Monday, June 1, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), Council Chambers - City Hall
Committee: Committee on Finance
This combined Finance Committee executive budget hearing covered the NYPD and FDNY budgets for fiscal year 2027. Council Members questioned Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on head count and hiring, overtime spending (projected at roughly $1.1 billion in FY26), the 12-hour officer tours planned for the July 1–7 World Cup/Semiquincentennial period, federal homeland security grant cuts, the new Office of Community Safety, and low-level arrest practices. The FDNY portion, co-chaired by Council Member Ariola, focused on EMS pay parity and retention, the fifth firefighter on engine companies, rising multiple-alarm fires in the Bronx, ambulance revenue and fleet, and deteriorating firehouse conditions, with the committee showing photos of unrepaired facilities. No votes were taken; numerous follow-up data requests were made, and public testimony for all agencies was scheduled for Wednesday, June 10.
0:11 What? Good morning. Welcome t
0:11 onew York City Council
0:13 committee on finance with the
0:15 committee on public safety and
0:16 fire and emergency. Please
0:17 place your phone or solid mole
0:20 or vibrate do not approach
0:21 today, you said any time
0:21 during this hearing chair, we
0:24 are ready to begin great
0:30 .happy Monday morning. Everyone
0:32 . Uh, good morning and welcome
0:33 to the fifth day of our seven
0:36 executive budget hearings and
0:38 Council Member Linda Lee today
0:39 we will begin with the New
0:41 York police department,
0:41 followed by New York City fire
0:43 department. I'm pleased to be
0:44 joined by speaker Julie Menin
0:46 my colleague, chair of the
0:47 committee on public safety
0:48 Council Member Oswald Feliz
0:52 .today we have been joined by
0:54 council juan Council Member
0:56 marty councilmember Cabán
0:58 consular murano and I think
0:59 that's it for.
1:01 Now? Um, so welcome.
1:06 Commissioner jessica tisch
1:06 your team. Thank you to all
1:07 for joining us today to answer
1:09 questions before I go any
1:10 further. I'm going to invit
1:12 espeaker men in to share her
1:14 opening remarks. Thank you so
1:16 much. First of all I want to
1:17 thank you. Chair leave for
1:18 conducting all of these budget
1:19 hearings, and I want to thank
1:21 our public safety chair chair
1:22 for lease for your oversight
1:24 of the committee on public
1:26 safety and welcome
1:27 commissioner tish and everyone
1:28 who is on your team who's here
1:31 so to keep New yorkers safe,
1:32 the nypd has a planned budget
1:34 of that supports 35379 uniform
1:41 and 13386 civilian personnel
1:47 and fiscal year 20 27. Today.
1:50 We want to hear much more
1:51 detail about whether and how
1:53 the executive budget gives the
1:55 police department. The
1:57 resources it needs to continu
1:58 eits efforts under your
2:01 leadership. The department has
2:02 overseen a recent period of
2:04 significant decline in both
2:05 the murders and shootings in
2:07 the City, which we are very
2:08 pleased to see there is still
2:10 some troubling increases and
2:12 other major felony crime
2:15 categories like felony
2:16 assaults, hitting a 25 year
2:17 high as well as increases in
2:21 reported rapes reported hate
2:22 crimes have also been
2:25 increasing the proposed
2:26 executive budget included New
2:27 funding for the department as
2:28 well as transfers of funding
2:30 from existing departments t
2:33 oto create the office of
2:35 community safety. I'm
2:36 interested in hearing what if
2:37 any programs are being shifted
2:40 from nypd to the New docs and
2:43 if there are any changes t
2:46 onypd's community affairs work
2:47 in anticipation of the New
2:51 offices creation
2:52 . The council is also
2:52 interested to hear how
2:53 decisions about resources and
2:56 staffing impact crime levels,
2:57 particularly with recent nypd
2:59 announcements about the summer
3:02 surge, the division of the
3:03 bronx into two patrol boroughs
