Page 1 - qt edition #47

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Published for the Borough of Queens

VOLUME 28, NO. 47 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2023 25 CENTS

Senator Addabbo Joins Governor
Statement From State Comptroller
Hochul as She Signs His Diwali School
Thomas P. Dinapoli On Mayor’s
November Financial Plan Update Holiday Bill Into Law

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released
the following statement today regarding the update to the city’s
Financial Plan:
“Today’s release of New York City’s November Financial Plan
update highlights the difficult steps needed to generate savings
that will balance the city’s budget this year, and in the future, as
substantial budget volatility is expected to continue. Unfortu-
nately, it remains unclear how the city prioritized its choices to
minimize the impact on critical public services. Budget choices
that are not made efficiently — reducing costs without hurting
services — can undermine the progress the city has made in
public safety, health, education and trash management.
“The budget update also continues the city’s practice of not
fully budgeting for known spending risks, including for trans-
portation, education and social services. The city did not budget
for the cost of expanding its Family Homelessness and Eviction
Prevention Supplement (FHEPS) housing voucher program or its
school class size mandate. While the city did add $3 billion for
managing the influx of asylum seekers in Fiscal Years (FY) 2026
and 2027 — part of the $10 billion added for this cost across the
whole plan — those costs are likely to be higher than expected.
The combination of these unbudgeted and underbudgeted costs
is likely to exceed the savings generated in the plan, an average
of $2 billion per year beginning in FY 2025. Senator Addabbo joins Governor Kathy Hochul and other elected officials and leaders as
“The good news in the financial plan update is that revenues she signed the Diwali bill into law. Photo Courtesy Governor’s Office. See story on page 2.
have outpaced projections by $775 million so far this fiscal
year. If sustained for the rest of the fiscal year, the city will
have additional resources to manage spending pressures this Meng Commemorates Two Year
year and potentially even build reserves to buffer against future
unanticipated spending. If the city had built up reserves earlier, it
could have mitigated the severity of the service cuts it now faces. Anniversary Of The Bipartisan
“With private sector job growth fully returned, the city should
remain laser focused on its efforts to stay a place where people Infrastructure Law
want to live, work and invest. Economic growth will support
revenue growth and help the city manage its budget. The city
must continue to balance its budget while keeping the impact on
critical services in mind and it must inform the public on how
it is achieving this.”

Brandeis Association Installation Gala

Brandeis Association newly elected President Bradley Siegal, Chair
Hon. Gia Morris, Justice Laurence Love, Justice Jeff Lebowitz Congresswoman Meng highlighting upgrades to the Long Island Expressway in Queens and curb
(ret), and Justice Jeremy Weinstein (ret). See story on page 2. ramps in the borough, both among local projects paid for with money from the BIL. See story on page 6.
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