New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced on Tuesday that they had finalized a $125.8 billion city budget for fiscal year 2027, concluding negotiations as the city's June 30 fiscal year deadline approached.
The adopted plan provides $175 million for the city's rental-assistance program in fiscal 2027, with a $125 million amount baselined beginning in fiscal 2028 to broaden access to housing vouchers for New Yorkers facing eviction. The agreement settles a lawsuit that challenged Council-passed reforms to CityFHEPS and includes a pledge to enact legislation that will establish a housing voucher framework featuring expanded eligibility criteria and cost-containment controls.
On transit subsidies, the Council secured an additional $54 million to support an expansion of the Fair Fares program, supplementing $120.6 million that had already been allocated. Under the revised eligibility threshold, qualifying income rises to 200% of the federal poverty level from the prior 150% threshold. That increase will make an extra 340,000 low-income residents eligible for half-price fares on subways, buses and paratransit services, bringing total estimated eligibility to roughly 1.3 million New Yorkers.
The budget reinstates funding for cultural and public amenities, adding $79.1 million to restore allocations to parks, libraries and cultural institutions across the city. Education- and youth-focused provisions in the agreement include $53 million to begin a $1,000 college savings account for every public school kindergartner through the NYC Kids RISE initiative.
The package also assigns $86.4 million in funding for immigration legal services providers, reinforcing city support for those services within the fiscal plan.
The agreement combines one-time and ongoing funding moves, a legal settlement that calls for subsequent legislative action on housing vouchers, and targeted restorations to city services. Implementation of the voucher framework and the mechanisms for cost-containment will depend on the forthcoming legislation the city has committed to passing.