3:04 and the introduction of 12
3:05 hour shifts for a majority of
3:08 officers starting July 1, a
3:09 salways, recruitment and
3:10 retention of police officers
3:13 is also a prime concern these
3:14 issues are important to drill
3:16 down on because, of course,
3:17 the ability to proactively
3:18 respond to the city's public
3:20 safety needs is determined in
3:21 large part by the department's
3:23 budget and the decisions and
3:25 how to allocate resources. S
3:26 owe look forward to a very
3:27 productive hearing and we want
3:29 to thank you once again for
3:30 being here and for your
3:31 commitment to our City. Thank
3:36 you. Great. Thank you, speaker
3:37 ? Um, on May 12 2026, the
3:40 administration released the
3:41 executive financial plan for
3:43 26 to affect 30 with a
3:44 proposed 27 budget $124.7
3:49 billion the New York police
3:50 department's proposed by 27
3:50 budget as the speaker
3:52 mentioned a represents 5.3% of
3:56 the administration's proposed
3:58 27 budget in the executive
4:01 plan, and this is a decreas
4:01 eof or 1.7% from the originally
4:07 budgeted in the 27 preliminary
4:10 plan this decreased results
4:10 from several actions, mostly
4:12 from uniform and civilian
4:14 krul's vacancy reductions and
4:17 vehicle capitalization as of
4:18 April 26, the nypd's head
4:20 count was 1500 less than their
4:23 26 budgeted head count in the
4:25 counsel's preliminary budget
4:26 response. We called in the
4:26 admin to add units of
4:28 appropriation for greater
4:30 transparency into nypd
4:32 spending. In addition, we call
4:33 in the administration and nypd
4:35 to utilize asset forfeiture
4:36 dollars for eligible costs
4:38 that expand your investigative
4:40 resources before calling o
4:41 ntext levy dollars, although
4:43 additional units of
4:44 appropriation. We're not added
4:45 to the executive plan, we hope
4:47 the adopted budget will
4:47 include them and we look
4:49 forward to exploring how acid
4:51 forfeiture can be used in the
4:54 future and I now want to tur
4:55 nit over to my co chair for
4:56 this
4:57 . Year council chair Feliz for
4:59 statement.
5:07 Thank you, charlie. Good
5:08 morning, everyone. I'm council
5:10 member police chair of the
5:11 committee on public safety. I
5:12 would like to welcome everyone
5:14 to the fiscal year 2027
5:16 executive budget hearing. I
5:17 want to thank speaker manon
5:19 actually for joining us today
5:22 so theyill w discuss the
5:23 fiscal 20s 27 executive budget
5:24 for the New York City police
5:26 department to admit t
5:27 ounderstand the
5:29 administration's budget
5:29 proposals for the department
5:30 that players a crucial role in
5:35 public safety. I'm interested
5:35 in learning about the changes
5:36 and the nypd $6.59 billion
5:39 budget and discussing issues
5:40 related to head count over
5:43 time stay subway funding
5:45 school safety agents and
5:47 crossing guards technology to
5:48 deter crimes such as the use
5:49 of drones and much more. I
5:52 would also like to explore the
5:53 department's plans to ensure
5:55 fan safety for big upcoming
5:56 event like the world cup and
6:01 the finals on the nypd, we are
6:02 thankful for the work and the
6:04 sacrifices that police
6:05 officers make every day to
6:07 keep New yorkers safe public
6:08 safety as we know is a shared
6:10 responsibility. We achieve I
6:11 twith good schools, good jobs
6:15 and opportunity police
6:16 officers play an important
6:16 role in this issue, they help
6:18 and show that residents can
6:19 engage in these activities
6:21 work school and opportunity
6:22 without having to worry about
6:23 theirafet sy, and we're
6:24 thankful for that their
6:27 dedication to this City does
6:28 not go unnoticed yesterday,
6:29 for example, I saw a video of
6:31 police officers in the bronx
6:32 in the 48 precinct running
6:34 towards two individuals who
6:36 had just engaged in gun
6:39 violence. Police officers who
6:39 ran towards danger and used
6:41 technologies such as drones
6:43 too quickly apprehend them.
