[Music] this councilman Justin Brannon it is seven o'clock Tuesday May 2nd 2023. we are very excited uh to be coming to you live from City Hall the right side of City Hall uh talking tonight about funding our future a conversation about the city budget we've got a bunch of my colleagues here A bunch of Advocates um in the particular spaces uh that we're going to talk about the the executive budget and what uh what's to come over the next basically two months of negotiation um I want to First obviously acknowledge um who's joined us tonight on the Twitter space uh of my colleagues we have council member Crystal Hudson council member sylvana Brooks powers and I think that's everybody for now hopefully we'll be joined by some more later on and we've also been joined by uh Allison the executive director of live on New York for uh Rachel the director from no kid hungry and Michael the VP of government relations at the wmca of Greater New York so thanks everyone for joining us tonight everyone that's listening um I'll speak slow so he gives you a little bit of time to to find out about this and uh and tune in this is councilman Justin Brandon I'm A city councilman in southern Brooklyn I'm also lucky to chair the finance committee of the city council uh and this time of year is is very busy not just for me not just for the members of my committee but for the entire Council because this is really where the rubber meets the road over the next two months we will really negotiate and eventually pass and and and and and and have a handshake on the city budget for fy24 um and what does that look like we've been saying that this speaker Adams and I have been saying that this is really a critical moment for our city our our City's future and our continued economic recovery really hinges on how we invest in New Yorkers and the uh essential services that they rely on to succeed um right now it's just an undeniable reality that our city agencies that are responsible for delivering the essential services to New Yorkers are struggling because um because of understand understaffing um we have about 20 000 vacancies in the city Workforce and unfortunately this is undermining our recovery and the stability of our neighborhoods we need these these agencies to get staffed up with good people looking to work for the city um so the city can continue working for you um the council Advanced a balanced responsible uh budget budget proposal that accounted for the various uh potential budget risk economic challenges um and the the mayor most recently last week put out his uh executive budget and now we will head into starting next week we head into a month of executive budget hearings um and then into June uh by the end of June the start the end of FY 23 the start of fiscal year 24 where we have to pass a budget that really delivers for everybody and there is significant work ahead We Believe to achieve that goal but we you know we head into negotiations with the administration as a willing partner um and we we need to work with our all of our stakeholders really to make this this succeed so I'm excited to have some of my colleagues on with us tonight um to talk about what's important to them what they're looking to see in this budget um you know when the council put out our preliminary budget response that's really you know look people like to talk a lot about budgets that it's just it's it's it's um it's more than just a a list of itemized expenditures right a budget is really a moral document a budget is it's it's showing you what somebody cares about right you can tell me what you care about but if I really want to know what you care about I want to know what you spend your money on well a city budget a state budget a federal budget it's no different if you want to know what a city cares about take a look at what that city is spending its money on and we want to make sure that that the budget that we're putting forward and at the executive budget that we land on uh at the end of next month is a budget that really delivers for everybody and leaves nobody behind um so I'm excited to be joined by um well a colleague of mine an old friend of mine from the borough of Brooklyn um who is also uh uh chair of the the Aging committee and I wanted to give her some time um to to say hello and introduce herself um and talk about excuse me talk about what she's looking to see in this budget um what she thinks is missing so far what you know where we're falling short um certainly uh you know I always believe if the city is making things good for kids and for seniors and I think everybody else in the middle is ultimately going to be lifted up in the process but Crystal Hudson uh is on with us and is going to tell us a little bit about uh what her focus is on this budget what she's looking to see out of this budget and I think we'll talk about um you know some of the challenges we're seeing around food food insecurity for many of our our older New Yorkers Crystal you with us take it away um thank you for that and I totally agree if we're actually taking care of our most vulnerable which are our youngest residents and our oldest residents and everybody else will be just fine and um you know I'm currently very concerned about the administration's insistence on stripping this agency NYC aging their home delivered meals program and [Music] all you know in-home services we need we need to make sure that older adults have access to and that's not what we're seeing in this budget and so we've got some some