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By: Benyamin Davidsons
Democratic socialist City Council members have been bragging about “wins” in New York city’s budget— omitting the small fact that they voted against the spending plan. As reported by the NY Post, council members Tiffany Caban, Alex Aviles and Shahana Hanif were the only lawmakers to vote against the $112.4 billion budget. They had complained that too much was being spent on the NYPD in the 2025 budget, which was pushed out by City Hall and council at the 11th hour at the end of June.
Despite their snub for the plan, Hanif, who was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, sent two emails to her Brooklyn constituents after the budget was rolled out, bragging about the nearly $14 million in “capital budget wins” that she claimed to have secured for District 39 and her “incredible partnership” with Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, as per emails obtained by The NY Post. “We are beyond grateful for her close collaboration,” Hanif wrote about Speaker Adams.
Similarly, Cuban, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and council member since 2021 representing the 22nd district, was eager to take credit for the passed budget, emailing her Queens constituents and taking credit for restored library funding in the battle with Mayor Eric Adams (who is not related to Speaker Adams). “My colleagues and I at the City Council fought back against these cuts alongside the Queens Public Library. And thanks to everyone who showed up to rallies, called the Mayor’s office, and organized for our libraries, we WON!” she wrote in her email.
Also, Aviles, council member from the 38th district covering Western Brooklyn including Sunset Park and Red Hook, took the opportunity to credit herself. She touted herself for helping to secure a permanent home for a Sunset Park community organization that assists immigrants. “I’m proud to have played a key role in securing $1 mil for @MixtecaOrg to move into a better space,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Per the Post, none of the three progressive lawmakers bothered to note that they had actually voted against the budget which made the funding go through. “These three knuckleheads played politics, which is easy, but didn’t want to do the actual hard work when it came to the budget,” one council source told the Post. “They voted no, then ran to their constituents to claim credit for it, putting their districts at a disadvantage just to virtue signal and appease a fringe group of anarchist leftists — it’s hilarious hypocrisy.”
Another council source chimed in saying, “There’s a long history of politicians decrying pork unless it’s for their district, but politicians taking a victory lap for funding they voted against is exactly the sort of hypocritical behavior that the public hates.”
A spokesperson for Hanif commented telling The Post that she voted against the budget knowing it would pass regardless. “I voted against it because my constituents strongly opposed the Mayor’s substantial cuts to early childhood education, K-12 public schools, CUNY, and parks,” Hanif said in a statement issued through the spokesperson.
