Ask the mayor why he's defunding libraries

Welcome to Message Monday!

I thought the photo above, with an Eric Adams cut-out, was a cute and effective way to take the issue to him, if only symbolically, and ask him why he’s defunding libraries.  In a Sunday demonstration at the Brooklyn Main Library, the children were asking: WHY IS THE LIBRARY CLOSED?

You may know that as a former New Yorker, I’m not fond of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.  An April 2024 poll from the Manhattan Institute shows I’m far from alone. 

Asked whom they would vote for in the next mayoral election, only 16% of NYC likely voters choose Adams. The mayor’s job approval rating is also extremely poor, coming in at 24%. Only 4% of likely voters in the city strongly approve of the mayor’s job performance, while 73% disapprove. 

Adams has had a tough row to hoe, no doubt, with dramatic crimes on the subway and a massive influx of migrants from border states.  But when he goes to cut the budget (rather than raising taxes on the rich), he always seems to go right for the things that are closest to many New Yorkers’ hearts. 

Case in point:  the library, my childhood refuge of choice. NYC libraries have had to hustle for money for quite some time, and New Yorkers always step up, both to donate and to advocate for them.  For example, the New York Public Library (NYPL), which serves the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, gets less than 40% of its funding from the city. 

Adams cut funding to libraries last fall, and is threatening more cuts in the next fiscal year.  Not every library was able to be open on Sundays as it is, but Adams cut all Sunday service last fall.  Even more hours will be cut if Adams’ plans go through.