Advocates on here with us um Allison Nickerson from live on New York and MJ oakma from Sage I don't know if they want to chime in about how these budget cuts proposed budget cuts will impact their agencies but I can tell you I've been hearing from so many Advocates and and older adults as well older adults directly who are food insecure and get their only meals um from you know home delivered meal services and also at older adult clubs that they visit and so you know we want to make sure that we maintain funding for those programs but I wanted to to offer Allison and MJ an opportunity to speak about it as well I can certainly chime in and thank you so much council member Hudson for your advocacy on behalf of older adults and for all the council members council member Brennan who introduced these topics I think from what we are seeing live on represents the community-based service system that helps older people thrive in the five boroughs and what accounts to really an almost over 75 million dollar cut if you take in the lack of a a lack of Investments because of the inflation that we're seeing and some agencies have lost food budgets going back to January it is really really troubling and so many people particularly homebound older adults rely on these meals right as their only as their only source of nutrition and having just done home delivered meal I can tell you that system is really put together by like string and amazing people who do amazing work and needs phenomenal investment um so yes I I so appreciate the the work that that you're doing to highlight this awesome thank you and thank you for your work MJ did you want to add anything yeah um good evening everyone my name is MJ okay with sage we provide services to lgbtq plus elders and older New Yorkers living with HIV through our network of older adult centers across the city and we're also the on-site service provider for New York's first lgbtq plus affordable Elder housing developments which are located in Brooklyn in the Bronx I think a major aspect here is that the way that we deliver Services was transformed by the pandemic across the sector at Sage we're working closely with New York City aging to make sure that we're able to maintain virtual in-person and hybrid services so as many people as possible can access programming and we also started pop-up food pantries at our stage centers with the understanding that Elders need more than the meals that we can provide on site so the reality is that covet deeply impacted older New Yorkers and it continues to do so it created more need and different needs in our community and I think it's a fallacy to think that we can do more with less in this budget yeah absolutely um and thank you both for for sharing that I want to put um this issue into a little bit more context by providing some statistics um but with regards to older New Yorkers who receive SNAP benefits or food stamps um we estimate the city council estimates that one in four older New Yorkers uses SNAP benefits um and in New York that monthly that number is three almost four hundred thousand three hundred and sixty eight thousand and some change from 2022 and Advocates estimate that they're almost an additional 200 000 older adults in New York state that might be eligible for SNAP benefits but aren't receiving those benefits and that could be in you know a number of reasons um but mostly just people don't know that they're eligible or they don't know about um the program and the population of older adults is going to increase in the City by 40 percent by 2040 so just in the next 15 years or so we're going to see a huge influx in the older adult population and if we're not investing in the needs of older adults now then we're going to have a real issue um you know over the next 5 10 15 years as that population continues to increase councilmember Hudson can I chime in for a second of course I think what you're what you're saying is so right on and you know we see all across the five boroughs that older people are contributing so much to mentoring young kids contributing you know they buy goods and services locally they're contributing to the economy 80 percent of people who voted in the last election in the Bronx were over the age of 60. um and yet we know so many people have so many difficulties accessing what they need both because um you know they they are new older immigrants are a huge amount of older people in the city um and they just 49 49.5 uh percent to be exact so about 50 percent of older New Yorkers age 65 and over are foreign born yeah it's it's um it's really hard for so many people and I often think that there's some clear issues when people are sitting at their kitchen table and figuring out you know have their head in their hands and it's Child Care their job the economy right and Elder Care is one of those issues and we have to start talking about that for ourselves and for people for our for our loved ones and the good news is that there is a service system that we can invest in but it needs significant investment and certainly no cuts to the magnitude that the mayor has presented right on absolutely yeah I was this is Justin I would say um what's what's very concerning to us obviously is when we start hearing from constituents um about the you know the real world impact that a lot of these cuts are having or what they would have um and that really puts you know we're talking about human beings and these aren't just numbers on a page right and this is all these are