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Albany Mayor's Answer on Fixing City's Debt Problem Is a Word Salad Mess

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  March 23, 2026 11:30 AM

The city of Albany, New York, is run by a Democrat, as it has been for the past 100 years. That would explain why the city is facing a $15 million structural deficit now. And that number is expected to balloon to $22 million this year alone.

Here's more on that from CBS 6:

Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs is warning the city faces a growing fiscal challenge, projecting a $22 million deficit by 2026, while also facing scrutiny over spending decisions made in the first months of her administration.

The city is already dealing with a $15 million structural deficit, according to Applyrs, who said the gap is expected to widen in the coming years.

...

Still, just three months into her term, some city officials are raising concerns about spending under the new administration.

That includes the creation of new positions with salary increases — a move that drew criticism from some members of the Albany Common Council.

“We need to know that we can afford these salary raises this year, and how we are affording them in the future,” said Councilmember Deirdre Brodie during a council hearing on February 19.

Mayor Applyrs was asked about this during a press conference last week, and her answer should scare all of Albany:

"That's a great question," Applyrs said. "And that's why we're pulling together that team, that interdepartmental team that will really go under the hood, open up the cabinets, really get into the weeds on our budget, the process, some of our systems. You know, it is government. There is a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of systems and sometimes those systems do not work."

"And so you have to get under the hood to first understand what's not working," she continued, "so that team in short order will start the process of examining all of those things to then determine, by me, with recommendations so how we can improve those systems to prevent something like this from happening moving forward."

She really doesn't say anything of value in that statement at all, but what's most glaring is not that she wants to cut the spending, the bureaucracy, and the "systems." Simply to "improve" them.

This is true.

Clearly.

That, at least, would have been honest and funny.

And they all have Ds after their name.

Exactly the same vibes.

Oh, and lest you think Applyrs has no experience with this, she was literally the city auditor for Albany before becoming Mayor.

Oof.

We have to wonder how much fraud is happening in Albany, because we're willing to bet the city's spending problem is made far worse by fraud. And the "solution" to these problems is always to raise taxes, never to cut spending meaningfully.

It's also ironic that she's the mayor of the capital city of New York, where Governor Kathy Hochul just begged wealthy people to come back to her state so they can throw good money after bad and fund New York's social welfare programs.