The New York City Council is pushing for Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to reverse more than $1 billion in planned budget cuts to 3K, schools, libraries and other city services, claiming an extra $6 billion is available from a variety of sources the administration didn’t account for.

“Tourism is back, jobs are back and tax revenues continue to outpace projections, even as the rest of the state sputters,” said Councilmember Justin Brannan, a South Brooklyn representative who chairs the Council’s finance committee, at a press conference on Monday. “The people who declared New York City dead and buried have been busy editing their epitaph.”

Council leaders' latest assertions contradicted those Adams made in January, when he proposed an initial $109 billion spending plan for the city’s next fiscal year that called for steep cuts to essential services, including education and sanitation. The mayor said the reductions planned for the fiscal year beginning in July were necessary due to the expiration of federal pandemic aid and the city’s rising costs for migrant care. His administration’s cuts to date have been widely unpopular with voters, polls show.

Now, councilmembers are pitching a combined $1.63 billion in restored cuts to 3K and child care services as well as programs aimed at reducing recidivism and supporting mental health, public safety, libraries and parks. The mayor — whose office didn’t immediately comment on the Council’s plan — will get to review it and propose changes ahead of budget negotiations in May and June.

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