Usanewsonline.com desk: Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. stated the following in response to the passage of New York City’s $101 billion Fiscal Year 2023 Adopted Budget.

“There is no such thing as a perfect budget, but I’m confident the fiscal roadmap adopted by the City Council last night will help lead families across the five boroughs further along the path to prosperity as our COVID-19 recovery continues,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “This budget features historic investments in health care, housing, support services, transportation and more, which will make a tremendous difference for our borough as we build back better than before.

“I’m especially proud to see the restoration of the Borough Presidents’ Discretionary Fund for senior services — which had been eliminated in the FY21 budget — something I had staunchly advocated for throughout my tenure. The restoration of this funding stream will allow my office to once again provide proper financial support for our senior centers and elder programming, ensuring our more than 300,000 Queens seniors have the resources they need to thrive.

“The COVID-19 pandemic also exposed grave disparities in housing and health care, especially in mental health, and this budget features numerous vital investments in the well-being of our families. From fully funding the Housing Resource Administration’s rental assistance initiatives like the Family Homelessness and Eviction Protection Supplement to allocating $55 million for the B-HEARD program, which handles mental health-related 911 calls, our city is finally making the meaningful contributions toward combatting our housing and mental health crises.

“In the borough of Queens, as sprawling as it is diverse, we have been clamoring for additional investment in areas like our cultural institutions, our youth and our transit system for years. This budget delivers in each category by baselining $75 million for the Fair Fares program to assist lower-income New Yorkers with public transit costs, baselining funds to support 90,000 Summer Youth Employment jobs annually and putting an additional $40 million toward our Cultural Institutions Group and the city’s Cultural Development Fund.

“I’m proud of the tireless work and dedication of Mayor Eric Adams, Speaker Adrienne Adams, their respective budget teams and the entire Queens delegation of the City Council. Queens is thankful for their efforts over the course of this process.” Press release