funds and and programs that Investments that we're fighting for because we know the impact that it has certainly as we're still you know digging our way um out of a global pandemic and I think certainly um you know what what The Advocates certainly can attest to um is the amazing work that so many of our non-profits do to help to help bridge that Gap but it's important that that Gap doesn't get so wide um that you know that we're losing people so it's you know it's certainly something that's not lost on the city council um the the absolutely vital um you know a crucial role that that our our non-profit organizations play um in this entire in this entire ecosystem so um I wanted to I don't know if I don't think she's on okay I was gonna I was gonna kick it over to um selvina but I don't see her um so um yeah I mean look so so that what we're looking at right now is that um despite adjustments to uh the most recently proposed Peg a peg which is a program to eliminate the Gap p-e-g Peg you hear that term a lot unfortunately this is the third one that we're dealing with um and um you know the the current the current executive budget still includes pegs totaling 1.6 billion dollars and it maintains all other previously enacted and proposed pegs totaling over four billion dollars in FY 23 and 24. so um you know you're talking about cuts to our libraries um you're talking about uh cuts to you know agencies that deliver essential Services uh and programs that that deliver solutions to some of the city's most pressing challenges and you know if we're not making the Investments that we need you know so I think ultimately what we need is a responsible budget that is is you know sober about the future um is not in denial about there might be some uh some some some rocky roads ahead but also that the the the city economy has proven to be durable um you know we have managed to regain 99 of the jobs that we lost um during covid in New York City that was not supposed to happen until sometime next year 2024 and we're already there now in May of of 2023 that we're about 99 of the jobs we lost during code would be recovered it's proven that it's durable and and the money is there um but but it has to be invested wisely and obviously we have to make sure we're still saving for a rainy day um to make sure that we're we're continuing to maintain our record uh historic reserves that we have over eight billion dollars in reserves um so I want to kick it now to our Deputy speaker Diana Ayala if she is on Diana you there I am on I am on all right all right Diana you want to do this so you know say hello and and uh and and talk whatever you want to talk about I'm sorry first of all I want to say that I really love this platform and I love the idea that you know we have an opportunity to really speak to the people and um and to kind of have the you know share our Insight on on this process with um you know which is usually done you know in in closed doors and unless you're you know interested in attending one of the hearings you wouldn't be able to necessarily keep uh tabbed on what's happening but this year obviously you know um it's no secret that there have you know there's a lot of concerns around the Staffing shortages um I'm the chair of the general welfare committee and you know heading that committee has been quite difficult um because we've seen a lot of challenges right we have a growing um community of Asylum Seekers we have some of the highest number of uh unsheltered new workers uh in the history of New York City we have an abundance and growing number of applications for SNAP benefits that are not being processed uh we have uh families that have received vouchers for city fests that are not being paid just today we were hearing about you know I read about a story of you know families that are on HRA that have their belongings um and storage whose storage are not being paid by HRA who you know uh lost their you know their Furniture their clothing you know whatever artifacts they uh they were trying to store for a better day um and that you know obviously is uh this is very difficult it's a very difficult time we have you know we have the resources and we have uh funding but we're not necessarily funding our city agencies in a way that allows them to be competitive that allows them to be um you know able to retain staff that's been a huge huge challenge uh we have been partnering with ecast as a matter of fact this Saturday I have a hiring Hall with them in the South Bronx uh the information is on my my Facebook page on my my Twitter and uh on Instagram if you're interested but these are really important um hiring goals because we are you know really at a state where people are not getting access to safety net uh programs because we don't have the Personnel to adequately process uh the necessary applications and you know that for me is is is alarming it's really alarming yeah uh you know I was speaking with uh someone today talking about affordable housing um and that he has a unit uh he owns a building uh he has a unit that's an affordable studio um and he's he was telling me about how long it's going to take um to get someone to take that vacant apartment because of delays at whether it's HPD or dob or whatever it is um and this is real world stuff right the fact that we've got so many vacancies in in these City agencies um is is having a direct impact on uh the delivery of these services for folks and you know we like I said I mean the council we're still very concerned