Ten-Year Capital Strategy
We’re investing $133.7 billion over the next decade to build a better NYC.
We are pleased to present the Fiscal Year 2022 Ten Year Capital Strategy (TYCS) that details how we plan to invest $133.7 billion over the next decade to improve infrastructure, including roads, schools, bridges, water and sewer facilities, and transportation systems in neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
Overview of $133.7 Billion in Planned Spending
By Agency
Each of the following agencies will be responsible for making capital investments over the next decade.
By Lifecycle Category
The City is investing to maintain and replace the assets we have today, while expanding for the New York of tomorrow.
By Service Category
New Yorkers will benefit from investments across a broad range of infrastructure and facility types.
By Funding Source
The City’s ambitious capital strategy leverages a mix of City, State, Federal, and other funding sources.
Summary of Guiding Principles
The City of New York will use the following overarching guiding principles to help develop our long-term investment and planning strategies. They function as guideposts that enable more consistent capital planning approaches within and across agencies and throughout the city’s varied and dynamic neighborhoods. By observing these principles, we will implement capital planning that furthers an equitable, sustainable, and resilient city for today’s New Yorkers, and for those who will live in this city for generations to come.
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GP1. Maintain New York City’s financial responsibility
The City of New York finances its capital program primarily through the issuance of bonds. The City remains committed to maintaining sustainable levels of debt in a dynamic fiscal climate while meeting our legal mandates and prioritizing critical life safety projects. We will maintain assets in a state of good repair, which contributes to financial responsibility by mitigating larger construction costs in the future. The City works to maintain realistic annual budget allocations and find savings through coordinated project design, procurement, and construction across City agencies.
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GP2. Promote forward-looking, holistic capital planning that anticipates citywide and neighborhood needs of tomorrow
The TYCS accounts for neighborhood and citywide growth trends and neighborhood-based initiatives, including current and projected population, housing, and employment. While each agency has its own capital planning process, we also ensure that we consider the totality of neighborhood needs over time and integrate these needs into our capital planning accordingly. We also consider capital investments in the context of other policy, regulatory, and expense budget measures to improve quality of life across the city.
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GP3. Advance a more equitable New York City through capital investment
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GP4. Consider community perspectives in capital planning and decision-making
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Summary of Investment Priorities
The City will advance the following five capital investment priorities that are aligned to the City’s programmatic and policy priorities. These priorities cut across the City’s capital agencies and help inform agency planning and project completion, as well as frame long-term capital investment allocation discussions.
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IP1. Maintain and modernize our infrastructure and facilities
We will make substantial investments to bring our infrastructure and buildings to a state of good repair, promote energy efficiency, incorporate modern design standards, and modernize our existing City assets. We can more easily sustain and improve quality of life in all neighborhoods when our physical infrastructure is durable, efficient, and designed to meet future needs.
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IP2. Strengthen public health and safety
The City will support the health of New Yorkers by strengthening our health and hospitals system, improving the quality of and access to outdoor public space, investing in heat mitigation and cooling infrastructure, and continuing to improve our multimodal transportation network.
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IP3. Catalyze economic recovery and broaden access to education
We will use the City’s capital investments to bolster economic recovery and meet the evolving needs of workers and employers in all boroughs. To support our students and their families, the City will direct investment toward schools, technology, and early childhood education facilities.
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IP4. Support growth and preserve affordability in our diverse neighborhoods
We will continue to invest in housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. The City will also continue to invest in the infrastructure necessary to support growing neighborhoods, such as parks, community facilities, schools, sewers, and streets, to underpin their attractiveness as laces to live and work.
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IP5. Reinforce citywide climate resiliency
We will continue to invest in resilient infrastructure, facilities, and natural areas throughout the city. Improvements and new infrastructure projects will be viewed through the lens of how they mitigate flood risk for essential assets, improve coastal protection, and address heat vulnerability, in order to protect our current and future residents from the effects of climate change.
Summary of Investment Priorities
The City will advance the following five capital investment priorities that are aligned to the City’s programmatic and policy priorities. These priorities cut across the City’s capital agencies and help inform agency planning and project completion, as well as frame long-term capital investment allocation discussions.
