NEW YORK CITY — Nonprofits can breathe a sigh of relief as Mayor Adams’ Administration has unlocked $4.2 billion in contracts for charities that weren’t being paid on time while providing essential services, according to Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright of Strategic Initiatives on Friday.
There was a backlog of funds from 2,600 contracts for 460 nonprofits, said Adams at a press conference Friday at Mercy Center in the Bronx.
It took 12 weeks for 10 agencies, which were working in partnership with the city comptroller, to unlock the funds, according to Wright.
“The government was not doing its part, plain and simple,” said Wright. “Our mayor said enough is enough.”
The “Clear the Backlog Initiative” was made possible by the city Department of Social Services, the Administration for Children’s Services, the Department for the Aging, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the Department of Probation, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Education, a spokesman for the Mayor’s Office told Patch.
The other agencies included the city Department of Homeless Services, the Department of Youth and Community Development, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Several of the agencies were also hampered by the backlog too, said the spokesman.
Oversight entities, such as the city Law Department, the Office of Management and Budget, and MOCS have devoted their efforts and staff to streamlining the contract approval process, the spokesman added.
The mayor said that he spoke to the comptroller after the primaries and together they said they wanted to zero in on the things that are making the government inefficient.
“And at the top of the list was what we were doing to nonprofits,” Adams said.
The nonprofits were teaching people how to learn metal work, construction, and design; helping immigrants fight for their rights; feeding people at pantries; educating students at after-school programs; leading the charge with anti-violence work; and going to hospitals and dealing with people who are the victims of domestic violence, said the mayor.
“We had them on the front line doing the most difficult work, filling the gap. Yet when it was time to pay them for their services, we had them go through the bureaucracy that got in the way,” the mayor added.
Some nonprofits had to take out loans to pay staff, said the mayor.
“Many of the employees were Black and brown and overwhelmingly women,” said Adams.
The mayor thanked his staff, but said clearing the backlog is only the beginning of some of the administration’s work toward reducing inefficiencies due to bureaucracy.
“We have been wasting taxpayers’ dollars. I cannot say that enough,” said Adams. “What is my signature issue? Get my government to be efficient, productive, and produce a better product than we have produced with taxpayers’ dollars.”
