New York Is Getting $22 Billion in Federal Aid. How Should It Be Spent?

Business leaders warn the mayor that an influx of aid could be squandered on short-term programs that won’t help the unemployed.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has many ideas about how to spend an unparalleled influx of $22 billion in federal aid heading to New York City. At least $234 million would be used to pay crews to clean up parks and scrub off graffiti. Some lower-income homeowners would receive up to $300 in one-time tax credits, a program costing a total of about $90 million. Another $121 million would help temporarily expand the city’s mental health crisis teams. It is part of the mayor’s sweeping efforts to address inequities and revive an urban economy that the coronavirus pandemic pummeled harder than any other American city.