For over two years, cities across the country have struggled to respond to the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In New York City, slowing tax revenue growth combined with low office occupancy rates, and the expiration of temporary federal stimulus dollars have put a strain on our city’s budget. At the same time, as we all know only too well, the pandemic exposed cracks in education, health care, and housing that urgently need to be addressed, and we faced costs related to settling long-expired labor contracts with our dedicated municipal workforce. And in the midst of all these challenge…