“I want to thank Mayor Eric Adams and the Administration for the restoration of funding to the FDNY, the NYPD, the New York City Department of Sanitation, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Community Schools and Summer Rising for our youth. We know that any cuts to city services would disproportionately affect the Bronx at a time in which our residents need these services the most.”
“While supporting these restorations, the Adams Administration must reconsider any proposed cuts to the Department of Buildings` operating budget. This week’s collapse of a 150-foot retaining wall holding up a two-story residential building that fell on the roof of an auto body shop in the Mount Hope section and last month’s partial collapse at 1915 Billingsley Terrace in the Morris Heights section causing the residents there to be displaced underscore the importance of our City agencies and why we must not haphazardly reduce their operating budgets. Any cuts to an agency tasked with the responsibility of overseeing our city’s infrastructure potentially puts our families at risk and is something we cannot afford to do given our aging housing stock. We need additional housing inspectors and enhanced training to ensure they have the tools to successfully operate and keep New Yorkers safe. Tenants have a fundamental right to feel safe in their homes, and we do that by ensuring our agencies have the support that they need to be successful.”