6:44 That incident serves as an
6:45 example of how a strong police
6:47 presence and technology such
6:50 as drones can ensure that
6:51 there is fast accountability,
6:54 accountability that helps
6:57 crime. We also saw that sam
6:57 ecourage earlier this year when
6:58 police officer around towards
7:00 an ignited homemade explosive
7:01 that was thrown to harm others
7:03 at a protest. There is their
7:05 own lives without hesitation
7:07 to keep others safe our
7:08 communities are thankful for
7:10 these police officers and
7:11 we're also better off because
7:12 of their hard work and
7:16 sacrifices
7:17 . There are many important
7:17 budget actions in this plan
7:18 and we hope to bette
7:19 runderstand them and the impact
7:20 that they'll have on public
7:22 safety. I look forward to a
7:25 productive conversations on
7:25 what point? Well, for example
7:28 ,and murders being a record
7:31 loss. We also look forward t
7:32 odiscussing the areas that need
7:33 attention, including the sky
7:35 rocketing cost related to
7:38 overtime skyrocketing costs
7:38 that are still going as high
7:40 as almost a billion dollars o
7:42 rspecifically $955 million
7:45 project this fiscal year,
7:46 according to a recent article
7:48 by political, but of course
7:48 we'll hear the official
7:49 numbers from the nypd, son. I
7:53 also want to thank our public
7:54 safety committee staff for
7:56 their hard work, our financial
7:58 analyst for one could and kate
8:01 lives king policy under
8:02 there's child benjamin
8:04 committee counsels jeremy
8:05 whiteman and josh kingston. I
8:06 also want to thank my staff,
8:07 my chief of staff as process
8:11 and my legislative directo
8:11 rand many others who have
8:13 joined today. Ah, and I would
8:16 also like to welcome to the
8:17 nypd leadership a team of
8:18 commissioner and team. We look
8:19 forward the conversations
8:20 today. I'm going to pass it
8:21 back to charity now
8:24 , thank you before we get
8:25 started, wanted to take a
8:26 moment to think the entire
8:28 council finance division
8:30 ,especially jack's story and
8:31 owen gutowski for today's
8:32 hearing and of course, our
8:33 amazing committee counsel
8:34 brian scarfo and senior
8:37 adviser with and as a reminder
8:40 for this year's budget
8:41 hearings. We will take public
8:43 testimony for all the agencies
8:46 on Wednesday, June 10
8:47 beginning at 9 30 so wednesda
8:48 y, June 10 9 30 a. M, please
8:51 sign up for public testimony.
8:52 It's going to be a long fun
8:54 day, so please join.
8:55 Us and now I will turn it
8:57 over to committee counsel to
8:58 swear in the witnesses. Good
9:06 morning. Do you affirm to tell
9:07 the truth and nothing but the
9:08 truth before the council
9:11 members commissioner tish
9:13 . I do.
9:14 First deputy commissioner
9:18 kinsella
9:18 . Deputy commissioner garber,
9:20 deputy commissioner ryan,
9:21 deputy commissioner, crone and
9:23 chief.
9:24 Flipper tree. You be gay.