with these pegs but yeah equally concerned with the fact that there are twenty thousand jobs available in the city of New York right now and many of these agencies are hobbled by these vacancies and and we're hearing from our constituents of the very real life impact that these vacancies have created um so because because you have to think about for all the great programs that the city has whether the city is proposing or that you wish the city could could propose or you hope the city proposes one day there's there's people that have to do that work on the back end to actually make those connections to connect New Yorkers with those services so whether it's from 3K to CUNY from rental vouchers to cleaning the streets from you know filling potholes to funding the libraries all of that stuff takes back-end work at these agencies that sometimes you don't think about these folks but if these positions aren't filled um it creates a real serious problem so I also want to add to that Justin that um the idea of filling the uh the Gap right in pegs with vacant positions in you know in in the city agencies it's also you know of course for concerned because if you have 10 vacancies um and we're used you know we're eliminating those 10 vacancies as part of the pad um to create a cost savings but we needed those 10 you know uh jobs in order to you know uh be able to get the work done then you know it's it's just really counterproductive and it doesn't work right it doesn't work so uh we need a better system and you know you know I'm really excited about getting um you know I guess next week we we kick off the the budget season with the uh General Welfare committee and you know really really excited to hear from people you know from the community and from you know uh the city agencies and how they're planning to address this thank you Deputy speaker that's absolutely right um you know look I think look at the end of the day we all understand that we're talking about taxpayer dollars here we're talking about you know a finite amount of money and we have to be smart with how we invest this money or how we save this money um and we're all for efficient and effective uh use of of funds and we want an effective and efficient government um but we don't believe and we believe in efficiency we just don't think there's efficiency when you've got twenty thousand vacancies in these City agencies and we're hearing directly from constituents that there's a real um there's a real delay in Services that's obviously going to be you know a serious serious priority for us um so I wanted to I wanted to kick it back to to council member Hudson um talking maybe talk a little bit about aging in place and and what that means and and why that's so important and maybe talk a little bit about the legislation that's on the table that that um is trying to make this more of a reality and what you think we should do in this budget to help address it absolutely so Aging in place is you know basically making it possible for all of us to get older and remain in our homes and in our communities where we have support systems and loved ones um and you know generally where we want to be um we are you know all getting older and I always say if we're lucky then we will do so here in New York City and you know the city that we love and we just don't do enough really to make it as easy as possible for folks to grow older and so the the legislative package that I have which is called Agent Place NYC really spans across every issue and you know that's because every issue is an older adult issue but every issue from housing to health care to older adult centers and everything in between technology um and it's a package of 10 bills um you know one of the bills we talked earlier about the the amount of foreign-born older New Yorkers that we have here in the city um and one of the bills is to ensure that we have culturally competent and culturally relevant um services and meals and programs at our older adult clubs making sure that um things are you know services and programs are being provided in language in people's native language um you know making sure that um we're being deliberate and actually closing the digital divide that is all what Aging in place is is about really very cool very important especially in my district where we have what they call a norc right naturally occurring retirement community right um we have to do everything we can um for our seniors and I think you know the proof is in the pudding and this is where um you know all the things we say have to come alive and come to reality in this budget um absolutely I wanted I want to bring in um Rachel from no kid hungry to talk a little bit earlier earlier um Deputy speaker Ayala was discussing how a little bit about HRA and how they're struggling to process food stamps um in a timely fashion so could you speak a little bit about how you see those delays directly impacting New Yorkers and how it's further exacerbating food insecurity absolutely then and this is Rachel Sabella I serve as the Director of the no kid hungry campaign for share our strength and our work really is addressing childhood hunger and poverty last month I had the privilege of participating in a hearing co-chaired by council members Ayala and Hudson that covered this issue and what we heard from HRA was heartbreaking last month they said that 49.9 of snap applications were processed on time this was as of February it was announced at a hearing in April when you hear 49 that's