New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Thursday adamantly rejected reports that she sought to punish members who voted against the recently passed $101 billion budget, describing those accusations made by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as “mudslinging” and “slander.”
“Some federal elected officials forget that a city is not managed through Twitter or social media,” Adams told reporters during a press conference at City Hall.
On Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive in the Democratic Party with a large social media following, posted on Instagram that the speaker had deliberately withheld funding to six dissenting colleagues through her control of a $42 million so-called “bonus pot” – officially known as the Speaker’s Initiative to Address Citywide Needs – that provides money to community-based organizations.
Ocasio-Cortez captioned her video: “What dirty politics looks like.”
Her criticism on social media quickly amplified a simmering battle between Adams, a moderate, and left-leaning councilmembers, who have criticized a $215 million cut in education spending, as well as what they said was insufficient spending on social service programs and affordable housing. Ocasio-Cortez has also been a sharp critic of Mayor Eric Adams for his support of tougher policing.
But discretionary funds were not withheld from dissenting councilmembers, although some argued that they had received less because of their vote. In addition to the speaker’s fund, every member is also given direct discretionary funds for organizations that fall in their district, regardless of how they voted.
On Tuesday, Mandela Jones, a spokesperson for the speaker, told Gothamist that there was no retaliation. But he acknowledged those who voted “no” on the budget had their names pulled from a list of discretionary awards controlled by the speaker, making it appear as if they did not receive additional funding from the speaker.
Adams repeated that assertion on Thursday, saying that every member received funding from the bonus pot regardless of how they voted. But Adams argued that by electing to vote against the budget, the dissenting members were essentially voting against the discretionary pot of money as well, which is why their names were omitted.
The controversy grew in part after Patch reported that Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, who was among those who voted against the budget, received only $75,000 of the $150,000 she requested for the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Astoria. The article cited a City & State story suggesting that those members who opposed the budget were shut out of the speaker’s discretionary funds.
That drew a tweet from Ocasio-Cortez, who said, “I’ve seen a lot of shameful behavior from leadership, but cutting programs for underprivileged kids to score a point? Unbelievable.”
Asked about the funding shortfall, the speaker told reporters that it was an “oversight” and that the Council would seek to rectify it.
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The speaker also addressed the uproar over education cuts, saying the Council intended to negotiate with the mayor’s office over using remaining federal stimulus funding.
In another apparent dig at Ocasio-Cortez, the speaker said that she hoped federal officials would have helped to track more closely the money awarded to the city “rather than what some chose to do with pointing fingers to score cheap political points.”
