Brian Laird on WNC. We'll talk now about New York City's finances. Now in other times this might be a dull topic for, you know, accountants to get wonky about over beers or something, but with Mayor Adams slashing services and debate over

the real cost of the asylum seekers and with a major shift in the kinds of jobs available

in the city compared to pre-pandemic times, this is

personal for so many people. As the mayor and city council debate taxing and

spending for the next fiscal year that begins in July.

There's a new report on city finances from the city's independent budget office

and it's got a lot of interesting details, some of which are at odds with the mayors,

in some very interesting ways and if that's

not enough to peak your interest the report actually includes some pretty good

news so with us now is Louisa Chafee, director of the New York City Independent Budget Office.

Louisa, thanks for coming on. Welcome to WNYC.

Well, thank you so much for having me, Brian. I'm delighted to be here.

Could you first explain to people what the Independent Budget

Office is and when and why it was created?

Sure, the Independent Budget Office

is a New York City agency created 35 years ago in 1989 to be

modeled on the Congressional Budget Office and give New York City information on budget and related policies.

So we have access to city data, but we are completely independent from any other elected official.

Independent. independent.

Can you do a short 1970s history lesson on that?

Why did the city government face such a financial crisis in the 70s and what were the main

lessons learned that the independent budget office is supposed to make sure stay

...