Latest news with #EricAdams
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
NYC Mayor Eric Adams rips into Mamdani's ‘socialist' agenda, says he ‘doesn't have the authority' to tax the rich
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has ripped into Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani 's so-called 'socialist' agenda, saying he 'doesn't have the authority' to tax the wealthiest New Yorkers. In a political upset Tuesday night, Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, beat former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary. Mamdani will be on the ballot against Adams, who dropped out of the primary to run as an independent after his corruption charges were dropped by the Trump administration. Cuomo is also staying in the race on the 'Fight & Deliver' ballot line, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources. Mamdani, who started as a little-known Queens assemblyman, is campaigning on affordability for average New Yorkers. He has promised to freeze rent for stabilized units and make buses free. In an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett Thursday evening, Mamdani said freezing the rent doesn't cost the city any money, but making buses free would cost around $700 million. He defended his proposed social programs, saying they would be paid for in part by increasing the income taxes on the top one percent of New Yorkers by two percent. Adams criticized Mamdani's platform while on The Lead with Jake Tapper Friday evening, telling the CNN host, 'I'm competing against him because this is not a socialist city.' It's unclear what Adams meant by a 'socialist city.' The key characteristic of socialism is that the government controls the means of production rather than private citizens. The New York Times described democratic socialism in a recent article as 'an ideology rooted in its opposition to capitalism and wanting to shift power to workers from corporations.' Adams said Mamdani ' doesn't have the authority to raise income tax on the top one percent of New Yorkers. Assemblymens have that authority, and that's who he is. He couldn't do it in the [New York State] Assembly. How you gonna deliver it as the mayor of the city?' The mayor also said Mamdani had the authority to make buses free in the Assembly, and that he gave Mamdani a pilot project for it, which he 'failed' to carry out. Adams argued with Tapper when the host said Mamdani has the authority to freeze the rent. 'There's an independent rent guideline boards that independently make their decisions, so he does not have the authority to do that,' the mayor insisted. Mamdani did say during his interview with Burnett that freezing the rent is 'something that's determined by the rent guidelines board, composed of nine members.' But that 'the mayor picks each of those members.' Since Adams took office in 2022, the board has raised the rent each year, The City reported. While Mamdani may wish to replace members of the board if he's elected, it may not be that easy, as board members are appointed to terms as long as four years.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mamdani consolidating support after becoming presumptive Democratic nominee
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor, has begun consolidating support. Several key unions that backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the democratic primary have now endorsed Mamdani, including hotel workers, service workers and nurses. More News: Politics Meanwhile, the the scale of his apparent victories becoming more apparent. He won neighborhoods most did not expect. 'We have gone beyond what you would traditionally think of as progressive,' said Mamdani, who compared his coalition to that of Eric Adams in 2021. More Local News However, Mayor Eric Adams, who officially launched an independent run for reelection, cautioned against reading too much into the primary results. 'We know this is basically the left-leaning arm of the party, and you will get a different view when you go to the general election,' Adams said on PIX on Politics. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State But the political landscape is further complicated by Cuomo, who sources confirm will also appear on the November ballot as an independent. It remains unclear if Cuomo will actively campaign after losing to Mamdani. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Politico
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
NYC leaders reach deal on $116 billion city budget
NEW YORK — New York City will boost funding for immigrant legal services by $41.9 million amid President Donald Trump's crackdown on noncitizens, as Mayor Eric Adams' administration and the City Council struck a final deal on a roughly $116 billion dollar budget days before the deadline. The fiscal year 2026 budget also includes $12.5 million in funding to create a new mayor's office for pro bono legal services, which will focus on providing representation for unaccompanied minors in immigration hearings, Adams' office announced Friday evening. And $10 million will go to a pilot program for free child care for kids two-years-old and younger, expected to cover hundreds of low-income families. That pilot, first reported by Gothamist, comes as presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani has made free universal child care a central tenet of his affordability-focused platform. 'There are no perfect budgets. But we have come a long way, and this one gets pretty close,' City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at a press conference announcing the deal. She and the mayor shook hands in the City Hall rotunda Friday afternoon as is tradition. While the two leaders have had an increasingly tense relationship, this year's budget process was relatively free of the drama and public fights that preceded previous deals. 'This has been, in my opinion, the easiest budget that we had to pass, because we knew what we expected from each other, and what we needed to deliver. And we were able to accomplish that,' Eric Adams said. But it wasn't just four years of experience that played a role — the mayor is seeking reelection on an independent ballot line this year and formally launched his campaign Thursday with a rally on the steps of City Hall. He's running on what he's been able to deliver in his first term and promoted his executive budget last month as 'the best budget ever' with a campaign-style event at his high school alma mater in Queens. Funding immigrant legal services could serve as a defense against a political vulnerability for Adams in the general election. The mayor has sought to increase cooperation with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement against noncitizens and moved to reopen a federal office on Rikers Island — a move that's been temporarily blocked following a legal challenge joined by the City Council. Between legal services and the pilot for universal child care, City Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan believes that Mamdani's win influenced the mayor to align with the council, which governs to his left. 'There was definitely some movement after Tuesday,' he said. 'Things that the council had been fighting for many years suddenly became more important.' Eric Adams got defensive when asked what changed his mind to add more funding to immigrant legal services. 