PSC President James Davis released the following statement on the FY27 New York City budget:
The PSC is grateful to Mayor Mamdani, the City Council, and Higher Education Chair Rita Joseph for a city budget that turns the page on the previous Mayor’s budget austerity. The FY27 budget maintains and expands key sources of funding for CUNY while introducing new initiatives to support students and communities across the city.
We are glad that our advocacy along with the CUNY Rising Alliance, NYPIRG, and student advocates helped win a new pilot program providing free OMNY cards to more than one thousand CUNY students. This new program, along with a Fair Fares eligibility expansion, will benefit hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and deliver real relief for our working class students and their families. We also secured nearly $90 million to fund capital projects and improve the state of good repair at community colleges.
Additional wins in this year’s budget include:
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- $15 million baselined for CUNY’s operating budget for the community colleges
- $4.5 million for CUNY ASAP
- $10.1 million for CUNY ACE
- $800,000 for CUNY Disability services
- $2.5 million for Early Childhood Workforce Development at CUNY
- $875,000 to combat student food insecurity
PSC members know that increased revenue is necessary for the truly sustainable investment needed to win a People’s CUNY. We will continue to fight along with our community allies and the labor movement for a fair tax structure that will fund the University that our members, students, and city deserve.
We thank Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City Council, led by Speaker Julie Menin, for their steadfast support of CUNY.
