Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Relations meeting
March 18, 2026, 9:30 AM
The Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Relations held its FY2027 preliminary budget hearing on the city's public libraries and the Department of Cultural Affairs. The committee took testimony and recorded no votes.
What was discussed
- Chair opens the FY2027 preliminary budget hearing on libraries and cultural affairs Chairperson Nantasha Williams opened her first budget hearing as Chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Relations, calling libraries among the city's most trusted institutions and criticizing the recurring 'budget dance.' She noted the preliminary plan did not
- The three library systems make the case against the 'budget dance' Tony Marx (New York Public Library), Linda Johnson (Brooklyn Public Library) and Dennis Walcott (Queens Public Library) testified that flat budgets and one-time funding force an annual campaign to restore cuts, and welcomed Mayor Mamdani's pledge to baseline library funding at 0.5% of the city
- What would the FY2027 reduction and OMB savings targets mean for library service? Tony Marx, Linda Johnson and Dennis Walcott told Chairperson Nantasha Williams that without restoration and baselining of the $30.7 million, plus citywide savings targets of 1.5% this year and 2.5% next, the systems would face hiring freezes, reduced hours, thinner collections and more emergency
- How does co-locating affordable housing above libraries change the capital math? Linda Johnson and Tony Marx told Finance Chair Linda Lee that co-location projects—like Brooklyn's Sunset Park and NYPL's Inwood branch with 174 units of affordable housing—yield larger libraries while adding badly needed housing, drawing tens of thousands of applications per project. Dennis Walcott
- Would service cuts fall hardest on neighborhoods that rely most on libraries? Linda Johnson, Tony Marx and Dennis Walcott told Council Member Crystal Hudson that while they try to spread reductions evenly, any cut risks disproportionately harming high-need communities that depend on libraries for internet access, ESOL classes and study space. They stressed libraries' role for
- How many branches offer seven-day service, and can it expand? Linda Johnson, Tony Marx and Dennis Walcott told Council Member Virginia Maloney that Brooklyn runs seven-day service at 12 branches, Queens at eight and NYPL added five Sunday locations, but that expansion depends on baselining the $30.7 million because Sunday staffing costs time-and-a-half under
- Cultural Affairs outlines its FY2027 budget and grant programs Deputy Commissioner Alton Murray (DCLA) testified that the FY2027 preliminary budget allocates $215.6 million in city funds to DCLA, and highlighted more than $74 million in Cultural Development Fund grants to over 1,171 organizations, the expansion to 39 Cultural Institutions Groups, capital and
- Is the DCLA budget really an increase, and does the agency have enough staff? General Counsel Lance Polivy (DCLA) told Chairperson Nantasha Williams the preliminary budget is more than $50 million above last year's preliminary plan, though Williams pressed that it remains a reduction from the FY2026 adopted budget once the one-time $30 million is counted—money Polivy said
- Why is DCLA limiting botanical-garden composting funds to educational expenses? General Counsel Lance Polivy (DCLA) told Council Member Sandra Ung the agency is working with Council Finance to define which composting costs qualify under the initiative, agreeing that some handheld tools may sit near the border of 'education and outreach' while items like vehicle insurance likely
- What is causing late payments and declining attendance at cultural institutions? General Counsel Lance Polivy and Deputy Commissioner Alton Murray (DCLA) told Council Member Virginia Maloney that only about 70% of operating-support payments are on time largely because of back-and-forth over CIG obligation plans, and pointed to a sector crisis—over $30 million in lost federal
- How many cultural capital projects are delayed, and how does DCLA work with DDC? General Counsel Lance Polivy (DCLA) told Chairperson Nantasha Williams the agency has 390 active capital projects across 212 organizations and a project manager embedded at every DDC design and construction meeting, but could not say how many are delayed and agreed to report back using the Chair's
- How many more groups could become CIGs, and what would it cost? General Counsel Lance Polivy and Deputy Commissioner Alton Murray (DCLA) told Council Member Gale Brewer that fewer than ten Energy Coalition groups on city-owned land could be candidates for CIG status, that the five added last year came with a $3 million baseline increase (implying roughly $6
- How will DCLA support arts careers, teaching-artist pay, and access for teens? Deputy Commissioner Alton Murray (DCLA) told Council Member Althea Stevens the agency supports workforce programs like the Community College Corps and funds organizations that employ teaching artists, but conceded DCLA does not control artist salaries and needs to do more to build career
- Can DCLA ease the CDF application and payment burden on small organizations? General Counsel Lance Polivy and Deputy Commissioner Alton Murray (DCLA) told Council Member Farah Louis the agency will look at shortening the CDF application for FY2028, defended its grant model (which advances about 80% of funds up front) as faster than reimbursement, and said the next funding
- Why are CDF payments never ready at the start of the fiscal year, and where's the equity data? General Counsel Lance Polivy and Deputy Commissioner Alton Murray (DCLA) told Chairperson Nantasha Williams that no CDF payments go out on July 1 because funding cannot be allocated until budget adoption sets the pool, with early fall the realistic target. On equity, Murray said funding tracks each
- Library workers and unions warn cuts would degrade frontline service Library staff and their unions testified about the human cost of the budget dance and understaffing. Lauren Comito of Urban Librarians Unite described libraries as trusted sources of facts amid an isolation and misinformation epidemic; George Olken of DC37 Local 1482 (Brooklyn Public Library
- Library patrons and NYC PLAN demand 0.5% of the city budget for libraries A stream of patrons and members of the NYC Public Library Action Network urged the Council to hold Mayor Mamdani to his pledge of 0.5% of the city budget for libraries and to end the budget dance. Speakers included Emily Drabinski of Library PAC, young advocate Melody Emerson-Simpson and Dr. Abby
- Sector coalitions press to restore culture funding and expand set-asides Umbrella advocates urged the Council to restore and baseline arts funding and grow targeted programs. Lucy Sexton of New Yorkers for Culture & Arts, Kimberly Olsen of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, Gonzalo Casals of the Culture & Arts Policy Institute, Caron Atlas of Arts & Democracy/NOCD-NY
- Major cultural institutions urge restoring the one-time $30 million Leaders of large Cultural Institutions Group members testified to the funding's impact and the sector's federal-cut pressures. Coco Killingsworth of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Norah Yahya of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, David Freudenthal of Carnegie Hall, Angel Hernandez of the New York
- Cultural workers at the Brooklyn Museum testify on staffing and pay Members of DC37 Local 1502 who work at the Brooklyn Museum—Lillian Young, Imani Williford and Anthony Gamendia—testified about their roles in education and curatorial work and the importance of sustained city funding to museum workers and the communities they serve.
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1351 New York City Council Budget and Oversight Hearings on The Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2027, The Preliminary Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2030 and The Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report 9:30 a.m. Libraries 11:30 a.m. Department of Cultural Affairs 1:30 p.m. Public Hearing Held by Committee