Mayor Eric Adams has warned that the continued migrant crisis would harm low-income New Yorkers, as he is forced to delve into municipal resources to solve the calamity in the absence of more federal or state assistance.
Approximately a week after he stated that all NYC agencies could need to cut up to 15% from their budgets by spring to address the costs associated with the problem, Adams issued the grim warning during an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton.
The Democrat said that the city has already spent $2 billion and anticipates spending $5 billion to care for and accommodate the influx of asylum seekers.
“That money is going to come from somewhere… If we don’t receive help from the federal government and additional help from the state government, then this is going to come from somewhere,” the mayor said on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation.” “And it’s going to hurt low-income New Yorkers.”
All municipal departments have already been warned by Adams that they must reduce their budgets by 5% by November, which translates to a multi billion-dollar reduction in the city-funded share of his $107 billion spending plan. If the city does not obtain sufficient financial assistance from the Biden administration or state lawmakers by early next year, more 5% cutbacks might be implemented in both January and April.
To accommodate more than 110,000 migrants who are escaping unrest and violence in their home countries, the city has erected more than 200 emergency shelters. By July 2025, the project might cost the city up to $12 billion.
“This is wrong for the migrants and asylum-seekers to be going through this. And it’s wrong for long-term New Yorkers that depend on this revenue,” Adams said. “I have to go back in November and find $5 billion out of our budget. This is just not right to the city.”
