In Final Budget, the New York City Council, led by Speaker Quinn, Stands Up for People Living with HIV and AIDS

New York, NY--On behalf of the nearly 114,000 people estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in New York City, GMHC thanks the New York City Council for saving critical, life-sustaining HIV/AIDS services that were deeply cut in Mayor Bloomberg's Executive Budget.

For the fifth year running, the Council was forced to use one-year restorations to preserve over $10 million for essential HIV prevention and care services.

"These restorations demonstrate the New York City Council's deep commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic," said Marjorie J. Hill PhD, Chief Executive Officer of GMHC. "On behalf of our clients, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to Speaker Christine Quinn and every council member. Next year, we look forward to working with the newly-elected Mayor to prioritize responsible budgeting for HIV treatment and prevention."

These restorations were no easy task. The City needed to fill funding gaps for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and Senior Services caused by the federal sequester and Mayor Bloomberg's failure to budget for past restorations.

For example, under the Mayor's budget proposal supportive housing for people living with AIDS faced a $5.1 million cut. Momentum's nutrition services for people living with AIDS and GMHC's Money Management services would have been completely eliminated.

GMHC especially thanks the following Council Members for their help:

• Speaker Christine Quinn
• General Welfare Committee Chair Annabel Palma
• Health Committee Chair Maria del Carmen Arroyo
• Manhattan Delegation Co-Chairs Gale Brewer & Daniel Garodnick
• Finance Chair Dominic Recchia
• Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson
• Helen Foster
• Jimmy Van Bramer
• Daniel Dromm
• Housing Committee Chair Rosie Mendez
• Brooklyn Delegation led by Sara Gonzalez
• Brad Lander
• Melissa Mark-Viverito
• Letitia James

GMHC remains committed to working with New York City Council, as well as all of our elected officials, in the ongoing fight to end AIDS. HIV continues to be a growing epidemic in New York City. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, over 3,000 people found out that they were HIV positive last year. The total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the City has grown by over 28% since 2001.