New York City

NYC progressives are reclaiming “defund,” after it was used against them

The word used previously against funding the police is now being used to call out Mayor Eric Adams, saying he’s reducing spending on public safety, health agencies and other institutions.

New York City’s progressives have turned the table on the use of the word “defund."

New York City’s progressives have turned the table on the use of the word “defund." Jeff Coltin

In the two years since the progressive left’s call to “defund the police” went mainstream, the word “defund” has been weaponized against them by Republicans and Democrats alike. Now in the run-up to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ first budget, the city’s progressive movement is trying to reclaim “defund” – in some cases, turning it against the mayor saying that he is the one trying to “defund” public safety.

The tactics have been on full display as activism around the city’s fiscal year 2023 budget heats up while the City Council holds hearings on Adams’ preliminary budget. The final budget is due before July 1. On Wednesday, hundreds of members of the city’s progressive movement heard from City Council Member Tiffany Cabán at a rally organized by The People’s Plan NYC criticizing Adams’ “austerity budget.” 

“We’ve heard a lot of scare-mongering the past few years,” Cabán said, and people like her and those at the rally who use “scary words” like “defund” have been “blamed, castigated and denounced for any manner of problems.” 

But the one that will really cause problems, Cabán said, is Adams. “Mayor Adams has proposed a budget that would defund many of our most vital public safety and public health agencies and institutions. It would defund schools. It would defund sanitation. It would defund homeless services. It would defund our public hospital systems. It would defund the departments for youth and community development. It would defund the department of small business services.”

By one interpretation, that’s all true. Adams proudly touted the fact that he asked for 3% budget reductions for most agencies, and he got it. The Department of Education’s budget is projected to be down $1.3 billion, according to city budget documents (though the city is actually expecting to increase its share in respect to federal and state funds by nearly $600 million). Sanitation would be down $136 million (though, again, the city itself would spend $314 million more). Homeless services would be defunded by $615 million compared to the current year’s budget. Health + Hospitals spending would be down $1.3 billion. DYCD, $184 million less. And SBS, $379 million less. 

The New York City Police Department, by the way, would see $204 million less in its expense budget – though the NYPD budget is expected to grow when more state and city funding are factored in.

That goes to show that budgets, especially preliminary budgets are a blunt instrument, a messy shorthand that might not actually reflect the impact of the money and the services rendered. New York City spends almost double per pupil on schooling than Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean the education is twice as good. 

But the art of Cabán’s statement was that it turned this loaded word, “defund,” against the mayor. And her office is itching for a fight. “Throwing down the gauntlet here,” Cabán’s spokesperson Jesse Myerson texted reporters Thursday, sharing a clip of Cabán on NY1 saying that Adams’ budget “defunds” homeless services, schools, parks and sanitation.

The word defund – and the idea behind it of reducing police departments’ budget to weaken their influence – has been used as a political cudgel in the two years since a police officer killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparking Black Lives Matter protests nationwide. In the summer of 2020, the call by progressives to defund the NYPD by at least $1 billion and reinvest the money to support low income communities got so much attention that then-Mayor Bill de Blasio felt he had to stretch the truth to its limits in order to claim that he hit that $1 billion goal. In reality, the budget was reduced by far less, and planned cost shifts such as moving school safety agents to the education budget have been reversed. 

Still, almost immediately, opponents variously derided the call to defund the police as wrongheaded, disrespectful to brave officers or an academic theory only pushed by primarily white people living in safe neighborhoods. Republicans used it to criticize all Democrats, and moderate Democrats are still denouncing it to this day. “The answer is not to defund the police, it’s to give you the tools, the training, the funding to be partners, to be protectors,” President Joe Biden said at NYPD headquarters during a February visit. A month later, it was an applause line at his State of the Union. “We should all agree,” Biden said. “The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police.”

You wouldn’t know it by reading some coverage, but Adams himself has largely avoided the red meat of criticizing the defund movement, even as he ran for office on a platform centered on public safety. He gave into the obvious temptation sometimes – telling New York magazine that the defund conversation was being led by “a lot of young white affluent people” – but he never leaned in as much as others. Maybe because he agreed that the NYPD’s budget could be reduced, noting in his campaign plans that the city could save $500 million by reducing overtime and moving some uniformed officers out of clerical positions.

Adams’ office responded to Cabán’s charge that he was defunding essential agencies. “The budget that the mayor proposed last month is fiscally responsible while making upstream investments to promote an equitable recovery,” a statement from the City Hall press office emailed to City & State read. “The truth is that for too long, New Yorkers have not gotten their money’s worth from our government, and we need to make it better and more efficient. We’re also increasing investment for New Yorkers in the greatest need – adding 30,000 summer youth jobs,  expanding the city’s Earned Income Tax Credit, baselining funding for the Fair Fares program, and promoting affordable childcare.”

Ironically, Adams’ argument that he was spreading money to other areas got a boost at the very rally where Cabán spoke Wednesday. There on the steps of the Department of Education’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan, organizers from the progressive advocacy group Vocal-NY held up a massive Black and white sign reading “defund means invest.”

Two days later, organizers held the same sign again at a people’s public safety rally in City Hall Park, where VOCAL-NY organizing director Jawanza James Williams explained that it was just another way of reclaiming the term “defund.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever had to not reclaim it. I think that it’s been intentionally misconstrued,” he said. “It’s been intentionally politicized in a way to erase its actual meaning.” 

Cabán’s new rhetoric doesn’t mean she rejects the sign of the message behind it, her spokesperson Myerson explained. They’re just two sides of the same coin. “Both approaches are attempts to re-contextualize that word, which has become such a hideously whipped scapegoat, here and around the country,” Myerson wrote. “The core message of each is the same: we need to shift our budgetary priorities away from policing, prosecution, and punishment, and toward community, care, and compassion.”

Across the rallies, some speakers seemed to show discomfort with the word “defund.” Jails reform advocate Darren Mack said we need to “strategically deflate” the Department of Correction’s budget. But “defund” is still on progressive activists’ lips, even two years later. After Mack’s moment at the mic, dozens gathered in a chant. “Defund the police, invest in our communities!”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.