A unanimous vote on the $116 billion FY 2026 New York City budget

The New York City Council unanimously approved the roughly $116 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year Monday afternoon – a first since Mayor Eric Adams took office roughly three and a half years ago.

While the last couple of budget cycles were dominated by the City Council and Adams administration publicly warring over sweeping funding cuts, negotiations for the fiscal year 2026 budget have been comparatively smooth sailing. Both Mayor Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams lauded the deal Friday when they met in the City Hall rotunda Friday for a ceremonial handshake. While the two have had an increasingly acrimonious relationship – exacerbated in no small part by the speaker launching a last-minute mayoral bid in the Democratic primary – this year’s budget process was largely drama free. 

“I have repeatedly insisted on our need to move away from a budget of restoration to one that strengthens investments in New Yorkers. This year, we are making big strides towards that goal,” Speaker Adams said, addressing her fellow council members Monday afternoon as the chamber prepared to vote on the budget hours before the midnight deadline. The new fiscal year begins July 1. 

Meeting with reporters earlier in the day, Speaker Adams had expressed optimism that all 51 members would vote in favor of the budget. “I am hoping for a different vote margin this session,” she said. “My colleagues had expressed holistically that this was a very good budget.”  

With Speaker Adams set to leave the City Council at the conclusion of her term in December, this was the final budget process of her tenure. That could also end up being the case for Mayor Adams, who faces a tough reelection battle against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani this November in the general mayoral election. 

While voting to adopt the budget Monday afternoon, council member after council member expressed positive sentiments about the spending plan. Stating that “budgets are moral documents,” City Council Member Shaun Abreu praised the investments the deal makes in communities. City Council Member Alexa Avilés said she’s “proud of the wins we’ve landed” – particularly those for immigrant New Yorkers. City Council Member Eric Dinowitz said the budget “makes sense” — particularly when juxtaposed with the federal budget currently up for consideration in D.C. On and on it went.

Even City Council Members Tiffany Cabán and Avilés, who cast protest votes against the last three city budgets, voted in favor of it. Council Members Chi Ossé and Shahana Hanif, who voted to adopt two of the three, did the same. “We have finally surpassed the bare minimum,” Avilés said, explaining what fueled her support. “We made gains.” This budget is the floor, not the ceiling,” Cabán said before casting her yes vote.

All together, the reception marked a stark departure from the last three budget votes. In 2022, the first of Mayor Adams’ tenure, six members voted against the budget. Frustrated by the array of cuts enacted by the Adams administrations across most city agencies, twelve members voted against the budget in 2023. Last year, three members – all democratic socialists – voted against it.