This story originally appeared in Healthbeat on March 20. Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York City newsletter here.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is bracing for a potentially significant loss in federal funding as the agency submits its preliminary 2027 budget.
Almost a quarter of the health department’s $2.51 billion budget comes from the federal government, making it vulnerable to cuts from the Trump administration. The department’s federal funding mostly supports disease control and emergency preparedness.
With a projected shortfall of $5.4 billion over the next two years, the full municipal budget proposal is to take effect July 1 after negotiations and revisions with the City Council.
In testimony before the City Council’s Health Committee, Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said Thursday the department was preparing for potential cuts, noting that the Trump administration had tried to slash more than $11 billion nationwide in public health funding last year, with some $100 million earmarked for the city’s health department. After a coalition of attorneys general led by New York AG Letitia James sued, a federal judge issued a temporary halt on the efforts to block the funding.
“We must brace for possible future cuts,” Martin told the committee. “We are enduring coordinated and large-scale attacks on public health, and we do not foresee them letting up soon.”
When City Council Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman asked Martin about the health department’s “contingency plan,” Martin said conversations were underway.
“We are closely monitoring the situation,” Martin said. “We are currently in active discussions with [the Office of Management and Budget], with the law department in the mayor’s office, to come up with plans if there are cuts to specific activities. We will assess and make decisions around what will protect New Yorkers’ health and safety.”
It was the first budget hearing for Martin since he began the job Feb. 23, with him and chief financial officer and deputy commissioner Aaron Anderson facing questions about the preliminary financial plan for fiscal years 2026-2030. About $1 billion of that proposed fiscal 2027 budget of $2.51 billion comes from a city tax levy. The remaining support comes from a mix of federal, state, and other funding.
The health department’s projected fiscal 2027 budget represents 1.9% of the city’s proposed $128.9 billion fiscal 2027 budget. The department’s budget consists of public health, mental health, and the office of the chief medical examiner.
The proposal includes funding for child care site inspections that will be required as part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge to provide universal child care across the city. Funding is also earmarked for outreach and education for early intervention services for children with learning disabilities and a new public health laboratory.
Budget highlights include support for children
Here are four key areas presented in the preliminary budget documents.
Early intervention. The program helps children under age 3 who have learning disabilities and may require extra support. The preliminary plan includes an additional $78.5 million of city funding in fiscal 2026 for the program, growing to $93 million in fiscal 2027, $108.7 million in fiscal 2028, $125.6 million in fiscal 2029, and $143.9 million in fiscal 2030 for existing early Intervention services.
2-K inspections and early intervention connection. The preliminary plan includes an additional $1.6 million of city funding in fiscal 2027, $2.3 million in fiscal 2028, and $2.9 million in fiscal 2029 and 2030 to enhance the 2-K centers’ ability to screen for disabilities in children. The plan also includes 10 positions to support mandated inspections and 6 for early intervention services.
Child care regulation and monitoring. The preliminary plan includes an additional $5.4 million of city funding starting in fiscal 2026 to expand 3-K child care facility regulation and monitoring with 59 inspectors and 3 staff for after-school services.
New public health laboratory. The preliminary plan includes an additional $7.7 million of city and state funding in fiscal 2026, $16.8 million in fiscal 2027, $15.8 million in fiscal 2028, $16.3 million in fiscal 2029, and $16.8 million in fiscal 2030 for operating costs for a new, state-of-the-art public health laboratory in Harlem that will focus on environmental health issues, as well as funding five positions, including the facility director and IT technicians and managers. The lab is due to be completed this year.
The city is expected to see the restoration of $60 million in core public health services as part of a state funding package from an original $90 million that was cut in 2019 under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Schulman, a vocal advocate for the restoration of what’s referred to as Article 6 of the Public Health Law, asked what programs and services might be restored with the new funding.
Schulman suggested that the city do “something publicly” to show Gov. Kathy Hochul how the Article 6 funding was used.
Citing the upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Schulman asked about the status of federally funded positions at the health department. Anderson said there are 14 such positions and that none of them had been eliminated or furloughed.
The proposed fiscal 2027 budget for disease prevention and treatment is $36.7 million less than the amount allocated in fiscal year 2026, according to documents submitted to the City Council. This includes $26.2 million less for fighting communicable diseases, $1.7 million less for sexually transmitted infection programs, and $1.1 million less for a tuberculosis control program.
The funding difference, the documents noted, are concerning given the recent rise in communicable disease cases like tuberculosis and HIV. The reduced funding could limit the department’s ability to conduct disease surveillance, testing and case management.
Mamdani appoints deputy mayor for community safety
The Thursday hearing coincided with Mamdani announcing at City Hall that he had appointed longtime advocate Renita Francois to serve as the city’s first deputy mayor for community safety. Mamdani said he had signed an executive order to set up an office overseeing that portfolio.
Most recently, Francois served as chief strategy officer and chief program officer at Beyond Impact, a nonprofit that supports social justice issues. She also had a leadership role in a neighborhood safety program under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The new community safety office was a central part of Mamdani’s campaign last year. Modeled after similar programs around the United States, the office of community safety aims to accommodate people who are experiencing mental health episodes by sending medical professionals in addition to law enforcement.
With cheers from the rotunda audible from the chambers, Council Member Tiffany Cabán asked if the health department was “involved in the planning for the office.”
Cabán also asked:
“As of now, have you identified any mental hygiene programs that are going to be transferred into that office?”
“We’re still in conversations with City Hall and OMB about what the future will look like, and I’m eager to talk to and build a relationship with the new deputy mayor,” Martin said.
Trenton Daniel is a reporter covering public health in New York for Healthbeat. Contact Trenton at tdaniel@healthbeat.org or on the messaging app Signal at trentondaniel.88.
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