NYC budget funnels $7M to transgender programs, drag story hours

The City Council earmarked $7 million for “trans equity” programs and drag story hours as part of the massive $126 billion spending plan approved Tuesday.The taxpayer money will go to programs and services “to help empower the transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community,” the council members wrote in the adopted expense budget, which was approved by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.The spending was OK’d by the Democrat-dominated council on the same day the US Supreme Court upheld red state bans preventing transgender athletes from competing against biological girls in competitive sports.“Funding may support education programs, employment services, workforce development, healthcare navigation, legal guidance, community workshops, or academic research, among others,” the council said.But critics questioned the use of taxpayer dollars to promote transgenderism while basic services got short shrift, with Mamdani falling short of a pledge to hire 580 more cops.“Why isn’t there more money for police?” state Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar said.The Dyker Heights resident noted one person was killed in his neighborhood during gang violence last weekend.“There are countless dollars going toward extreme, far-out programs,” Kassar said.“This goes way beyond recognizing transgender individuals into spending millions of taxpayer dollars to promote transgenderism.”Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, slammed the earmarks as a waste of taxpayer dollars and said it was another reason to elect him governor over Democratic rival Gov.

Kathy Hochul in November.“Only in Kathy Hochul’s New York are your hard-earned tax dollars funding drag queen story hours instead of new police officers, roads, and schools,” Blakeman said.“It’s a slap in the face to every New Yorker who goes to work every day to provide for their family, and it ends when I’m governor.”Blakeman imposed a law ...