News in New York – Education Budget, NYC Redistricting, NYC Admin Nominations

Judge Rules that City Must Pass New Education Budget

Last Friday, Manhattan judge Lyle Frank ruled to throw out the New York City Department of Education’s budget, ordering the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams to pass a new, amended budget for the Education Department. Frank sided in favor of the two teachers and two parents who filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court last month, arguing that state law was violated when the Council voted on the overall budget without having the DOE budget first approved by the Panel for Education Policy. The judge’s decision was applauded by the Council, educators, and advocates. However, Mayor Eric Adams decried the ruling, and the City filed a notice to appeal the decision shortly after Frank’s ruling. Until the budget is renegotiated, Frank ruled that the City must fund schools at the level they were funded in last year’s budget, which provides a temporary boost in funding for schools. With that said, the NYC budget must be balanced as required by law, and any adjustments to the DOE’s budget could necessitate changes to other budget lines. Renegotiating an aspect of the budget after it has already passed in unprecedented in recent times, and there appears an appetite to resolve this before the school year starts next month.

NYC District Commission Releases Schedule of Public Hearings

Last week, the New York City Districting Commission announced the hearing dates for NYC residents to testify on the first daft of redrawn City Council districts. The Commission will hold a hearing in each borough to receive more public testimony during the week of August 16, see below for the schedule of hearings:

• August 16, 5:30 to 9 pm: Museum of the Moving Image, Sumner Redstone Theater, 36-01 35 Ave Astoria, Queens 11106
• August 17, 5:30 to 9 pm : Lehman College (CUNY), Gillet Auditorium, 250 Bedford Park Blvd West, The Bronx 10468
• August 18, 5:30 to 9 pm: Staten Island Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace Rm 125
• August 21, 3:30 to 7 pm: Medgar Evers College (CUNY), School of Science Health & Technology, Dining Hall, 1638 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn.11225
• August 22, 5:30 to 9 pm: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm Blvd., Harlem, Manhattan, 10037

Members of the public can register to testify here. Alternatively to testifying at the hearings, the public may submit written testimony and maps by email to PublicTestimony@redistricting.nyc.gov. To date, over 60,000 have viewed the preliminary plan maps available on the commission website since they were published several weeks ago. The proposed maps are largely similar to the current lines, but have a few significant changes. Most notably, the Commission created a new Asian and Pacific Islander majority seat in southern Brooklyn, which may pit two incumbents, Justin Brannan and Alexa Aviles, against each other. The proposed lines also moves Roosevelt Island and a portion of the Upper East Side into Council District 26, which is primarily in Queens. The maps must be finalized by February and will be used for next year’s City Council elections.

Mayor Eric Adams Announces Several Administration Nominations

Last week, Mayor Eric Adams announced several nominations to his administration. The Mayor nominated Milton Williams Jr. to serve as Chair of the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB). Williams is currently a Partner at the law firm Walden Macht & Haran, and previously serves as served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Adams also nominated Sarah Carroll to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), Gail Benjamin and Anthony Crowell to the New York City Planning Commission (CPC), and Anokye Blissett and Elisa Velazquez to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). All nominations will be subject to approval by the New York City Council. In addition to his administration nominations, the Mayor also nominated John Samuelsen to the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB), which will recommend price for tolls, as well as any discounts and exemptions, for the state’s congestion pricing plan.