Putting NYC's budget cuts into perspective

Also, Adams' strange fundraiser that fell flat. [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] [As the start of NYC's next fiscal year looms, organizations worry about their future]( Leaders of cultural institutions around New York City are coming together to ask Mayor Eric Adams to [stop “cutting culture]( Some museums, performing arts centers, historical societies, zoos and botanical gardens rely on public funding to operate, just as the city relies on these places as part of the continued recovery effort post-pandemic. Cultural institutions are not the only organizations worried about the future if proposed budget cuts go through before the start of the new fiscal year in July. The city’s Department of the Aging is looking at a [$28 million cut]( from last fiscal year, which means dozens of centers for older adults could close and meal programs could be diminished. [HIV services]( including a program that has been shown to help hard-to-reach patients reduce their viral loads, may be cut. A 22-year-old program giving students living in homeless shelters [new backpacks for the start of school]( may be forced to reduce supplies and [community composting sites]( are at risk of shutting down. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- More politics stories to know this week What else is happening aroud New York City Just a month after the FBI seized his phones and other devices, Adams spoke with tech entrepreneurs at an unusual private event where he asked for contributions to his legal defense fund. [Read more.]( Local elected leaders are urging Mayor Adams to allow a 35-year program offering homeless New Yorkers a place to rest or eat for the night to remain open. [Read more.]( Private firms tapped to take over New York City’s ailing public housing complexes will soon face additional scrutiny after the City Council approved legislation that mandates annual reports on repair costs, tenant fees and other metrics. [Read more.]( Edafe Okporo said he knew he had to leave his native Nigeria in 2016, as people were threatening to kill him because of his sexual orientation. Eight years later, the 34-year-old refugee is running for the New York City Council in 2025. [Read more.]( What’s going on around New York state Westchester County Executive George Latimer is facing criticism after saying Rep. Jamaal Bowman won his 2020 congressional primary in part due to the killing of George Floyd and a pandemic-era surge in mail-in ballots. [Read more.]( A wave of sexual assault allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein gave rise to an international reckoning for harassment and abuse in the workplace. Now, Weinstein’s recently overturned New York conviction could make way for a new state law. [Read more.]( Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York lawmakers tucked a $90 million tax break into the state budget last month in an attempt at pushing back against years of decline that decimated local news. But the law largely excludes many local news outlets it purports to support. [Read more.]( A state initiative aimed at helping homeless New Yorkers living on the streets and subways has placed more than 450 individuals in long-term or permanent housing in two years, new data from the governor’s office shows. [Read more.]( New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez’s trial In the opening statements for Menendez’s trial, his attorneys told jurors the U.S. senator did not accept a single bribe — and that instead, his wife had kept her financial troubles from him, and didn’t tell him she was accepting help from their friends. [Read more.]( The next day, an FBI agent gave jurors an exhaustive account of the June 2022 raid on Menendez’s home. [Read more.]( Then on Friday, Menendez scored a small win when the FBI agent in charge of searching the Menendez home acknowledged that he misspoke when he testified that the senator’s suit jacket was hanging in a closet where cash and gold bars were found. [Read more.]( Let’s talk democracy at the laundromat Soap gets laundry done. Conversation gets democracy going. This election year, WNYC is turning some laundromats in the New York metro area into hubs of civic dialogue. We’ll be regularly talking to neighborhood residents at Stuy Wash N Dry in East New York, Brooklyn; 14th Street Laundry in Astoria, Queens; Madison Ave Laundry in East Harlem; Star Laundromat on Staten Island; J&J Laundromat in the Bronx; Jason’s Laundromat in Huntington Station, NY; Fountain Square Laundry in Beacon, NY; and Bubbles aRe Us in Paterson, NJ. Even if you won’t be joining us between washing and folding, we want to hear from you. Working with our partners at America Amplified, we’ve made it quick and easy for you to share your thoughts. Just fill out our [brief form]( and tell us what’s important to you. We’ll dig into the answers and share them with you — maybe even on air and online! --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [the logo for the Brian Lehrer daily politics podcast]( [Jen Psaki on Being Biden’s Press Secretary and The Upcoming Debate]( Briefing the press, framing the President's agenda, and deciding on the political messaging of a presidency are all part of the job for the White House Press Secretary. [LISTEN]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential political coverage and more. 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