'I'm the leading voice in the country of making sure people get justice,' he said. 'This is what I've done all my life. So there was no turning point.' Even before the results were final, the mayor showed little appetite for another round of belt-tightening and budget cuts, which in prior years earned him protests, denouncements and even a lawsuit from the city's largest municipal union. The mayor had defended those cuts as necessary to offset the massive, unexpected costs of housing and serving hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who had come to New York since the spring of 2022. But the number of migrants needing a high level of city services slowed to a trickle before Trump took office — a shift that took the city off its emergency footing and reduced spending in that area. Adrienne Adams and Brannan have also been busy running for higher office over the last several months, pulling them away from City Hall during a time period often dominated by budget talk. Both lost their primaries Tuesday — Adrienne Adams for mayor and Brannan for comptroller — but Brannan said the fiscal situation simply made for less contentious negotiation. 'We were able to focus this time on expanding, instead of what we normally had to do, which is restoring core services,' he said. 'That's what we would have liked to do with the last three budgets.' The City Council is expected to vote Monday to enact the final budget, just ahead of the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. Despite Democrats' concerns about Trump's impact on the economy, city bean counters expect the city to bring in about $116 billion in revenue in the upcoming year — up nearly $1 billion from the executive budget. The S&P 500 hit a record high Friday, a boon for the city's investments, and Adams jokingly took credit. 'Dropped by the Stock Exchange this morning, just saying,'he posted on X. The city is legally required to have a balanced budget and will also keep $8.5 billion in reserve, consistent with last year's spending plan. That wasn't enough for the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog that has consistently advocated for more conservative budgeting practices. 'The New York City fiscal year 2026 budget agreement is unaffordable, unprepared for federal cuts, and underinvests in the Rainy Day Fund despite strong current year revenues,' CBC President Andrew Reins said in a statement. 'Everyone knows that federal risks are real and substantial, yet they are shockingly ignored. Further, a typical recession would sap $11 billion of revenue over two years, which would swamp the City's reserves.' Brannan defended the balance of spending and savings at the press conference. 'Today, we are proving that we can Trump-proof a budget while still investing in what matters most,' he said. Eric Adams did not mention Trump in his remarks. He has maintained a cozy relationship with the president, whose administration pushed to drop the federal corruption charges brought against him earlier this year. Aside from the investments in immigrant legal services and early childcare, the new revenue allowed city leaders to pepper in other additional expenditures. The budget allocates $6.1 million to create a 'Division of Sustainable Delivery' under the Department of Transportation, focused on regulating e-bikes and mopeds — since reckless riders have become the subject of countless constituent complaints to elected officials. The city will also add $900,000 to the New York City Emergency Management agency to fund 10 new employees meant to enhance the city's disaster preparedness. The city has agreed to allocate $70 million to cover evaluations, services and classes for preschoolers with disabilities, fulfilling a request from over 80 organizations including the nonprofit Advocates for Children of New York. And where advocates for libraries led aggressive lobbying campaigns to restore proposed cuts in the last two budget cycles, book lovers are getting a slight boost this year: the budget allocates $2 million to allow an additional ten library branches to stay open on Sundays. Madina Touré contributed to this report.
CNN
7 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Eric Adams denies rumored deal with Trump over dropped ‘bogus charges'
CNN's Jake Tapper speaks with New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) about his 2025 re-election bid as an Independent and whether he made a deal with Donald Trump.
New York Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
NYC's massive $116B budget will boost e-bike crackdown, launch $10M universal childcare pilot program — and includes millions for immigrant services
Mayor Eric Adams struck a handshake deal with the City Council Friday on a massive around $116 billion budget — that'll include a new crackdown on e-bikes, according to sources. The tentative agreement counts $6.1 million to create a 'Division of Sustainable Delivery,' with 60 new positions dedicated to e-bike regulation and enforcement following a recent push by the Adams administration to reign in the vehicles. City Hall agreed to give the council a major boost in funding for immigration services to the tune of $54.5 million, a source familiar with the deal said. 3 Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council reached a handshake deal that'll lead to a crackdown on e-bikes across the Big Apple. Andrew Schwartz / The spending plan will also include $10 million for a universal childcare pilot program — after the issue became a hot topic in the Democratic mayoral primary race. The initiative will dole out free child care for children ages 2 and under for hundreds of low income families, sources said. The handshake deal comes after Adams — who is running for re-election as an independent in the November general election — unveiled a $115 billion spending proposal in May that he dubbed 'the best budget ever.' The 2026 city budget, which is due July 1, appears to add another close to a billion on top of that, for a topline number of around $115.8 billion, according to a City Hall rep. The deal would also provide $41.9 million in free legal assistance for migrants facing deportation and who need help with benefits – a sticking point for city Democrats looking to fight back against President Trump's strict immigration enforcement. 3 A $116 billion budget agreement will generate $6.1 million to establish the 'Division of Sustainable Delivery,' creating 60 new jobs to crack down and enforce regulations on e-bikes across the city. Matthew McDermott 3 Immigration services will also receive a $54.5 million budget with an additional $10 million being used for a universal childcare pilot program. Getty Images Another 12.5 million would go toward pro bono lawyers that would help unaccompanied minor immigrants in removal hearing, sources said. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who made a late bid for the Democratic mayoral primary, and Councilman Justin Brannan, the finance chair, were adamant about securing the immigration and child care funding as top priorities, sources said. They had also fought Mayor Adams, no relation to the speaker, over proposed cuts to libraries during the budget negotiations. The budget set to be announced later Friday includes an agreement to spend $2 million to expand service to seven days a week for 10 libraries citywide.
