the city’s workforce."

"This commitment is exactly why New Yorkers voted Mamdani into office last fall," she added, "For real, commonsense solutions to alleviate our city’s cost-of-living crisis."