The migrant crisis currently enveloping New York City is perhaps the biggest challenge Mayor Eric Adams has had to deal with during his tenure. Since the inception of the crisis, Adams has repeatedly called for financial assistance from New York State and the federal government. The mayor claimed that if assistance was not received in due time, the residents of New York and the asylum-seeking migrants would not adequately receive the necessary services. Adams claimed that an unimproved financial situation would affect essential services including the NYPD.
“It is alarming. It is,” Adams said. “And New Yorkers need to be aware of what we are up against and I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”
He continued, “I’m not going to give the impression that this new influx is not going to impact our basic services. Every service we provide is going to be impacted by the influx of migrants into our city.”
“It’s going to impact education. It’s going to impact the dollars we use to clean our streets. It’s going to impact our public safety,” the mayor warned. “It’s going to impact our helping those long-term New Yorkers who are in need.”
The lack of financial support for the city would also affect the provision of services to asylum seekers and homeless people in the shelter system. “Our shelter system is full, and we are nearly out of money, staff, and space,” Adams said in a statement.
“These are not choices we want to make,” he said, “but they may become necessary, and I refuse to be forced to choose new arrivals over current New Yorkers. I’ll say it again — we need a plan, we need assistance, and we need it now.”
The asylum seekers in the shelter system would need to receive support for their health, social services, and permanent housing. New York City’s comptroller stated in the Annual State of the City’s Economy and Finances report, released on Thursday, December 22nd, that financial support of $3 billion would be necessary up to 2026.
Adams seems to have lost patience with Governor Kathy Hochul, who he accuses of not doing enough. He said that being told by the governor that his administration was coping well with the situation was not enough. “We’re doing a good job because we have to really string this along. But we all must get engaged in this,” he said, calling on all elected to have their voices heard and make a contribution.
Adams also rejected the White House’s claims that the southern borders were not open. “They’re coming from somewhere, so, if it’s not open, they’re coming from somewhere,” Adams said about the movement of migrants. “So, we need to deal with the border issue.” Many consider Adams’ calls for financial support from the federal government to be valid considering the U.S. government has provided abundant financial support to the Ukrainian government.
