Is New York City Government Sustainable?
The short answer is no. Even when you take out of the equation the countless ethical and legal questions that have arisen concerning the Mayor and other top City Officials including Commissioners, Council Members, and other officeholders, you will come to the same conclusion.
New York City only thinks of increasing revenue and spending; which has become even more difficult due to the loss of many of its higher-income citizens, who are emigrating to other states. The city consistently raises property taxes, often income taxes, and any other forms of revenue, from parking meters to various fines and fees as the solution. This, of course, does not consider inflation on non-government services.
When you are spending literally billions of dollars on illegal migrants for everything from housing, food, education, health, and transportation, you have an unsustainable budget problem. Add onto these billions the additional strains on public safety, as well as the criminal justice system and everyone feels the pinch.
Now with gigantic protests relating to the Middle East happening several times a week in the city, Mayor Adams, as a cost saver, announces the cancellation of the next three NYPD Academy classes. That amounts to canceling 1500 new police officers from taking their oaths at a time when the retirement numbers are hitting new highs. The NYPD, in the matter of three years between the retirements and cancellation of these classes, will have the smallest force in several decades. It is just crazy and will have a myriad of unintended consequences as we have seen already.
Other agencies that provide basic services will also see their budgets cut; while taxes and fees continue to go up to cover the billions being spent on the illegal migrants and inflationary cost increases.
The Mayor talks a good game of pushing back against new arrivals. He cries for as much money as he can get from the feds and state, even as they tell him substantial new funds are not coming. In turn, the illegal migrants keep on coming to NYC, while taxpayers foot the bill with no end in sight.
Visitors to New York City see the difference and they are quick to speak up about it. The city is less safe, dirtier, and less welcoming overall than it has been since the early 1970s. In addition, unlike the 70s when you could still find inexpensive places to eat, live, and make a life for yourself and your family, everything in New York City today is very expensive.
Once again, the New York City of 2023 is not sustainable.
Patriot’s Podium Episode #16 Featuring Shaun Marie Levine, and Assemblyman Matt Slater
I am pleased to announce a special double-feature episode of Patriots Podium. In this episode, we spend our time discussing our 2023 Legislative Ratings, the process behind it, and how they come to fruition. Who better to bring on than Shaun Marie Levine, former longtime Executive Director, and current Vice Chairwoman of our State Executive Committee. As many of you know, Shaun Marie has been an instrumental part of the Conservative Party for many years, and we are thankful for her expertise to this day. In addition to Shaun explaining the outcome of the ratings, we are pleased to be joined by Assemblyman Matt Slater, who represents parts of Westchester, and Putnam County. Assemblyman Slater is a former Yorktown Town Supervisor, former chief of staff in the Senate, active in the Navy Reserves, and had one of our higher Conservative ratings. Matt had introduced several conservative bills to the Assembly that should have passed. However, because of the overwhelming majority of Democrats in the legislature, his bills never saw the light of day. There are many instances such as this, where Republican/Conservative endorsed legislators bring forth great bills, but cannot be rated without a floor vote. You can watch on any of the links below: