Comptroller Brad Lander on Wednesday warned {that a} Donald Trump presidency would pose “grave risks” to New York Metropolis — together with practically $8 billion in federal funding thrown into jeopardy.
Lander gave the grim evaluation at a press convention saying a report on the impacts of the 2024 elections — saying that if Trump cuts federal funding, key infrastructure tasks, faculties and housing could possibly be imperiled.
“The Trump presidency poses grave risks to New York City, from the potential for defunding education, housing, healthcare, transit to the tune of billions of dollars, to the potential for an inflation spike caused by tariffs that could have devastating impacts on New York City economies,” Lander stated, highlighting congestion pricing as a measure the state ought to put in place earlier than the Trump administration makes that inconceivable.
The town’s fiscal 12 months 2025 price range consists of $7.92 billion in federal grants, or round 7% of the whole price range. That funding bankrolls companies like schooling, housing, baby care and social companies.
The sweeping report outlined quite a few different areas of concern for town, together with the general public housing price range, hospital funding, childcare, transit and resiliency tasks, and the protection of immigrants and LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.
Mayor Adams has been publicly extra optimistic concerning the incoming Trump administration, telling reporters he hopes to work with the administration to deal with key points like infrastructure and public security within the metropolis.
Lander, who’s working towards Adams within the mayoral race, on Wednesday known as on him to reassure New Yorkers that he’s not on the lookout for Trump’s assist in beating his federal corruption case.
“If Mayor Adams wants New York to have confidence that he has their interests top of mind and not his own, then he should announce today that he will not seek and would not accept a pardon for Donald Trump,” the comptroller stated.
“… What the mayor is doing and saying and the confidence that New Yorkers have in it at the moment like this is critical, and New Yorkers should not have to worry about what is guiding their mayor’s support for this administration.”
Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for the mayor, identified that Adams final week hosted a public briefing with prime administration officers to reassure city-dwellers that they “had been planning for every possible scenario” for months and would proceed to arrange within the wake of Trump’s victory.
“Members of our team were at Comptroller Lander’s gathering today in the spirit of partnership and while the comptroller seems more intent on taking cheap political shots, New Yorkers should rest easy knowing their team at City Hall has been on the ball for months, fully ready to fight for New York values and protect what matters most,” Mamelak stated.
Earlier than the report’s launch, Lander hosted a roundtable dialogue on Wednesday that convened dozens of leaders in enterprise, faith-based organizations, labor and metropolis authorities, Lander stated.
The dialogue included a presentation by a prime aide to First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer that described six working teams below the mayor’s workplace who’re inspecting the doable impacts of the Trump administration on totally different areas, together with immigration, well being care and human companies.
“It sounds to me like the [Adams] administration’s assessment of the risks is pretty broadly comparable to our assessment of the risks,” Lander stated. “That’s a good place to start.”
