‘Not where we want to be:’ City Hall still lagging on benefit processing, per mayor’s report card

During his most turbulent period in office yet, New York City Mayor Eric Adams presented the annual report card on city agencies’ work, reporting increases in bus lane production and a higher rate of timely processing of crucial benefits. But on both those counts, and scores of others, the full picture is more nuanced than the positive trend suggests, with some data indicators falling short of expected and targeted levels. 

The Mayor’s Management Report for fiscal year 2024, covering July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, includes more than 2,000 indicators on the city’s work, from units of affordable housing produced to pounds of organic waste diverted from landfills. It’s the closest thing the city and the Adams administration have to a report card. 

Announcing the latest report on Monday at a press conference, Adams heralded an 8% decrease in unemployment, increased enforcement of major crimes and minor infractions, and a slight increase in new units of affordable housing under construction or preservation. He acknowledged, but didn’t discuss in detail, the negatives in the report too. “We have more to do, we know that. But we’re moving in the right direction,” Adams said.

Addressing reporters, Adams denied that holding a press conference on the MMR, which is usually released without as much fanfare, was an attempt to distract from the controversies encircling his administration, including a concurrent press conference a few blocks away on the arrest of two former fire chiefs alleging corruption. “It can’t distract,” he said. “Remember the line: Stay focused, no distractions and grind.”

The timely processing of both cash and food assistance also saw increases in the last fiscal year, following a couple years of troubling reports that showed the city was struggling to process those applications in a timely way that was blamed on an increase in applications, a pileup of recertifications and staffing issues. In fiscal year 2024, the timely processing of cash assistance increased from 29% to 42%. Meanwhile, timely processing of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit applications increased from 40% to 65%. Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom noted the improvements on both, but said, “We’re not where we want to be.”

The production of new miles of bus lanes, for example, saw an increase over the previous year. In fiscal year 2024, the city created 15.7 new bus lane miles, nearly double the 7.8 miles that were created in the prior year. But that still falls short of targets in the Streets Master Plan and puts Adams well behind his own campaign promise to create 150 miles of new bus lanes in his first term.

The MMR also provides new data on the work of the NYPD and crime in the city, which Adams continues to make a focus of his administration. Overtime spending for the NYPD continued to balloon this fiscal year, swelling to a whopping nearly $1.1 billion this fiscal year – up from last year’s $951 million. While the number of uniformed personnel increased slightly from 33,797 to 33,812, the NYPD overtime spending hit $838 million in fiscal year 2020 while employing 35,910 uniformed officers. New York City Council members have repeatedly expressed concerns over the department’s repeated overspending.

Major felony crime dropped 2% this fiscal year from last, although statistics for murders and shootings saw the most improvement, falling a respective 15% and 18%. The New York City Police Department’s average response time for critical incidents, however, increased nearly 10% to 7 minutes. For non-critical crimes, the average time increased 14% to just shy of 27 minutes. The New York City Fire Department’s response times also increased, albeit to a lesser extent, with dispatch and travel time to life-threatening medical emergencies for ambulances and fire companies growing to an average of 7 minutes and 23 seconds – a 20 second increase from last fiscal year. The report suggested that the increases for both agencies could be attributed to a greater volume of emergencies.

“The turnover and turmoil at the NYPD has undermined our public safety,” Council Member Lincoln Restler, who chairs the governmental operations committee, said in a statement. “We need a mayor who is delivering for New Yorkers – keeping our city safe and ensuring our basic needs are met. New Yorkers deserve focused leadership from City Hall and deeper investments in housing, mental health care and economic opportunity to improve public safety for all of us.”