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Commissioner says DCWP is 'lean and stretched' as council questions staffing and budget cuts
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Summary
At a New York City Council budget hearing, DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine defended agency outcomes and warned staffing shortages limit enforcement; council members pressed on vacancies, a 2‑for‑1 hiring constraint and how the agency would implement recent laws without added resources.
Commissioner Sam Levine told the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection that the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) is delivering significant enforcement results but is short‑staffed as it prepares to implement a slate of new laws.
Levine said DCWP's preliminary FY27 budget is roughly $73.4 million, with an authorized headcount of 484, an active headcount of about 425 and roughly 387 staff dedicated to DCWP work. He and agency staff described last year's enforcement workload — more than 52,000 inspections and about 1,230 formal investigations — and cited millions recovered for consumers and workers, including settlements and cases now under litigation.
Why it matters: Council members pressed Levine on whether those staffing levels are sufficient to enforce recent, first‑in‑the‑nation rules — including delivery‑worker and for‑hire‑vehicle deactivation protections, a strengthened protected time off rule, and new consumer protections such as a hotel junk‑fee rule. Several lawmakers said the mayor campaigned on doubling DCWP's budget and sought a timeline; Levine said discussions with City Hall and OMB are ongoing and that additional resources are required to meet the agency's new mandates.
What the agency said: Levine described high‑profile enforcement against companies he named in testimony and said the agency has opened major lawsuits seeking penalties and restitution, citing cases against a national storage chain and a solar contractor. He told the committee the agency is pursuing both civil penalties and restitution for harmed New Yorkers and is co‑chairing the city's junk‑fee task force.
Staffing and authority limits: DCWP officials explained that some of the agency's authorized lines (about 58) are funded and administered by the Department of Health (DOHMH) and are therefore beyond DCWP's hiring control. That, they said, contributes to confusion between 'authorized' and 'active' headcount and leaves the agency with a smaller pool of staff available for its enforcement priorities. Levine and his chief of staff and deputy described efforts to use data science and technology to make investigations more efficient but said such systems require one‑time OTPS funding to implement.
Council concerns and follow‑ups: Members repeatedly focused on the number of enforcement attorneys and investigators, backlog and response times, and whether enforcement and licensing services would be held harmless if savings targets are imposed. DCWP staff said roughly 40 enforcement attorneys work across consumer and worker protection enforcement (about 20 focused on worker matters and about 20–25 on consumer enforcement), with other legal staff assigned to non‑enforcement work. Commissioners and staff agreed to provide more granular vacancy and hiring‑approval counts to the committee.
What's next: Levine said implementation details and resource requests are being negotiated with OMB and City Hall ahead of the executive budget. He described some immediate resource needs — investigators, data scientists and attorneys — to make the new laws operational and to handle a projected flood of complaints under deactivation look‑back provisions.
