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Community Op-ED DECEMBER 05, 2025 | The Indian Eye 12

More Police Officers, Housing Support, and

Elder Care: New Investments to Make Our

City Safer and Affordable

The November Plan also supports our young people and their education by funding the costs of providing 350,000
Chromebooks for our public-school students, as well as increasing staffing and programming for the Adams administration’s
“After-School for All” expansion to provide universal after-school programming to all families who need it

ERIC ADAMS

ver the last four years, the
Adams administration has
Odelivered four on-time, bal-
anced, and fiscally responsible bud-
gets. This year, we continued our
record of strong fiscal management
with a $115.9 billion Adopted Budget.
This record of achievement was built
on the Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Through the November Plan, we also announced a new model for our city’s emergency mental health crises teams, known as B-HEARD (File photo)
Budget, often called the “Best Bud-
get Ever.” And earlier this month, we Hospitals, changing the current mod- We are also expanding the New York city. The decisions we are making in
updated the budget with even more el, which partners with the FDNY. City Department for the Aging’s this budget were guided by my own
investments that will continue to This will allow our FDNY EMTs to Caregiver program to support an ad- lived experience, and the struggles I
keep our communities safe, improve focus on other emergency respons- ditional 3,000 participants who care saw my mother go through as I was
quality of life, make our city more af- es as part of our city’s efforts to im- for their loved ones. We are continu- growing up. Dorothy Mae Adams
fordable, and support our young peo- prove ambulance response times and ing to help pay loans for struggling worked three jobs just to put food on
ple and older New Yorkers. use our resources more efficiently, taxi drivers, reinstating weekend ferry the table for me and my five siblings
Safety is the firm foundation on while still addressing mental health service between Brooklyn and Gov- — and she could have used a helping
which all other achievements are emergencies and allowing them to ernors Island during the 2026 May hand. Put simply, our city once be-
built, and the November Plan pro- scale in the future. through October high season, and trayed working people, but we have
vides additional funding to put us on Additionally, we took this op- reimbursing owners of qualified prop- refused to allow that to continue un-
track to increase the NYPD’s uni- portunity to increase funding for erties who purchased wheelie trash der our administration.
formed headcount by 5,000 officers other public safety needs, including bins as part of our ‘Trash Revolution.’ So, this is the budget she needed
— bringing the total number of offi- our quality-of-life response opera- The November Plan also sup- and the budget so many New York-
cers to 40,000 in the next three years. tion at the Bronx Hub, our efforts to ports our young people and their ers today still need today. This bud-
This is a massive new investment in prevent Legionnaire’s Disease, and education by funding the costs of get is not some abstract set of num-
our city’s public safety efforts and increasing staffing in the Bronx and providing 350,000 Chromebooks for bers; it is a statement about what we
part of our plan to keep New York Brooklyn District Attorneys’ Offices. our public-school students, as well as value and how we are investing in the
City America’s safest big city in the Moreover, the November Plan increasing staffing and programming working-class people of New York
years to come. focuses on making our city more af- for the Adams administration’s “Af- City — keeping them safe, making
Through the November Plan, we fordable by putting more money back ter-School for All” expansion to pro- the five boroughs more affordable,
also announced a new model for our in New Yorkers’ pockets. We are in- vide universal after-school program- protecting quality of life, and making
city’s emergency mental health crises creasing funding for rental assistance ming to all families who need it. sure this is the best place to live and
teams, known as B-HEARD. Going to the city’s 60,000 households who These are just a few of the many raise a family.
forward, our B-HEARD teams will use CityFHEPS vouchers and invest- improvements and investments our Eric Adams is the Mayor of
be run entirely by NYC Health + ing more in our city’s shelter system. November Plan is delivering for our New York City, NY

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