9:28 Good morning, speaker mennen
9:29 chair police charlie and
9:30 members of the City Council
9:32 committees on public safety
9:34 and finance. I'm jessica tisch
9:36 , of the New York City police
9:38 department. I'm joined at the
9:39 table today by first deputy
9:41 commissioner tanya kinsella
9:42 cheap. The michael petry,
9:44 deputy commissioner of
9:44 management and budget
9:46 christina, deputy commissioner
9:47 of legal matters, michael
9:48 gerber and deputy commissioner
9:49 for initiatives. Alex crone,
9:53 as well as all other members
9:54 of my executive staff seated
9:56 here behind us. Thank you for
9:58 the opportunity to testify
9:59 today and the nypd's fiscal
10:02 year 20 27 executive budget
10:07 when I appeared before this
10:07 council earlier this year, I
10:09 said very clearly that the
10:10 nypd was focused on delivering
10:13 results, driving down crime,
10:15 restoring public confidence,
10:17 strengthening accountability
10:17 and making this departmen
10:20 tmore effective in every part
10:21 of its work today we can show
10:24 real progress. The seeds that
10:26 we planted in 20 25 have taken
10:29 root. I feel like the proud
10:30 mother of 35000 members of the
10:33 New York City police
10:34 department so allow me a
10:37 moment to brag about their
10:39 fine work for the first fiv
10:40 emonths of the year shooting
10:42 incidents shooting victims and
10:45 homicides are all at record
10:49 lows. The same is true for the
10:50 month of May for both shooting
10:52 incidents and shooting victims
10:54 and burglaries in New York
10:55 City are at their secon
10:57 dlowest levels ever. Now I am a
11:01 data driven person. So here is
11:02 some more of it through the
11:05 end of our last comstat report
11:07 on May 25 major crime is down
11:10 6% citywide murders are down
11:13 25% shooting incidents are
11:14 down 8% in shooting victims
11:15 are down 10% so far this year,
11:18 nypd officers taken nearly
11:21 2000 guns off of our streets.
11:22 Robbery is down 11%.
11:24 Burglaries are down 19% grand
11:27 larceny is down nearly 5% aut
11:31 otheft is down 11% and retail
11:32 theft is down more than 19% in
11:35 that progress is evident
11:36 across the City retail theft
11:38 is down nearly 30% in brooklyn
11:40 south 26% in queens north, 14%
11:43 in manhattan south, 14% in
11:47 brooklyn north, 3% in the
11:48 bronx and 10% in queens, south
11:50 in public housing New York
11:52 City is experiencing its
11:53 safest start to the year on
11:56 record with major crime down
11:57 there 10% murders in public
12:00 housing are down 43% shooting
12:02 incidents are down 24%
12:05 shooting victims are down 30%.
12:06 Nburglaries are down 19% on the
12:13 transit system, major crime is
12:14 slightly below last year's
12:16 level in last year was already
12:17 the safest year in the subway
12:20 outside of the pandemic era
12:21 since 2009 and unprovoked
12:25 misdemeanor assaults in
12:27 transit importantly are down
12:30 to% th 6is year and our school
12:32 zones, school crime complaints
12:33 have dropped 15% complete
12:34 compared to last year, and
12:36 school arrests have decreased
12:40 4.8% compared to last year and
12:41 in our parks major crime is
12:44 down 20% with 95% of parks
12:47 recording no major crime hate
12:50 crimes in the City are down 5
12:53 4% while arrests are up 8% and
12:57 nowhere is our precision
12:58 strategy, having a clear
13:01 impact than in the borough of
13:02 the bronx, which.
13:02 Is leading the City in crime
13:04 reductions in the bronx major
13:06 crime is down 11%. Murders are
13:08 down at 10% shooting incidents
13:10 are down 7% and shooting
13:12 victims are down 8% gun
13:14 arrests in the bronx increased
13:17 23% since last year. Aut
13:18 otheft in the bronx is down
13:21 nearly 28% and the progress is
13:25 not limited to crime
13:27 reductions after experiencing
13:28 a hiring crisis. We are also
13:30 seeing a resurgence in
13:32 policing as a profession in
13:33 New York City, the department
13:36 outpaced uniform attrition and
13:37 calendar year 20 25 with 411
13:42 5hires compared to 335
13:46 7separations and we are
13:48 continuing to outpace the year
13:49 to date in 20 26 with 108
13:53 4hires compared to 896
13:58 separations actual attrition
13:59 is down 4.7% this yea
14:01 rcompared to last year. We're
14:05 also putting more officers
14:05 where New yorkers need them
14:07 most as of April 30 patrol
14:11 strength, including precincts
14:11 and field training units is up
14:15 5.9% compared to the same
14:15 point last year,
14:18 and year to date in fiscal
14:19 year 20 26, answering delays