🔴 LIVE: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries & International Relations' Prelim. Budget Hearing

New York City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Relations · March 18, 2026

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Opening and committee priorities

Presentation

9:31 → 14:06(4m 35s)

Deputy Speaker Dr. Natasha Williams opened the committee's FY2027 preliminary budget hearing, stressing libraries' central role and flagging capital delays and unstable baselining of one-time aid added in FY26; she set 5-minute question limits and invited the three public library systems to testify.

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The New York City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Relations held a FY2027 preliminary budget hearing where leaders from the three public library systems and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) testified about operating and capital shortfalls, one-time funding not baselined from FY26, rising emergency closings and deferred maintenance, and sectorwide requests to restore and baseline $30M added in FY26. Council members and dozens of arts and library advocates pressed for baseline funding, capital-process reforms, indexing to inflation, and other policy fixes.

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No transcript available.