{"id":908709,"date":"2026-07-03T00:57:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/908709\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T00:57:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:57:28","slug":"lone-nyc-council-dem-to-vote-against-mamdanis-126b-budget-rips-mayor-for-lack-of-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/908709\/","title":{"rendered":"Lone NYC Council Dem to vote against Mamdani’s $126B budget rips mayor for lack of ‘equity’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lone City Council Democrat who opposed the Big Apple\u2019s newly-passed roughly $126 billion budget<\/a> slammed Mayor Zohran Mamdani, claiming he short-changed her constituents while wealthier districts received more funding. <\/p>\n

Bronx Councilwoman Althea Stevens blasted the democratic socialist mayor over what she called a lack of \u201cequity\u201d in his first budget \u2014 accusing him of not allotting enough cash for her district, which faces high rates of poverty and gun violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat made this even more difficult was seeing districts with higher incomes and greater access to resources receive significantly larger investments while neighborhoods like mine continue to fight for the basics,\u201d she said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEquity cannot simply be a word we use in speeches or campaign slogans. Equity means directing resources where the needs are greatest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Althea Stevens was the only Democrat to vote against Mayor Mamdani\u2019s spending plan. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Council late Tuesday approved the record-breaking $125.8 billion spending plan<\/a> for the 2027 fiscal year that started July 1 in a 45-6 vote, with Stevens crossing party lines to join the five dissenting Republicans on the legislative body.<\/p>\n

Some lefty Council Members, including Brooklyn DSA Councilwoman Shahana Hanif and Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn) publicly voiced their support for Stevens, despite voting to approve the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support her 100%,\u201d Hanif posted to X, in response to a City and State op-ed<\/a> Stevens wrote about her opposing vote. <\/p>\n

\u201cTruly, a shameful outcome this year. Standing with @althea4theBX!\u201d Nurse posted.<\/p>\n

Stevens\u2019 District 16, which covers the South Bronx communities of Morrisania, Concourse, Highbridge and Morris Heights, received some $11.1 million in capital and expense funding, a Council spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud of this budget, and the overwhelming support it received from 45 Democratic Council Members,\u201d said the rep for Council Speaker Julie Menin\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens) said that a trauma center would have kept Det. Diller alive. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens), who also voted yes on the spending plan, still lambasted Hizzoner for failing to fund a trauma center in her District 31, which covers Far Rockaway and other neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe @NYCMayor has repeatedly said \u2018healthcare is a human right.\u2019 But those words ring hollow when his budget includes no capital funding for Far Rockaway\u2019s Healthcare Trauma Access Center,\u201d she posted on X.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Post, the councilwoman said that a trauma center would have saved the life of NYPD Det. Jonathan Diller, who was fatally shot during a March 2024 traffic stop outside of her district office.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis son would be raised by him. His wife would not be a widow today. And I think it\u2019s irresponsible to not invest in communities that we know have this gap,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Community advocates have long pushed for a Level 1 or Level 2 trauma center on Far Rockaway which has relied on Jamaica Hospital for serious injuries after the closure of Peninsula Hospital in 2012.<\/p>\n

The trauma center still requires state approval and would need to find an operator before anything could be built.<\/p>\n

While Far Rockaway doesn\u2019t meet the case volume for the Level 1 or 2 trauma center that locals have advocated for, officials have considered pushing for a Level 3 center with higher staffing.<\/p>\n

Former Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 administration allocated $50 million in capital investment money, as well as scratch to facilitate a land transfer for a potential site for a center.<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not allocate any funding for the Far Rockaway Trauma Center, despite his please that \u201chealthcare is a human right.\u201d Michael Brochstein\/ZUMA \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s office didn\u2019t comment on Stevens\u2019 claims, but said it was in touch with Brooks-Powers and \u201ccommitted to continuing the conversation and working on a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working with her and the other electeds in the area to try and come up with other alternative options, such as expanding trauma care access through existing facilities on the peninsula or a standalone emergency facility, as well as exploring other means of transporting patients to the closest trauma care facilities,\u201d said Mamdani\u2019s Senior Spokesperson Dora Pekec.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve committed to meeting with them over next month to try and come to a conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Council source claimed that Stevens was the only member who didn\u2019t meet with the speaker to discuss her budget priorities during negotiations. A rep for Stevens didn\u2019t return a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The lone City Council Democrat who opposed the Big Apple\u2019s newly-passed roughly $126 billion budget slammed Mayor Zohran…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":908710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[311730,5248,50,67,132,68,1154,5301],"class_list":["post-908709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-jonathan-diller","tag-metro","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116853332202953489","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}