NYC Council weighs possible federal cutbacks

The possibility of federal cuts by President Donald Trump and Congress is hampering New York City’s ability to plan for the upcoming fiscal year, officials told the City Council on Thursday about Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed budget.

Cushions built into Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $84.7 billion budget aren’t enough to offset federal cuts, council members told administration officials at budget hearing that lasted nearly all day.

Council members warned of potential cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, cultural institutions, police and counterterrorism funding.

Trump also has vowed to end funding to municipalities such as New York City that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents tasked with deporting immigrants who have broken the law.

De Blasio budget czar Dean Fuleihan testified that the “specter of what the president potentially could be proposing and what the Congress could be proposing and the potential ramifications for the residents of New York City . . . are really serious, and we have to do everything we can to try to prevent those from occurring.”

“It is clear that Republican budget priorities will harm our seniors, our children, our first responders, and those seeking quality public housing, job opportunities and affordable medical care,” said council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan).

The White House did not return a message seeking comment.

Fuleihan said the de Blasio administration is working with the city’s congressional delegation “to challenge events in Washington” that could result in cuts to federal programs that trickle down to New York City.

“We don’t have certainty where they’re going to come and what they’re going to be,” Fuleihan said.

Also Thursday, Mark-Viverito expressed skepticism that de Blasio’s “mansion tax” — a 2.5 percent levy on home sale prices above $2 million — would pass muster in Albany, which must approve under New York State’s governing structure.

Mark-Viverito told Fuleihan that she’s “not very hopeful.”

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.