unacceptable but that's also up from 19.2 in December that meant as of December only one in five people who are applying for SNAP in New York City were getting their applications processed on time that meant others weren't getting the dollars that their families needed to put food on the table that meant people that probably were already feeling some distrust of government and we find a lot when people apply for SNAP some of them really feel the stigma they're ashamed but they also know that sometimes that's the best option for their families that hurts them that makes them think well this is never going to help me and what can I do so it's not only impacting what people can eat but it's also impacting the mentally and this is something we're glad to see that HRA has made some improvements part of me thinks that that's happened because of the push the council has made about fully filling these jobs and ensuring applications are process more but we've got to do a lot better on this to help those facing food insecurity right now thank you Rachel um let's talk about the programs like Community Food Connection which the council has called for more investment in our in our preliminary budget response could you talk about a little bit about how critical it is to increase Baseline funding for programs like that you said my favorite word that I love to hear and budget Baseline sure every as of you listening baselines means those dollars are going in the Baseline budget and we don't have to fight every single year to have that added think about what our emergency food providers Our Heroes on the ground have done since the start of the pandemic I had the privilege of working from home they did not they have been out there they have been stretching dollars not knowing what funds are going to come in and sometimes it's a last minute influx people aren't able to plan but getting increased Baseline dollars being able to ensure that it's a fresh food going into communities ensuring that again people can plan they know the resources that are coming also that we can get culturally sensitive food ensuring people have the food that they're used to that allows them to treat their cultures with respect nothing angers me more than wearing conversations and someone says oh and I'm using air quotes if you could see me they're poor we can just give them a can of food that's not what New York stands for we want to give people the food that treats them with dignity to give them those services and you know I hope it's okay I just want to add here we released a poll yesterday of New Yorkers talking about hunger and what we saw was devastating we had that 73 percent of New Yorkers are reporting that it's harder to afford groceries this time as opposed this time right now as opposed to the same time last year we also saw how it impacting the mental health of New Yorkers that when parents don't know caregivers don't know where they're going to get that food for their families the amount of stress anxiety and depression that it leads to and we also found in our poll that that's more likely to impact people of color so when we can put Baseline dollars into programs like the Community Food Connection when we put more people on the ground to help people enroll and snap we're directly addressing those issues we're helping address food insecurity giving families regular access to meals but also helping with their Mental Health absolutely thank you Rachel that that's very important stuff and I think it's important to once again put um a human face to really what we're fighting for here um this isn't these aren't just numbers on a page this is really a value statement a moral document a list of the things that the council cares about and and feels important that needs to be prioritized that that's what a budget is a budget is really a moral document and if you want to know what if you want to know what someone cares about tell me what they spend their money on and that's that's what we go into these these executive budget hearings thinking about um I want to bring in uh my old friend Michael uh from the wmca then talk a little bit about 3K um you know 3K has certainly been a very very important hot topic of conversation for this Council we've held two oversight hearings on it so far in our preliminary budget response we called for a 15 million dollar pilot to convert a thousand school day um uh school year seats to extended day extended year seats um and that that was based on what we were hearing from Working Families working parents out there of what they wanted that they need that extended day extended year uh program and and trying to figure out a way that you know with the administration telling us there are you know 30 000 vacant pre uh 3K seats um Michael how do you see this potential pilot meeting some of the demand in the city right now uh so chair Brandon uh yes it's great to be here talking to you um we go back um though I have one correction to make no I'm not from the W um MCA it's the uh YMCA come on it's the song everyone knows but um not and definitely appreciate you creating the space for us to to talk about um the the budget and to talk about the needs and you're right on you know a budget is a moral document until you know we are in a moment where we are still recovering from the the pandemic so you know we saw Dorian lockdown and reopening families work schedules didn't work or aligned with um child care and school hours like you're you're working longer hours than what