City Council Directs Extra Funds to Brooklyn Borough President

The New York City Council’s proposed budget includes an extra $100,000 in employee compensation for Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adam’s office but none for his counterparts in other boroughs—a funding decision that has inspired several theories, but no clear explanations.

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s office did not respond to inquiries about what thinking guided this allocation.

But others had plenty of ideas about what motivated the move. Sources put forth several theories: the money was meant to correct historic inequities in funding among borough presidents’ offices; it was merely a continuation of the relatively generous allocations former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz enjoyed; it was needed to assist an office confronted by an onslaught of land use applications; it reflected some Brooklyn lawmakers’ close relationship with the speaker; or it may have stemmed from the borough delegation’s support for Mark-Viverito in her speakership race.

The allocation was included in the Schedule C released Thursday evening. The document details how the Council plans to spend money and where members’ discretionary funding is headed.

The Council could vote on Schedule C and the rest of the budget during its scheduled Friday afternoon meeting. But the city technically has until the end of the month to approve next year’s fiscal plan, which also includes funding designated by the mayor for all of the borough presidents’ offices.

When asked why the money was needed and what the Council’s $100,000 in “personal services” might be used for, Adams’ office did not offer specifics. Personal services financing is reserved for salaries and fringe benefits.

“For decades, Brooklynites have been left with the short stick of support from every level of government,” Adams said in a statement. “I thank the New York City Council for their across-the-board commitment to creating greater borough equity, and I welcome their continued partnership in fighting for over 2.6 million New Yorkers, who alone stand as America's fourth-largest city, as well as the challenges they face.” 

Assessing and comparing the borough presidents’ budget requirements is difficult, given the different needs and poverty levels of their constituents.

This year, the mayor’s executive budget allocates $5.76 million for the Brooklyn borough president, more than any other borough, even without the additional $100,000 from the Council. The Bronx borough president was next with $5.65 million, followed by $5.15 million for Queens and $4.71 million for Manhattan. The Staten Island borough president is set to receive $4.31 million.

However, the expected funding levels for each borough president’s office look quite different on a per-person basis. Staten Island’s amounts to about $9.15 per resident when a $20,000 discretionary sum from the borough delegation is included. The Bronx gets about $3.93 per resident, compared to $2.88 per resident in Manhattan.

Brooklyn’s funding is near the bottom, with about $2.24 per resident when the $100,000 Council allocation is included. Queens gets the least, with $2.22 per resident.

(The City Council also restored $1,129,774 in planned cuts to a pot the borough presidents’ can use to assist senior centers, meals, case management and home care initiatives.)

Last year the Council directed $100,000 apiece in personal service funding to the Manhattan and Brooklyn borough presidents, but none to the other three offices. Based on the adopted budget, this resulted in about $2.01 allocated per constituent for the Queens borough president; $2.09 for the Brooklyn borough president; $2.73 for the Manhattan borough president, $3.63 for the Bronx borough president and $8.94 for the Staten Island borough president.

The Schedule C drafted during then-Speaker Christine Quinn’s last year in office did not note any Council-wide funding for individual borough presidents. That year, budget documents show the Brooklyn borough president’s staff was allotted roughly $2 per resident; the Queens’ borough president’s staff, $2.01; the Manhattan borough president’s staff, $2.64; the Bronx borough president’s staff, $3.62; and the Staten Island borough president’s staff, $8.55.