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Last year, during a summer of protests against police violence following the killing of George Floyd, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council announced a $1 billion cut to the New York City Police Department’s budget, roughly half of which was achieved through shifting costs to other agencies. Of the actual spending reductions, 75% would come from reduced spending on NYPD overtime. The cap on overtime, which previously stood at about $600 million a year, was slashed to $253 million for fiscal year 2021. Critics who waged a monthslong campaign to defund the police immediately criticized the budget cuts as smoke and mirrors. The budget hawks at the Citizens Budget Commission called the cap on overtime “unrealistic” and pointed out that it was only budgeted for one year.