Budget

Neither side of City Hall appears willing to engage in serious exploration of triage despite a federal administration unrelentingly hostile to cities (especially blue ones), let alone willing to take the politically difficult steps necessary to achieve excellence in delivery of city services.

Most of the candidates running for mayor of New York City have explicitly described the Trump administration as creating an emergency for the city, including in their assessments the prospect of reduced federal funding. But it is unclear how much they appreciate fully the impact of what is likely coming. They do, however, appear to be united in not admitting that emergencies require sacrifice.