NEW YORK CITY—Mayor Bill de Blasio's fiscal year 2015 capital budget proposes spending $36 billion over the next four years, sending a signal that this administration is making a strong commitment to investment in key areas such as schools, housing, environmental infrastructure and transportation, according to the New York Building Congress.

The Mayor's budget plan for the next four years includes the following plans: approximately $10 billion in commitments will go to the public school system, evenly divided each year; transportation will see a 40% increase in commitments over recent budgets, receiving $4.7 billion, compared to $3.3 billion in the previous four years, a 40% increase. Much of the new funding will go toward repairing 1000 lane miles of city streets each year; the Mayor's signature affordable housing initiative significantly boosts the housing budget, with $2.5 billion in commitments over four years, compared to $1.6 billion over the preceding four years; and commitments to parks decline from $2.7 billion to $1.1 billion, tapering off to a marginal $79 million by 2018, the final year of the plan.

In other words, many of the city's core capital programs will remain stable or increase, as will programs focused on environmental protection, economic development and hospitals, particularly in the coming 2015 fiscal year. However, some categories—particularly parks, mass transit, and higher education—