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News 12 Staff

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Welcome back to power and politics. As we continue our city budget breakdown with council member Crystal Hudson and council member as a part of the negotiating team that worked on this final deal. What insight can you share about what happens behind the scenes to get to this point? Well, uh what I'll say is that we are charter mandated to uh approve the city budget every year by June 30th. And so that's exactly what we did. Um I think negotiations are, are always fraught, that's the nature of, of this business. Um But we did everything that we could to fight hard on behalf of uh the New Yorkers who told us what was most important to them and that was social services that was keeping our libraries and cultural institutions open, that was making sure that we had enough money uh to support our early childhood education education system and also to feed older New Yorkers. A lot of the big issues that the council has been talking about throughout this process making it into that final deal. Now, on the other end of the spectrum, is there anything that did not make it into the budget that you are passionate about and want to continue to work toward in the year to come. Well, iii I think we still have a very long way to go as far as older adults are concerned. Um And again, as, as chair of that committee in, in the city council, you know, I'm always advocating for older New Yorkers and knowing that our population is going to boom in the next 15 years, we should be adding, you know, quadrupling the budget for NYC aging and not cutting any bit of it. So until we get to a place where um you know, the money matches is the the population and the needs of the population that is growing. Um I think, you know, I won't be entirely satisfied, but that being said, we also uh need more investments in mental health services and victim services and other things. But the budget is a year round process. And so there will be other opportunities to um fight to get some more money um into the budget throughout the rest of the, you mentioned victim services. And I know we here at news 12 spoke to the CEO of Safe Horizon, which is a domestic violence support nonprofit that does a lot of work in our borough. Specifically, she told us they're losing about $3 million in funding in this budget. Are there any ways for them to be able to offset those losses, find other sources of funding. I think, you know, one thing I'll say is that the city council will always continue to fight hard um for against those budget cuts. I mean, how, you know, this mayoral administration could cut funding for those types of victim services specifically. Um at a time when we know some of those statistics have gone up, especially um since coming out of the pandemic, um you know, is unbeknownst to me or for anyone in the city council. Um But so we will definitely continue to fight hard to restore all of that funding. And as I mentioned, you know, the the budget negotiation process is year round. And so I hope that there's another opportunity for us to put that money back into the budget to that point. What becomes some of the big priorities, the big areas on which the council will be focused on in conversations to come when it comes to the budget. Yeah, I think uh continuing to ensure that early childhood education and our education system K through Cuny um is, is in, in a good place. Um You know, we wanna make sure we're uh doubling down on some of those investments. We wanna make sure that the folks who are most marginalized across our city are getting exactly what it is they need and that's everything from, you know, social services to health care. Um And so making sure that uh that we're fighting and we are continuing to fight for all of that in the budget and then council member not to end where it all started. But if we do think back to when budget cuts first became part of the conversation late last year, the administration blamed the migrant crisis for those cuts initially. Now we've got the budget passed. It restores a lot of those proposed cuts. What is the outlook on that situation here in the city and how that's being managed? I'll say, you know, two things. One, we shouldn't be pitting uh communities against each other. We shouldn't be pitting New Yorkers against uh newly arrived folks who might be seeking asylum. And number two, you know, the city council's revenue team always predicts uh and I would say, accurately predicts that there's gonna be more money uh generated uh more money in our budget than the mayoral administration admits to. And so what we usually see is that, you know, come September, November time frame, the mayoral administration says, oh, the city council was right. Well, they never usually say that part, but they'll say, oh yes, there is more money available to us. And so how can we allocate those funds? Um And so we know on the city council um that we have funds available that can be used for um a lot of the, the programs and services and resources that New Yorkers need. And that's something that, you know, we've always been consistent about every year, year after year. Uh We know where the money is. Um And we know that it, that it's here. Council member Hudson. Thank you so much for the budget breakdown here before we let you go. I do want to end on a little bit of a lighter note here on power and politics. We've covered a lot of ground related to the budget, but now that it's passed summer is officially here. I know that means that you and a lot of your colleagues get out and about throughout the city and have the joy and the fun of attending a lot of community events. Anything that you are especially looking forward to uh to enjoying this summer. Any fun events on mind, um Always the block parties across the district and throughout our communities are a good time. You know, these block associations know how to do it up, keep us fed um and having a good time. So I'm looking forward to visiting as many block parties as I can across my district this summer. And Spike Lee back in Brooklyn to kick it off last weekend. I mean, no better person to get the summer season started and in no Butter Borough to do it indeed. He, he always does it right. And even in the rain, people showed up and show it out so great way to start off summer and a lot more to look forward to council member, Crystal Hudson again. A pleasure to have you here. Thank you so much for walking us through so many of the details in this budget and their impacts on our New Yorkers and our viewers. We appreciate it so much. Thank you so much for having me still to come. The governor is taking executive action to keep everyone cool and keep kids active this summer. We'll explain the move she's making when power and politics returns in just a couple of minutes. Stay with us.

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Welcome back to power and politics here on News 12, I'm Amanda Bossard. More than a dozen people just became us citizens and our cameras were there to capture the special moment news. Twelve's Britney Cadet went to the ceremony earlier this week and spoke with some of those new citizens on what this milestone means for them. Congratulations. You are now United States citizens. America has now officially become home for many today after becoming a US citizen here at the Stars Narcos Library. Two military members from the Bronx are also a part of this special group, becoming a citizen before the fourth of July is like something amazing because it's gonna be like I will be enjoying the Fourth of July as a city. The same with my family, with all the people that I love and I with this country so I can. This is Christian Diaz. He serves in the army as a National Guard. He has lived in the Bronx for five years after coming to the United States from Dajabon Dominican Republic. When I get here, I work for a year and then went to college, I get an associate degree. Then I joined the army. So everything is working out like he tells us he needed to become a US citizen to get a higher rank in his field. And also tells us he decided to join the military. Help Oscar Innocent also became a US citizen serving in the US Navy today. Where are you from? I'm from the United States now. And where were you born? I was born in Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria. Innocent has also been here for five years after coming to the Bronx from Nigeria. I'm grateful for the opportunity, especially on the cusp of July 4th. It's not something I take lightly. I'm proud to be part. I'm proud to be a citizen of the greatest country in the world and now with his citizenship, he says he plans on living the American dream in Manhattan. Brittney. Ket, you told the Bronx. Got to love that answer. I'm an American now. Britney. Thank you for that special story. Meanwhile, Governor Kathy Hoel announcing a new campaign aimed at getting families outdoors this summer in Manhattan, the governor announced 150 million dollars for the get off line and get outside initiative. She announced access to all pools at state parks will be free this whole summer. The announcement comes as the governor has taken aim at the impact smartphones are having on the mental health of Children. She said that this initiative is about promoting mental and physical health and encouraging New Yorkers to just go to a throwback time this summer. Think about when you were young. What you did with your time? You kick balls, you played catch, you swam, you just enjoyed life. You weren't sitting indoors holding, being held captive to your cell phone. The state funding will help address the lifeguard shortage too and pay for swimming lessons and transportation to those lessons. That's all for this week here on power and politics, here on news. 12. Thanks so much for watching.

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A deep dive into the city's budget for fiscal year 2025.

Power & Politics: Breaking down the FY 2025 New York City budget

A deep dive into the city's budget for fiscal year 2025.

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