Council Member Tiffany Cabán, (Photo: Tiffany Cabán)
June 14, 2022 By Christian Murray
The New York City council voted to approve the $101.1 billion city budget late last night, although six members voted against it including Astoria council member Tiffany Cabán.
All Queens council members voted in support of it, with the exception of Cabán. She joined other left-wing council members in opposition to it, which included Charles Barron of Brooklyn, Chi Ossé of Brooklyn, Kristin Richardson Jordan of Harlem, Sandy Nurse of Brooklyn and Alexa Avilés of Brooklyn.
Cabán rejected the budget arguing that it slashed funding to the Department of Education, it failed to cut the NYPD budget and that it didn’t include enough funds for housing.
The council voted to slash $215 million from the public school budget, with the mayor attributing the cut to a reduction in school enrollment. The number of students enrolled is down 50,000 from pre-pandemic numbers.
The Dept of Education will also lose $400 million from its budget due to the decrease in federal pandemic aid. The DOE budget will be $31 billion, down from $31.6 billion.
The budget also includes a $90 million increase in police funding, which will go toward raises promised by labor contracts. The NYPD budget has remained about the same as last year ago at around $6 billion.
Meanwhile, the budget has added funds for housing—including $5 billion in capital funds to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development—although many progressives say that it is not enough.
I’ve always kept it ? with the people of District 22.
They know what I’m about, and they gave me an overwhelming mandate to shift our budgetary priorities away from cops and cages, toward care and community.
The FY23 budget does not do that.
My speech explaining my No vote?? pic.twitter.com/h0gjJER1Oy
— Council Member Tiffany Cabán (D22) (@CabanD22) June 14, 2022
Cabán spoke on the council floor before casting her vote.
She complimented the council for not increasing staffing at city jails—the mayor had looked to add nearly 600 new Department of Correction officers– and for various new investments such as $10 million for childcare for undocumented families, which she advocated for. She also praised the council body for preventing cuts to homeless services, sanitation and parks.
However, she voted the budget down and said, “I cannot in good conscience vote for it. It contains big cuts to our public schools, disproportionately affecting schools in low income community of color….and keeps our currently bloated levels of funding for policing and incarceration intact.”
“Without moving away from violent, oppressive systems we are undermining the very investments I am so glad we managed to include in this budget. In coming years, I will remain prepared to support a budget that reflects my commitment to care, not cages.”
Cabán is likely to be punished for her no vote, which will impact her Astoria constituents.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, according to City and State, has excluded those members who voted against the budget from a special initiative to award upward of $100,000 in discretionary funds for each member to spend on public safety efforts in their districts.
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8 Comments
Caban should write an op ed like Won.
Good god . can she not see what’s happening around her with the increase in crime and the break down of society. all the result of liberal policies. anyone who is a victim of crime and continues to vote for democratics are truly in denial of common sense
she could care less. only her agenda is important…she is the definition of narcissist. i mean, whats wrong with ultra high crime? as long as its not her being affected, then its all good.
Yes. Good job Caban. Make astoria hipsters pay for your unthoughtful position.
It’s about time for so-called progressives to start looking at their jobs as representing their constituents, not as an advocate for their particular policy agendas. Her (ridiculous) stance has caused harm on her constituents — for unfunded policy initiatives that do not help the tax-paying, hard-working Astoria residents. It’s long past due that the so-called progressives come to grips with the fact that governing is not sitting in an Oberlin College sociology seminar trying to right every perceived national injustice.
while im no fan of Caban, its not like she hid her leanings/opinions when she was running for office (& the one she ran for b4 & barely lost) so the ones who have No right to crab now are those who voted for her – the rest have to live with it til the next election
The tone of this report makes it sound like the cuts to school budgets are no big deal. How are the schools in Astoria and Queens affected by the cuts? Principals are telling staff to expect excessed letters. Is it wise of Adrienne Adams to say, ‘We’ll deal with it in September’ when teachers and paras are getting excessed now?
Kudos to Caban for voting no. They Council could have continued the negotiations with the Mayor on this.
It figures. She has nothing to offer. Wants the entire budget to be devoted to the poor.