Brian Ler on WNYC.

So Mayor Adams gave his annual budget address yesterday at his alma mater and mine, Bayside High School in Queens.

And while he acknowledged he didn't do that well

in high school, his report card on his budget was straight A's. It is no exaggeration to say that our

fiscal year 2026 executive budget is the best budget ever. Well, ever is a long time, but I wish I got to grade myself at Bayside High School.

But seriously, the content of the proposed budget is making a lot of news for how optimistic it is,

mostly, and how much he is proposing to add to a number of programs after the budget

battles between him and city council the last few years

were more notable for things he proposed to cut to keep the budget balance during COVID and at the peak of

the influx of asylum seekers. And as with any politician running for another term, it's also an election year

budget. We should acknowledge that as our Elizabeth Kim reports on Gothamist

facing low approval rating. She writes, Adams is pouring more spending into popular programs.

Among the highlights was the decision to expand after school to 20,000 elementary school students

over the next three years, a plan that one of his mayoral rivals had made

the centerpiece of his own campaign, Liz wrote, that's state senator, Zellner Myrie, by the way.

And what this optimistic budget doesn't seem to reflect, according to the reporting on it, is

much that accounts for Trump funding cuts or the possibility of a recession affecting city revenues

or other effects of the Trump tariffs.

About that, the mayor from the Bayside High School stage, said this.

If we sit back and just have a doomsday scenario that, hey, recession is coming, recession is coming,

so we're not going to deal with these issues that people are facing right now.

Then that would be irresponsible of us.

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