a child is receiving in terms of child care um you know there was an outright we thought that we were gonna actually I thought we were gonna have um a meaningful discussion around how do we create affordable child care and and we were getting there you know we were going to expand 3K um but then you know the mayor back in November in his November plan for those of you out there you know it's a mid-year budget adjust meant that uh the city has to do he eliminated the 3K expansion so that was devastating and that is a tremendous loss and and for the fact that you know there is this perception that not all of the existing slots are being utilized um is a cause for us to not expand there have been barriers and you know Advocates at at the past hearings have talked about those barriers so to see and hear the commitment from the council in the preliminary budget response calling for this pilot program of 50 million dollars you are really putting your commitment to towards Working Families earlier today um the citizens committee for Children released a report that actually talks to this to the state of the system right now and what parents needs are and one of those needs are extended day extended year care like we need to give parents options families options um families do not only need care during a school hour day of eight to two you know families need more time beyond that you know that is how we get families back into the workforce that's how we get our children on a path to success so yes I think this is a great idea and we love the fact that you're all that the council is pushing for this Michael talk a little bit about um what do you think how could it be possible that there are that many vacancies it feels like the only way that that's possible that there are 30 000 vacant 3K seats would be if people don't know that they exist and so there there are multiple reasons why there are an underutilization um sort of that's the term that the Administration has been using and it's it is a multitude of factors that people don't know that there's this opportunity one is you know when and I think most folks here will remember back when the universal Pre-K system was rolled out 4K um you know services for four-year-olds it was all over the place it was a tremendous media campaign for that in a multitude of languages unfortunately we didn't see that with the rollout of 3K there has been advertisements there have been calls made but not to the same level that it was done for Universal Pre-K um another thing is language access you know not everything is was done to promote 3K in a language accessible to many of our family's needs uh so you know those are those are some of the barriers to actually knowing the system exists and then the other barrier is that like you know where are these slots were are they in places where families end up going to work or is it in their neighborhood where they live like it didn't seem like there was an actual thought process a strategy done to where the slots would be assigned and to actually get full utilization out of it so you know I think to your point earlier we need to do some sort of promotion around this and really talk about it like I don't think we're talking about these slots enough and in enough languages so families are aware of this those are all good points Mike um you know I guess I guess a little bit more broadly what what are some issues that um YMCA thinks need to be addressed with our 3K system and more broadly our our the city early childhood education system and so really right now that's outside of the need for more flexibility in slots you know yes we do need school day school year hour slots we also do need extended day extended to your spots but providers also need to get paid on time um unfortunately we're not getting paid in a timely manner um YMCA like many others haven't received full payment for fiscal year 22 so that's last school year we're in the process right now of trying to get payments for the current school year so those issues really frustrate the ability to provide services and those issues that those payment delays put people at fight at you know solvency risks unfortunately and we don't ever want to see a classroom closed down because we couldn't pay a teacher um but unfortunately some providers are getting to that point in time um and that's um to no fault of those providers it is just that we are seeing these payment delays um which the administration tried to work on and has prioritized to to clear through but you know there needs to be a system to not allow this to happen again you know we were caught off guard I guess but we need to move forward and actually establish a system that doesn't create these backlogs of payment and the other thing that needs to be done to really fix the system is contractor providers are limited to our budget that we negotiate with the city so it's whatever the city tells us they're going to pay for this which also then limits how much we're able to pay for our teachers and our support staff we're calling for pay parity we want our 3K teachers our 4K teachers are for 3K support staff and Pre-K support staff to receive what their counterparts are receiving through the doe they're doing the exact same work but at a lower pay scale and that's not fair so the mayor called stated that his his priority is to look out for the workforce well here's a Workforce that needs to be looked after so those are those are the points that we need to really fix the system and and