IP1. Maintain and modernize our infrastructure and facilities
We will make substantial investments to bring our infrastructure and buildings to a state of good repair, promote energy efficiency, incorporate modern design standards, and modernize our existing City assets. We can more easily sustain and improve quality of life in all neighborhoods when our physical infrastructure is durable, efficient, and designed to meet future needs.
IP2. Strengthen public health and safety
The City will support the health of New Yorkers by strengthening our health and hospitals system, improving the quality of and access to outdoor public space, investing in heat mitigation and cooling infrastructure, and continuing to improve our multimodal transportation network.
IP3. Catalyze economic recovery and broaden access to education
We will use the City’s capital investments to bolster economic recovery and meet the evolving needs of workers and employers in all boroughs. To support our students and their families, the City will direct investment toward schools, technology, and early childhood education facilities.
IP4. Support growth and preserve affordability in our diverse neighborhoods
We will continue to invest in resilient infrastructure, facilities, and natural areas throughout the city. Improvements and new infrastructure projects will be viewed through the lens of how they mitigate flood risk for essential assets, improve coastal protection, and address heat vulnerability, in order to protect our current and future residents from the effects of climate change.
IP5. Reinforce citywide climate resiliency
We will continue to invest in resilient infrastructure, facilities, and natural areas throughout the city. Improvements and new infrastructure projects will be viewed through the lens of how they mitigate flood risk for essential assets, improve coastal protection, and address heat vulnerability, in order to protect our current and future residents from the effects of climate change.
The TYCS is distinct from both capital budget financial documents and other citywide strategic plans, such as OneNYC. Mandated by the New York City Charter, the TYCS provides a venue for the City to demonstrate the comprehensive capital planning that the City undertakes as part of its responsibility to all New Yorkers, across all neighborhoods, and explain the connection between capital investment and strategic priorities. It is designed to help prioritize investment decisions across all capital agencies and clearly communicate to the public an integrated approach to capital planning across infrastructure types, in line with the growth of the city.
The TYCS has five main components:
1) An Overview of Spending that shows the allocation of our capital budget across agencies, program types, and lifecycle categories.
2) Guiding Principles that provide City agencies with a long-term framework to use in developing their capital project portfolios and underlying planning processes.
3) Investment Priorities help City agencies make capital investments that reflect citywide policy and strategic goals.
4) A Financing Program section that provides a detailed look at the City’s capital finance program.
5) A Program Detail by Agency section that provides a deeper dive into specific City agencies’ capital investments.
COVID-19 and the City’s Capital Program
In the Spring of 2020, New York City became the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 pandemic. Virtually overnight the City’s two-year tax revenue forecast was lowered by nearly $9 billion. At the same time, the City was incurring billions of dollars in unexpected costs to save lives, protect New Yorkers’ health and safety, and provide food and shelter.
On March 20, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order entitled Policies that Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone (“PAUSE”). The order was designed to limit the spread of the virus by temporarily closing designated non-essential business and activities statewide. Initially all construction was considered essential, but the order was later clarified to reflect that nonessential construction must shut down. As a result, the City had to discontinue work on capital projects unless they were related to COVID-19 recovery, health, life, safety, or legal mandates.
On April 28, the Governor announced that New York would begin to un-PAUSE, with phased-in reopening of closed sectors on a regional basis beginning in mid-May, though restrictions would be extended for harder hit areas like New York City.
On June 13, PAUSE restrictions were lifted for New York City. The City began to restart active construction projects and carefully resumed other select capital projects. In light of the pandemic, the City had to make tough investment choices while facing unprecedented fiscal uncertainties and severe budget constraints. This included shifting funds to ensure that there were enough resources to combat the immediate health emergency.
On January 25, 2021, the City lifted the remaining capital restart restrictions and authorized a return to pre-COVID capital approval processes on a staggered basis. By April this was complete, and the City’s capital process functioned as before. As the City continues to experience the human and financial impact of COVID-19, this strategy aims to improve the City’s infrastructure over the next decade in a manner consistent with our commitment to fiscal responsibility, in alignment with the guiding principles and investment priorities discussed within, and driven by our long-term recovery agenda.