New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday that city officials will need to make “extremely painful” cuts in the budget next year as the effect of the migrant crisis on the Big Apple was bigger than thought, and federal help with the crisis is not coming through.
Adams spoke with host Dan Mannarino on WPIX-TV’s “PIX on Politics” on Sunday, who asked the mayor if the migrant crisis was a curveball to the city.
“Oh, curveball? That’s not even a curveball. That’s a brush back pitch that knocked us to the ground,” the mayor said. “But we’ve got to get back up and knock it out of the park.”
Last month, Adams urged the city’s richest to open their wallets to help the city weather a financial storm created by the ongoing migrant crisis, days after unveiling deep budget cuts.
In his plea, he reportedly urged New Yorkers to “reach out to Washington, D.C.” and demand more support for the city, which he says is carrying a “national crisis.”
The remarks came a day after the sanctuary city announced it would be reducing its police numbers and slashing budgets in areas like education and sanitation.
NEW YORK CITY TO REDUCE POLICE NUMBERS, SLASH BUDGETS DUE TO BILLIONS SPENT ON MIGRANT CRISIS
On Sunday, Adams continued his message on budget cuts caused by the migrant crisis and the federal government.
“I believe that Congressman Jeffries and Senator Schumer are really pounding the pavement,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate, number one, the Republicans are not in favor of any real immigration reform. And I believe that we are not seeing that this should not be on the backs of New York City; and other cities, because now the coalition has grown.”
Adams was referring to other elected officials in Chicago, Massachusetts and Denver that are facing the same situation where migrants are shipped to sanctuary cities to carry the burden of costs associated with illegal immigrants and not sending them back to their country of origin.
NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS PARENTS MAY NEED TO HELP IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AMID MIGRANT CRISIS
New York City has seen over 130,000 migrants come to the city since last year, part of the knock-on effect of the nearly three-year crisis at the southern border. It’s a small portion of the more than 2.4 million migrant encounters at the southern border in FY 23, but Adams has warned that the crisis could “destroy” the city.
New York City and other liberal jurisdictions, including Massachusetts and Chicago, have called for additional federal help with the numbers they are seeing.
The Biden administration has pointed to more than $770 million it has given out to support communities taking in migrants in the last year and recommendations its teams of experts have made.
NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS PARENTS MAY NEED TO HELP IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AMID MIGRANT CRISIS
Separately, the White House has requested an additional $14 billion in emergency funding for border operations, which includes an additional $1.4 billion in grants to help local governments and nonprofits.
However, nothing has been approved, and the supplemental aid has become a sticking point between lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
Without the aid, Adams and his administration will need to make budget cuts.
“Well, let’s be clear. What we’re going to have to do is extremely painful,” Adams said. “We’re going to have to see how do we deliver services to our agencies all without the resources we normally have.”
He explained there is a lot of creativity that comes with making cuts, adding that “everything’s on the table.”
He also said there is a $12 billion hole caused by the migrant influx into the city.
“Everything’s on the table,” Adams reiterated. “I like to break it down to the smallest level. If you are a homeowner and you have budgeted yourself for rent, your electricity, your water, et cetera, then all of a sudden, your roof caves in, your insurance policy should pick up on that.
“Our insurance policy was the federal government,” he added. “They’re not paying us. So, everything in that household is going to be impacted…We must now find out how to balance our budget.”
Adam Shaw of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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