you know it's it seems like it's a no-brainer you know if we we invest in a system we're setting up our kids and families to successes that's right those are all those are all great points Michael I mean look I don't want to keep you know I think we all want covid to be as far in our rear view mirror as possible um but but the fact is the pandemic has really laid bare you know economic racial and structural inequities that are just too Stark to ever be ignored again and I think most of these long-standing disparities existed long before covid but it's on us to make sure that they don't exist after like that's on us to fix and I think one of the most glaring is really that not just the city that the nation's really Child Care crisis and and how early childhood education uh fits in there you know I think overall the school day schedule that dictates most of modern American K-12 life is really a relic of a a bygone Leave it to Beaver era you know with really outdated family Norms you know when a household with with two working parents um it was rare for for most white and middle class families but but I think you know poor families families of color always had working parents and and often mom was working to care for the children of other middle class families so not only are a lot of these Norms totally archaic but they're inherently exclusionary and discriminatory and I think that's that's on us to fix as well um so I I I want to start wrapping it up um this was our maiden voyage of the um of the Twitter space for the city council I obviously want to shout out um our speaker Adrian Adams um for allowing us to do this um and giving us the space to to have these discussions and and come directly into your earbuds um I want to just invite now um Deputy speaker Ayala or or council member Hudson if you have any closing remarks and I want to let The Advocates as well if they'd like to chime in before we close it down for the night yeah I mean the only thing that I would add is you know again a reminder that you know budget hearings tickle off for next week and we will be having one close to every single day for the month of May and you know members of the public are welcome to uh come in and and share their experiences their concerns uh with the with the body at the end of that process um you know so but again thank you for those of you that have that were listening today thank you so much I think this is a a very um unique opportunity again to engage and I look forward to doing more of these yeah that uh Deputy speaker ayal this is Justin again that's a good point just everyone that's listening well we what what speaker Adams does is we have a full day at the very end of a month we have a month-law month of May is basically every day we'll be having an executive budget hearing but what we do is we carve out a full day um so the last thing that we hear before we really go into negotiations are your voices are the voices of the public so the final day of budget negotiate of budget hearings will be um 100 focused on testimony from the public so that is the day that we we encourage the public to testify uh it's a full day however many people last year I think it was about 10 11 hours that we did if we go 12 13 14 hours I got nowhere to go this is my job I'm happy to be there happy to hear from the public that's what it's all about but we do a whole day of budget hearings uh just on public testimony which is super important to us so make sure um on May 24th that'll be the last day May 24th will be the last day of budget hearings that's the day that the public can come and Testify the entire day is is um is earmarked for the public Crystal do you want to say something yeah just as a as a wrap up first I just want to thank you for hosting this and also speaker Adams for putting this together and organizing it and bringing us council members here along with our our Advocates our amazing Advocates um you know what we're fighting for in in the budget and also legislatively as far as older New Yorkers are concerned really I think is um related to to the culture shift that we need to see in in New York um and really it's how we value older New Yorkers and older folks in general who have made our communities and our neighborhoods what they are the one wonderful vibrant diverse places that we all want to be in um and you know the message that we send to them once they've put in all their time and all their work in raising all of us um contributing working hard and you know what we say to them is you don't really matter anymore we've taken everything from you and now we've got nothing left for you and so I really want to encourage people and challenge people to shift the way you all think about older adults and older New Yorkers and make sure that we're prioritizing them in in what we think about when we think about our future thank you thank you councilmember Hudson um I want to invite any of the The Advocates MJ or Allison Rachel Michael if you want to give some last words just just jump in this is Rachel I'll jump in um very quickly I want to say thank you council member Brannon thank you council member Hudson special thank you to speaker Adams who has been with us from the breakfast in the classroom fight it's getting Baseline dollars for efap and a special thank you to chair of the general welfare committee Deputy speaker Ayala you are fighting so hard we are so grateful I want to remind everybody that one in four children in New York City face food insecurity we heard