Last night, the @nyccouncil voted on our city’s $101 billion dollar budget. This money is tax payer dollars that fund our schools, parks, housing, streets, you name it. After months of good-faith negotiations, an agreement was reached on the Budget. While the $101 billion plan includes much to be happy about, it lets down too many New Yorkers, particularly those in my district of Bed-Stuy and North Crown Heights. My vote on the budget is ‘No.’ Since the first day of my term in the Council, the most frequent concern brought to my office has been housing. People struggling every day to stay housed, people falling into homelessness. A budget of record size should have record investment in the basic needs of New Yorkers. I could not vote ‘yes’ on a budget that cuts our schools and funds the NYPD budget even more than it already is. Ours is a deeply unequal city, with neighborhoods like mine trapped in generational afflictions. This Adopted Budget would be a commitment to only march forward slowly, leaning on incremental progress while looking toward some distant date to declare victory and liberation. Justice delayed is justice denied. I sought this office in pursuit of justice for New York, for Brooklyn, for Black life; I was elected to see it delivered. This budget does not reflect the best for Bed-Stuy and North Crown Heights. For my constituents and for values, I voted no.