Under Mamdani, Drag Queen Children’s Story Hour Now Receives More City Funding Than the Department of Veterans Services.

Drag Queen Story Hour now receives more city funding than the Department of Veterans Services.

It takes a deep and terrible hate of this country to pull this …..

For the record, Drag Queen Story Hour now receives more city funding than the Department of Veterans Services.

Understand where we are. https://t.co/vwQxqBVxUK

— Hon. Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) July 2, 2026

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

By Carl Campanile, NY Post, July 1, 2026:

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.

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“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.

]The budget earmarked $40,000 for “drag story hour,” allowing drag queens to read to students in schools and libraries to promote tolerance for gender diversity.

“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.

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 19: Protesters supporting Drag Queen story hour hold signs outside of The Center, a support space for LGBTQ+ people on March 19, 2023 in New York City. The Center put on a Drag Queen story hour hosted by Letitia James, Attorney General of New York. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
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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.
Getty Images
“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 barring transgender athletes from competing against biological girls in sports at Nassau County facilities. The governor isn’t required to sign off on City Council spending.

The $6.45 million in outlays for “trans equity” programs includes:

$1 million to Destiny Tomorrow, an LGBT group in the Bronx that just announced the “first-ever transitional housing program for transgender New Yorkers.”

One veteran LGBT advocate applauded the council funding for transgender programming, deeming it essential.

“Transgender youth need our support. These individuals are the most vulnerable people out there,” said Allen Roskoff, head of the Jim Owles Liberal LGBT Democratic Club.

“We will do everything in our power to protect these children from hate orchestrated by far right Republicans. We are going to see to it they get the health care and protection they deserve.”

Filed under city budget drag queens transgender Zohran Mamdani 7/1/26
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