so much today about a budget being an opportunity to show what you value where your morals are and we want to make sure that every child in New York City that doesn't know where their next meal is coming from knows that our elected officials knows that our city of city of New York or city government is fighting to give them regular access to meals to ensure that they are growing strong that they are thriving in helping our great City grow stronger so we look forward to being in this budget battle with you and and helping families put on the food on the table but thank you for the opportunity thank you Rachel MJ yeah thank you so much I think one thing I want to highlight just going back to the core topic of vacancy rates and underfunding are what cases are most likely to fall through the cracks here for example we have pre-pandemic data that shows one-third of lgbtq plus Elders live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level with poverty rates much higher for lgbtq elders of color in bisexual and transgender older New Yorkers at the same time they're often distrustful Support Services due to a history of compounding discrimination and in cases like this trust building is essential to connecting communities that have faced a lifetime of systemic discrimination and stigma to the services that they need but that trust building takes resources and a lot of unintentional work and I think that's a major focal point on our the work that we have ahead of us in this budget so I wanted to um thank everyone so much for hosting this space um and for the New York City Council Members and Council staff for their work both on this important discussion tonight but also on the budget and your work at the council as a whole okay thank you MJ Allison thank you so much thank you for hosting this um we're so so thankful for the entire council's advocacy and especially council member Kristen uh Crystal Hudson for her um constant championing of these issues um I just want to Quick respond to something Michael brought up which is the the way that we fund the human service sector it's really important to us in Lavon but also at the Aging sector that we don't have people age into poverty so I would also like to lift up the cola for Human Service workers because it is just so important that the people who are on the grounds doing this work day in and day out don't age themselves into a situation where they also cannot afford rent and food and medication but I'm so thankful to you all for hosting this and we're committed to moving this city forward and that includes investing in places where our values lie in making sure that people can Thrive as they age thank you Allison Michael yeah so uh thank you chair Brandon thank you council member um that are here with us today um councilmember Hutton council member Ayala I I and I also want to shout out to who's not here um council member Rita Joseph who chairs the education committee and who's been a staunch advocate for really fighting to to put um early childhood and education top of mind and you know it is it is great to hear that the council is with us and we are with you on this fight um and Allison thank you for lifting up that that piece about the cola um because you know we need a strong Workforce and the way to get that is for helping everybody have living wages and akola will get us a little closer to that um and you know early childhood education helps put our children on the right path for success as they grow and become adults and contribute to to a great City so again thank you all um for being here and listening to us and you know we are here with the council for for this fight ahead thank you so much Michael so um look this is really a critical moment for our city um I really do believe and the speaker believes that our future and and the continued economic recovery of this city hinges on what we do in this upcoming budget um sound fiscal stewardship means focusing budget priorities where they manage where they matter most and as I often like to say I mean hard-working taxpayers measure the return on their investment through the efficient delivery of essential government services and and rightfully so um so that's why a budget isn't just an itemized list of list of expenditures it's it's really a moral document um and and this Council really wants to show the city what we care about and that we're fighting for everybody we're trying to lift up all New Yorkers and make sure that that no one gets left behind um and that the people that are that are normally in the back of their room get brought to the front and get and get and get raised up and that's the next month and a half is going to be spent on trying to land this plane and deliver a budget that that really works for everybody so we need you in this fight we want to make sure your voices are heard make sure you join us you know you can come to any of the hearings if you want to hang out with us all day we'll be there but May 24th is really the day uh for public testimony it's a full day for public testimony um so make sure if you can't make any of the other days come on May 24th to make your voice heard I want to thank all the council staff behind the scenes that made um this this maiden voyage of our of our Twitter spaces uh possible and of course thanks speaker Adams uh for giving us the space tonight um and hopefully we'll do it again soon so thanks everyone for hanging out with us and um we uh we'll talk to you again very very soon thank you so much