Mamdani reaches handshake deal on $125B NYC budget, leaves out NYPD expansion

Mayor Zohran Mamdani struck a last-minute handshake deal on Tuesday morning with City Council Speaker Julie Menin on the Big Apple’s colossal, roughly $125 billion budget for next year — but the agreement notably leaves out an expanded headcount for the NYPD. The final deal comes right before a July 1 deadline to pass a budget for the 2027 fiscal year — and after a tense, protracted negotiation that nearly fell apart at the eleventh hour over Mamdani backtracking on a campaign promise to fund the expansion of a housing voucher program.