Speaker Menin and Mayor Mamdani Cut Red Tape to Expedite Payments for Up to 800 Nonprofits

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced the expansion of the Discretionary Grant Pilot, a streamlined contracting approach that eliminates nine steps from the traditional discretionary process. The change is designed to get City funding to community-based nonprofits up to nine months faster. Under the expansion, up to 800 community-based nonprofits could receive 100% of their awards within 30 days after both the grantee and agency sign the grant agreement.

The pilot previously disbursed $1 million to more than 100 providers during Fiscal Year 2026. Participating nonprofits received funding approximately 300% faster, or on average in three months compared to the more than one-year timeline under the prior process. The expansion will include more City agencies and providers with expiring multi-year discretionary contracts. City Comptroller Mark Levine said delayed payments can create untenable operating conditions and negative downstream effects such as employee retention rates. Council Member Lincoln Restler noted that processing contracts worth $5,000 or $500,000 is equally time consuming, and Council Member Sandy Nurse cited an annual allocation of over $80,000 for The Bushwick Starr as an example of affected programming.

The Mayor's Office of Contract Services, the Mayor's Office of Nonprofit Services, and the City Council are partnering with contracting agencies to reduce administrative burdens and the human services contract backlog. Discretionary contracts account for nearly 70% of that backlog, so the streamlined process could free staff capacity at City agencies and reduce payment delays for providers. The announcement frames the expansion as a practical intervention to support organizations that deliver essential services across the five boroughs.

What remains unknown is the full list of participating agencies, the exact eligibility criteria for the 800 nonprofits, and whether the faster payment timeline will hold as the pilot scales beyond its initial cohort. The source does not specify the total dollar value expected under the expansion or how performance will be measured after Fiscal Year 2026.