A “woke” taxpayer-funded agency was exempt from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s directive for New York City to find sweeping savings in a bid to narrow a $5.4 billion budget deficit, The Post has learned.
The city Commission on Racial Equity, which has a $4.8 million budget, confirmed it was opting out of the mayor’s Jan. 29 executive order calling for city departments to each find 2.5% in spending cuts.
“As a non-mayoral agency, NYC CORE is not subject to the terms of the Executive Order in question,” a commission rep wrote.
The order, which Hizzoner signed on live TV, directed all “mayoral agencies” — such as the NYPD, the Department of Sanitation and the Parks Department — to submit individual belt-tightening plans by March 20.
The CORE, a 15-member commission created via a 2022 ballot measure to ensure racial equity in city government, is considered a “non-mayoral” agency, which also include NYCHA, the MTA and CUNY.
However, Mamdani’s order noted that First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and the Office of Management and Budget “shall take all steps necessary … to facilitate and encourage participation by non-mayoral City agencies” with the directive.
The commission’s response that it was “not subject” to the order infuriated critics.
“I doubt the average New Yorker could name any of these ‘equity’ commissions, let alone describe one thing they’ve done to make their lives any better,” Councilman David Carr (R-Staten Island) told The Post on Friday.
“The least they could do is chip in and save a few taxpayer dollars. But I guess you just can’t put a price on woke.”
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) said the commission “should honestly have been the first thing to go,” noting each city department already has a diversity office.
“But that might take an unnecessary job from some of his DSA supporters, and we can’t have that now can we?” she said sarcastically, referring to the mayor and his democratic socialist allies.
“Who would’ve thought that a woke and useless agency would have the shameless chutzpah to not face any budget cuts,” a Democratic operative quipped.
City Hall would only say in a statement that the commission, as an “independent government body” and not a mayoral agency, was not subject to Mamdani’s mandate.
The CORE’s head, Linda Tigani, who was appointed by both former Mayor Eric Adams and then-Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, was exposed by The Post for hateful social media posts, including repeatedly using the phrase “from the river to the sea” which calls for the eradication of the Jewish state of Israel.
The executive order reduction reports, which were meant to be done by what Mamdani has dubbed chief savings officers in each agency, were supposed to be public — but have yet to be released nearly a week after the due date.
The Post filed dozens of records requests for the reports, which the mayor said on Feb. 17, when unveiling his preliminary budget, would be publicly released on March 20.
City Hall has only revealed a mere $200 million of cuts — a tiny fraction of the total $1.7 billion slashes Mamdani promised — and much of the savings were vaguely described, such as changing or canceling software subscriptions or bringing certain outsourced services in-house.
Mamdani said New Yorkers may have to wait till April 20 — when the mayor’s executive budget is due — to actually see all the savings that are being made, but promised the less than $2 billion benchmark was reached.
CORE is tasked with “holding government accountable to advancing racial equity in government operations and increasing community voices in government decision making.”
Mamdani’s preliminary budget showed it had a $4.6 million budget for next year, the same level Mayor Eric Adams set in his final spending plan.