Nonprofit New York Members and Community,
Yesterday, Mayor Adams’s Administration released the November 2023 Financial Plan, which includes the first round of the 15% citywide budget reductions announced in September. The full budget documents can be found on the Office of Management and Budget website, and the 5% immediate budget reductions are included in the Program to Eliminate the Gap document. The administration has blamed the budget crisis on costs incurred as a result of an influx of migrants, but our financial challenges are driven by multiple factors, a number of which could have been prevented.
Based on Nonprofit New York’s initial analysis, crucial services for New Yorkers carried out by nonprofits will bear a disproportionate brunt of immediate budget cuts this fiscal year. The city has made immediate programmatic cuts to language access and legal services ($600K); environmental protection ($4M); after school community programs ($10M); library services ($23.6M); cultural development and cultural institutions ($8.6M); the participatory budget program, racial equity initiatives, and civic engagement efforts ($643K), among other services. Significant cuts to youth services are set to take place in fiscal year 2025. The Department of Youth and Community Development, which funds many culturally specific, BIPOC-led organizations and major youth services, is facing cuts of close to $4 million in the current fiscal year and $32.5 million in the next fiscal year.
The City did not engage with their nonprofit “partners” prior to the release of the November Plan. We continue to call on the City to provide additional clarity on the real impact of the immediate programmatic cuts and their effect on all New Yorkers in every neighborhood. Another 5% budget reduction will come in mid-January. Nonprofits cannot be expected to simply implement decisions made about us – decisions that will determine how and whether we’re able to serve our communities - when we are not playing any meaningful role in making these decisions and not being provided transparent information about the rationale for and impact of the cuts.
We will continue to organize our members and the sector to preserve critical resources for every New Yorker. We are also happy to work in collaboration with the City to elevate our advocacy to the state and federal levels.
Please join our #WHY15 campaign and call on NYC to provide greater clarity on the rationale and impact for the City’s 15% budget cuts, to demonstrate their understanding of the meaningful impact nonprofits have on NYC, and to create opportunities for substantive engagement with organizations that have the expertise and community connections to generate creative, concrete solutions. To include your voice:
- Join the more than 100 nonprofits who have signed our open letter to the City government calling for transparency and inclusion regarding the 15% budget reduction.
- Participate in our 15 Days of 15 Cuts Storytelling Campaign. If interested, complete this form.
Questions? Please contact our Vice President of Policy, Chai Jindasurat-Yasui
You must be logged in to post a comment.