New York City will pay up to 800 nonprofits their small Council awards as grants, within 30 days of signing
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Speaker Julie Menin expanded the Discretionary Grant Pilot on Oct. 8. Nonprofits with $25,000 or less in Council funding from city agencies skip the contract process; agreements go out in November.
Average months for a small Council award to reach a nonprofit
New York. New York City will pay up to 800 nonprofits their City Council discretionary awards as grants instead of contracts this fiscal year, sending the full amount within 30 days after the grant agreement is signed, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin announced on Oct. 8.
The change expands the Discretionary Grant Pilot, which the city and the Council announced in August 2025 under Mayor Eric Adams. In fiscal 2026, its first year, the pilot paid $1 million to more than 100 providers. They received their money in three months on average, compared with more than 12 months under the traditional contracting process, the mayor's office said. The grant route removes nine steps from that process.
Who qualifies
Nonprofits receiving Council discretionary funding in fiscal 2027 may qualify if their awards from mayoral agencies total $25,000 or less. The mayor's office lists the city's departments for aging, health and mental hygiene, social services, veterans' services, youth and community development, housing preservation and development, and small business services, among others. The expansion also takes in providers whose multiyear discretionary contracts are expiring.
The pilot is run by the Mayor's Office of Contract Services, the Mayor's Office of Nonprofit Services and the Council with the contracting agencies. Discretionary contracts make up nearly 70 percent of the city's backlog of human services contracts, the mayor's office said.
“It is just as time consuming and labor intensive for nonprofits and City agencies to process contracts that are worth $5,000 or $500,000.”
What happens next
In the coming days, the administration, the Council and the agencies will choose participating organizations by award amount and clearance status and notify them. Grant agreements are to be issued in November. Organizations will have 30 days to return them signed, and payments are to go out in late 2026 or early 2027.
The announcement was made at The Bushwick Starr, a theater in Brooklyn whose Council funding supports programs for older adults and young people, amNewYork reported. Asked there about nonprofits still waiting on older contracts, Mr. Mamdani said his administration had submitted about 96 percent of fiscal 2027 human services contracts for registration by Sept. 1, the paper reported.
In an agenda reported last month, Mr. Restler proposed widening the pilot to any organization receiving up to $50,000 from a city agency. The expansion announced on Oct. 8 keeps the $25,000 limit.
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