Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson says federal cuts coming from the Trump administration threaten to do serious harm to the communities she serves. While she runs for office in the fall, she is also deeply concerned about what the impact on her constituents will be.
“We know it’s going to be felt the harshest in low-income communities, communities of color, immigrant communities; among older adults, among veterans, among people with disabilities — vulnerable New Yorkers,” said Gibson.
“It’s really sad that we’re living in this climate, where we are now fighting for basic necessities, a protective program, the safety net programs that we relied upon for so many years. This is really a direct result of a Republican administration in the White House, in the House, and in the U.S. Senate, where they are catering to the billionaires and wealthiest Americans at the sacrifice of those that are really in need, on the backs of hardworking, overwhelmed Americans.”
Many Bronx residents are Medicaid recipients, the highest rate in the country, in fact, as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible, and use other assistance programs funded by the federal government, said Gibson. Black and Hispanic residents in the Bronx also have higher rates of unemployment and health disparities, like asthma, heart disease, and diabetes, reported the New York state health department.
Gibson added that the Bronx’s hospitals will also suffer greatly from the federal cuts. Places like the Jacobi Medical Center, Lincoln Hospital, North Central Bronx Hospital, BronxCare healthsystem, St. Barnabas Hospital, and Montefiore Einstein, the largest healthcare employer in the Bronx. Many of the Bronx’s hospitals are “Medicaid dependent” and have not raised the reimbursement rate to reflect modern-day services in 2025, said Gibson.
Medicaid and SNAP, as well as other programs in the highly controversial Republican-backed reconciliation bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, are also expected to suffer when slashes to the funding begin in 2026.
“Many of [the hospitals] cater [to] and take care of patients who are under-insured and uninsured, or who are immigrants and undocumented, as they should, but they are going to face the harshest cuts,” said Gibson. “Where do [people] go to get medicine for their diabetes when insurance companies are no longer paying, and the cost for the patient is much higher than the insurance has now? That’s going to be a challenge.”
Gibson has joined forces with other Bronx electeds, like Congressmember Ritchie Torres, in hoping to combat the effects of the “Big Ugly Bill.” She theorized that city and state governments, as well as nonprofits that rely on federal funding and grants, will have to rework their budgets once the cuts are implemented next year.
A solid win after an early challenge
Gibson emerged the winner in the Democratic nomination for borough president again in the June primary. She garnered 68.47% of the votes at the polls, and with ranked choice voting rounds, maintained her lead over her main opponent, City Council Member Rafael Salamanca, who had run briefly for Bronx borough president in 2020 but dropped out of the race. She will face Republican nominee Grace Marrero, a community advocate, in the November election.
“Sixty-eight percent of the vote is a huge margin that we won with, and I am taking that in, understanding that we have more support across the borough.”
Gibson broke into politics in 2009 when she ran in a special election to replace former State Assemblymember Aurelia Greene, her boss at the time, in the 77th District in the Bronx. She went on to be elected to City Council’s District 16 seat in 2013. The learning curve wasn’t easy, she said.
“When I first got elected in 2009, my district was majority Latino/Hispanic, and a part of me always felt that I didn’t belong,” said Gibson. “I wasn’t a native of the Bronx, I wasn’t born in the Bronx, and people sometimes wanted to make me feel as if I didn’t belong. But once I started to build relationships and do the work and show up and deliver, I started to build confidence. I started to feel not only do I belong, but this is where God wants me to be.”
The trust grew and eventually, she became the first woman and Black person to hold her borough president position in 2020. This year’s primary was the first election Gibson participated in without her mother, Phyllis Gibson, who died last year. It left her thinking a lot about future generations and how she will be remembered. “I honor her spirit, I honor her life and her legacy, because I know that she’s proud. And now, while I’m here, I want to make the Bronx proud,” said Gibson.
Moving the Bronx forward
In the meantime, Gibson is focused on keeping projects like the massive Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment, with a price tag of $215 million, on track. She is also busy connecting residents in need to jobs in the healthcare, social services, administrative, law enforcement, and city and state fields with her 2025 Future Forward Bronx Employment fairs.
“I absolutely believe in lifting up families through job growth, and economic development,” Gibson said. “I’ve been very adamant about having job and career fairs as the president. I joined with the New York State Department of Labor for a partnership called Future Forward Bronx [to help] people who are fully incarcerated, veterans, people with disabilities, communities of color, African American men, [who have] some of the highest rates of unemployment that we’ve identified.”