Mayor and City Council Set to Tussle Over MetroCard Discount for Poor

Mayor de Blasio says his spending plans for New York will make it the "fairest" big city in America, even as money from Albany and Washington DC becomes scarcer.

De Blasio is predicting an outlay of $89 billion in the coming fiscal year. Among his priorities, eliminating the backlog of 50,000 work orders for repairs to the city’s crumbling public housing developments.

One of the major sticking points before the final city budget is adopted is that Council Speaker Corey Johnson wants a $212 million program to provide discounted MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers.

At a budget briefing on Thursday, De Blasio was noncommittal.

“I believe in the idea. I have said constantly, I don't believe it's the city's responsibility to pay for it. I think it's the MTA's responsibility,” de Blasio said.

The final budget is due at the end of June.