Mayor Adams and City Council members clashed Wednesday over how the city government should fund aid to the thousands of migrants who have arrived in the city this year, with the mayor arguing that lawmakers should use discretionary funds to foot the bill.
Adams’ suggestion that City Council members use funds normally reserved for their favourite causes came after two days of Council hearings on the migrant crisis.
“You had Council members and others saying let’s give free cell phones to asylum seekers, free MetroCards, free rent, free, free, free, free. “We’re not going to give this to ordinary New Yorkers,” he told the Daily News editorial board on Wednesday.
“Everyday New Yorkers do not get free cell phones,” he went on to say. “They are not entitled to free MetroCards. So, if the City Council — or, more accurately, some of the City Council — tells me that asylum seekers and migrants should get everything for free from taxpayers, I’ll have to cut services.”
izzoner urged Council members who supported such generosity to “give us half of your member items.”
“They said it was a big deal. They held hearings over two days. “They called and said, ‘Hey, spend more money,'” Adams explained. “Then we all have to be in it together.”
His suggestion was met with a swift — and harsh — response.
Councilwoman Crystal Hudson (D-Brooklyn) used his remarks to frame cuts that the mayor had already proposed as part of his November budget amendment — cuts that she had previously stated she would oppose.
“Slashing funding from vital city resources while simultaneously gutting agencies that provide care and support to our neighbours is wholly irresponsible and negligent,” she said in a statement, adding that Adams is “more concerned with waging political battles than truly getting stuff done.”
Adams acknowledged that he has no real authority over how Council members spend their discretionary funds and instead framed his remarks as a suggestion, however controversial.
“I don’t have the authority to tell them: Cut your member items by half. ‘Hey, put some money in the pot,’ I say. “This is our request,” he said.
The mayor’s request was met with disdain by the Council’s 34-member Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus.
“For years, the New York City Council has provided grants to non-profit service providers that serve as lifelines to communities of colour. The mayor’s request to cut these community resources by half is counterproductive and would only harm the health and safety of Black and brown New Yorkers, according to a written statement from the caucus.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is not related to the mayor, responded by saying the Council cannot “allow the mayor’s suggestion that we cut a lifeline.”
“These are service providers — viable, needed service providers,” she said of the non-profits that may face cuts if Council members direct discretionary funds to the migrant crisis.
“What we should be asking is why the administration is being so secretive about its contract spending during the refugee crisis.”
The Council Speaker stated that the amount paid by the administration to build a tent shelter on Randall’s Island is still unknown.
“We can’t let the mayor put the city’s challenges even more on the shoulders of non-profit service providers, who we’re asking to do more because the administration lacks resources,” she said.
Another Council member, who requested anonymity, said the mayor’s statements appeared to be a declaration of war, and that it would almost certainly have consequences for the passage of Hizzoner’s budget amendment.
“It’s just very ill advised and difficult for us to take it any other way than he wants war,” said the member of Adams’ request for discretionary funding. “When agencies are cut, people rely more on non-profits. “You want to cut non-profits now?”
Mayor Adams and Council members in New York City disagree on how to pay for the costs of the migrant crisis.
Mayor Adams and City Council members clashed Wednesday over how the city government should fund aid to the thousands of migrants who have arrived in the city this year, with the mayor arguing that lawmakers should use discretionary funds to foot the bill.
Adams’ suggestion that City Council members use funds normally reserved for their favourite causes came after two days of Council hearings on the migrant crisis.
“You had Council members and others saying let’s give free cell phones to asylum seekers, free MetroCards, free rent, free, free, free, free. “We’re not going to give this to ordinary New Yorkers,” he told the Daily News editorial board on Wednesday.
“Everyday New Yorkers do not get free cell phones,” he went on to say. “They are not entitled to free MetroCards. So, if the City Council — or, more accurately, some of the City Council — tells me that asylum seekers and migrants should get everything for free from taxpayers, I’ll have to cut services.”
izzoner urged Council members who supported such generosity to “give us half of your member items.”
“They said it was a big deal. They held hearings over two days. “They called and said, ‘Hey, spend more money,'” Adams explained. “Then we all have to be in it together.”
His suggestion was met with a swift — and harsh — response.
Councilwoman Crystal Hudson (D-Brooklyn) used his remarks to frame cuts that the mayor had already proposed as part of his November budget amendment — cuts that she had previously stated she would oppose.
“Slashing funding from vital city resources while simultaneously gutting agencies that provide care and support to our neighbours is wholly irresponsible and negligent,” she said in a statement, adding that Adams is “more concerned with waging political battles than truly getting stuff done.”
Adams acknowledged that he has no real authority over how Council members spend their discretionary funds and instead framed his remarks as a suggestion, however controversial.
“I don’t have the authority to tell them: Cut your member items by half. ‘Hey, put some money in the pot,’ I say. “This is our request,” he said.
The mayor’s request was met with disdain by the Council’s 34-member Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus.
“For years, the New York City Council has provided grants to non-profit service providers that serve as lifelines to communities of colour. The mayor’s request to cut these community resources by half is counterproductive and would only harm the health and safety of Black and brown New Yorkers, according to a written statement from the caucus.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is not related to the mayor, responded by saying the Council cannot “allow the mayor’s suggestion that we cut a lifeline.”
“These are service providers — viable, needed service providers,” she said of the non-profits that may face cuts if Council members direct discretionary funds to the migrant crisis.
“What we should be asking is why the administration is being so secretive about its contract spending during the refugee crisis.”
The Council Speaker stated that the amount paid by the administration to build a tent shelter on Randall’s Island is still unknown.
“We can’t let the mayor put the city’s challenges even more on the shoulders of non-profit service providers, who we’re asking to do more because the administration lacks resources,” she said.
Another Council member, who requested anonymity, said the mayor’s statements appeared to be a declaration of war, and that it would almost certainly have consequences for the passage of Hizzoner’s budget amendment.
“It’s just very ill advised and difficult for us to take it any other way than he wants war,” said the member of Adams’ request for discretionary funding. “When agencies are cut, people rely more on non-profits. “You want to cut non-profits now?”
