New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams unveiled a slate of proposals to make the city more affordable and family-friendly in her third State of the City address on Wednesday, in which she urged local officials to “get back to basics” and “make government work” for all New Yorkers.
In an upbeat speech covering housing, education, childcare, mental health and other essential services for residents, the speaker teased lawmakers’ policy priorities as the Council reviews Mayor Eric Adams’ preliminary spending plan for next year. Her remarks came in the wake of recent clashes between the 51-member Legislature and the mayor over budgetary and criminal justice matters.
“As a co-equal branch of government, our duty is to turn these ideas into effective laws and to conduct oversight,” said Speaker Adams, who is the first Black woman to head the Council, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. “But laws and policies are only as good as their implementation. … We must focus on execution and investment.”
This year, the Council has already overridden Mayor Adams’ veto of measures compelling the NYPD to record demographic information on low-level investigatory stops and banning most uses of solitary confinement in city jails. It has also joined the nonprofit Legal Aid Society in a lawsuit against the mayor for allegedly refusing to enact legislation expanding access to rental assistance programs for New Yorkers facing homelessness.
Here are some key takeaways from the speaker’s address.
More housing development — even at city libraries
Speaker Adams said she wants to turn the city’s underutilized land, including at certain library branches, into housing and community uses.
“Building on previous efforts to expand their reach presents an opportunity to modernize our library branches for New Yorkers and create new community spaces like early childhood education centers,” she said. “By building homes connected to the pillars…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply