Reports

Stronger than anticipated revenues and lower costs for asylum seekers will help New York City balance its $118 billion fiscal year 2026 budget. However, potential fiscal challenges are emerging, including continued uncertainty regarding federal policy and economic conditions, and fiscal risks from anticipated federal budget cuts. These challenges could limit the City’s potential revenue upside and make it harder to continue to fund recent spending additions for discretionary programs and maintain services.

Young workers in New York City between the ages of 16-24 continued to face a high 13.2% unemployment rate in 2024, which was 3.6 points higher than in 2019 and higher than all other age groups. Potential federal funding cuts to education and workforce development grants, as well as a looming economic recession, may weaken job prospects for young people.

Non-emergency 311 calls in New York City climbed to over 3.4 million in 2024, up 7% from 2023. To increase transparency and help the city respond to growing quality of life complaints, the Office of the New York State Comptroller released a report highlighting trends in service requests over the past five years, and an interactive NYC311 Monitoring Tool to let people see requests in their neighborhood and help identify where resources may be needed.

Food prices in the New York City metropolitan area have risen 25.2% since 2019 and low-income households are paying substantially more toward food than before the pandemic. While food costs are affected by many factors, recent increases have been fueled by supply chain disruptions created by disruptive public health, severe weather and geopolitical events, which may continue in the near term.

New York City’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 operating budget relies on $7.4 billion in federal government funding, accounting for 6.4% of total spending. Recent federal government actions to cut grant programs could jeopardize at least $535 million of federal aid in FY 2025 and FY 2026, but nearly all federal operating aid that flows to the City could be subject to cuts or elimination.

The average bonus paid to employees in New York City’s securities industry for 2024 reached $244,700, up 31.5% from last year. The bonus pool for the city’s securities employees reached a record $47.5 billion, its first major increase since the COVID-19 pandemic highs. Wall Street’s profits rose 90% in 2024.

New York City’s efforts to address its housing shortage have led to a growth in supply that outpaced that of the State, but a drop in permits suggests slower growth may be on the horizon. The City gained 307,000 housing units from 2010 through 2023, an increase of 9%, bringing the total to over 3.7 million. Brooklyn gained the most over that time, with 11.4% growth to reach 1.1 million units or 30% of housing citywide.

The New York portion of the New York City Metropolitan Area accounted for more than $103 billion, or 69% of the value of goods imported to New York State in 2023, and Europe provided the largest share of goods to the area. This report aims to help New Yorkers understand the potential effects of federal trade policy choices on their businesses and households.

New York City increased its expectations for its surplus in fiscal year (FY) 2025 to $2.34 billion, largely as a result of stronger tax revenue projections and a reduction in the cost of providing services to asylum seekers, which will help balance its $116.9 billion FY 2026 budget. With escalating uncertainty in the federal funding environment — which could lead the State to make choices to balance its budget that pressure local government finances — preparation and transparency remain paramount to navigate the future.

New York City’s 65 and older population grew by nearly half a million seniors in the last two decades, an increase of 53%. Much of the growth was led by Asian, Hispanic and Black seniors calling the City home, along with more seniors born outside the U.S. The City needs to continue to monitor the trends of the aging population to ensure services remain commensurate with need and outreach is robust.

New York City’s finances have stabilized amid declining costs for asylum seekers and strong revenue, largely from growth in business and property tax collections. The City must balance fiscal management with its operational needs to ensure it can continue to encourage employment and business growth, enhancing its economic and tax revenue base.

One in four New York City households had no cable, FTTP or DSL internet subscription as of 2023, with The Bronx having the highest share of households without access. More than availability, the challenge for residents to access the internet in the City appears to be driven by a lack of affordable options for some.

New York City’s government workforce reached more than 300,000 employees in June of 2024, the first year-over-year increase since the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, some City agencies remain understaffed, resulting in critical services being impacted. The operational complexity in delivering these services highlights the critical need for stakeholders (management and the public) to have access to relevant data to evaluate the performance of a given agency or program.

New York City Health + Hospitals (H+H) spent $168 million more than projected on temporary staff, despite hiring over 1,660 new nurses in city fiscal year 2024. Nurse employment trends have improved since the end of the public health emergency, especially in New York City and particularly at H+H. In order to manage staffing pressures and service demand, H+H must continue to balance hiring of new staff to execute on its strategic and financial plan.

After a brief period of financial stability secured by an infusion of State funds last year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) now faces growing fiscal uncertainties and risks that create projected budget gaps. Those gaps could grow much wider if various budget risks that the MTA has identified come to pass. A faster-than-expected return of ridership remains one of the key means for improving the fiscal stability of the system and highlighting the importance of continued investment in the assets of the system.

Transportation costs for households in the New York City metropolitan area grew by about 56% between 2012-13 and 2022-23, less than in the Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco metropolitan areas. Transportation made up the second largest cost for New Yorkers, behind housing. It remains critical to maintain MTA service at affordable levels, so that transportation costs remain relatively affordable and offset housing costs, especially for lower- and middle-income households.

Wall Street’s $23.2 billion in pretax profits for the first half of 2024 were a dramatic 79.3% increase over the same period last year and buoyed by securities trading, underwriting, and account supervision. The City's securities industry has the greatest number of jobs in the nation despite a decline this year. The industry also continues to contribute tax revenues at or above pre-pandemic levels, and its contribution should exceed tax forecasts if stronger-than-expected profits hold up.

Brooklyn’s Coney Island and Brighton Beach have earned global reputations as destinations, but the dramatic rise in jobs over the past decade is less well known. Despite the pandemic, there were 35,203 jobs in Coney Island and Brighton Beach in 2023, a 101% increase from a decade earlier. The area is home to one of the largest populations of individuals 65 and over among neighborhoods citywide, and recent economic growth has been tied to serving this population.

The MTA must find billions in new funds even as the State tries to resolve the $15 billion gap in revenue created by the pause on congestion pricing. This report lays out possible sources to fund the MTA’s substantial capital needs and emphasizes areas of capital work expected to receive funding in its next capital program.

New York City’s finances continue to benefit from better-than-projected revenues and savings generated through initiatives launched in response to its financial challenges, but the continued influx of asylum seekers, elevated demand for City programs and a declining surplus demand preparation to navigate future uncertainty.