ndrew Rein, president of government watchdog group the Citizens Budget Commission, said he is sympathetic to concerns that RECs could be abused. But he said they represent an important alternative pathway to compliance for building owners that should not be overlooked.

“I think [the loophole concern] is a good point, but there's another side of it,” Rein said. “If you use the RECs as a component, not a get-out-of-greenhouse-gas- reductions-free card, but as a component of compliance to get buildings to retrofit, to support renewables [and] reduce greenhouse gas emissions—it could be a great tool.”

“All of these are underlying trends that are concerning,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog. “We don’t know what this means permanently, but things have shifted in a way that should give anybody looking at this some serious pause.”

The analysis has been challenged by the fiscally conservative watchdog Citizens Budget Commission, on the grounds that the cumulative revenue projection assumes that all stadium-generated revenue would drop to zero if the team moved to another city, instead of being used for other revenue-generating recreational purchases.

The estimated cost to run NYC Well this year was $11.2 million, and it was budgeted at $20.8 million per year for the following three years, according the Citizens Budget Commission.

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, said in a press release that while the additions to the city’s rainy day funds are welcome, they should have been greater.

“Many priorities of the Mayor and City Council were funded,” Rein said. “Some were funded on a recurring basis, which wisely reflects their costs over time, rather than setting up future fiscal problems for each program. However, there appears to be no offsetting savings from increasing efficiency, reducing spending on lower impact programs, or even vacancy elimination.”

He also said that while the city is calling out-year deficits manageable, “they do not account for the fiscal cliffs resulting from time-limited federal and City funds, contracts costing more than the labor reserve, and economic instability.”

Maria Torres-Springer, deputy mayor for economic workforce and development, discussed initiatives her team has started in the first six months of the Adams administration during a Midtown breakfast held by the Citizens Budget Commission. She pointed to an executive order that revamped more than 100 small-business regulations and spoke of the administration’s commitment to reform land-use decisions and invest in neglected neighborhoods.

This overall NYPD budget has increased significantly from the $10.4 billion spending plan approved in fiscal year 2022, according to the fiscal watchdog nonprofit, the Citizens Budget Commission. But that doesn’t mean cops are being singled out for raises. “The city as a rule negotiates health insurance collectively for all city employees with the Municipal Labor Council, so it’s not like the city can negotiate a specific set of benefits with the NYPD,” Vice President of Research at the Citizens Budget Commission Ana Champeny said, noting that uniformed city employees often retire at an earlier age, meaning the city pays their pre-Medicare costs for a longer period of time. “The city has incredibly generous retiree health benefits.”

“If you adjust for inflation, there might have been a year in the early ’90s that rivaled it,” said Sean Campion, director of housing and economic development studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog. However, the additional money is far less than the $4 billion a year that the mayor pledged during his campaign and what other elected leaders believe is needed.

Citizens Budget Commission chief Andrew Rein urges a veto because the class-size mandate requires “significant new spending” with zero evidence the outlays would boost “learning outcomes.” Notably, the mandate would force rapid hiring of rookie teachers to meet the class-size quotas, surely “negating some of the potential benefits.”

The figure is less than the $3.2 billion that was allocated in last year’s budget. The dip is due to a “gradual reduction of non-recurring federal Covid-19 aid,” according to Citizens Budget Commission vice president for research Ana Champeny.

“I would not consider these cuts,” Champeny said. She clarified that federal grants are recognized over the course of the year, so some might increase; additionally, much of the federal relief was designed to be short-term, and whatever the city doesn’t use from the 2022 budget will roll into 2023.

$8.3 billion: The total allocated to the city’s reserves. That includes $1.9 billion in the Rainy Day Fund, $4.5 billion in the Retiree Health Benefits Trust, and $1.6 billion in the General Reserve. But critics like the Citizens Budget Commission say the city should have gone further, saving more as revenue estimates increased.

Andrew Rein, president of Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit fiscal watchdog, said the budget should have put more money towards the Rainy Day Fund. “While the budget funds priorities and takes some steps to save for a future recession and stabilize the budget, it misses the opportunity to make a substantially higher RDF deposit and massively increases spending to a level not sustainable over time with City revenues,” he said in a statement.

Rein also warned against future risks including a fiscal cliff from federal stimulus running out, the cost of labor contracts and economic uncertainty. “While this year’s revenue windfall made it easier to increase spending in the short run, the City will need to take actions to bring recurring revenues and recurring spending in line. Restructuring operations and focusing on priorities will be essential,” he said.