$2.4 billion isn't enough for New York's migrant crisis, Adams says

As the migrant crisis continues to ravage New York City, Mayor Eric Adams appeared to score a victory last month when the governor pledged to provide $2.4 billion — more than double last year's proposal — to cover the cost of caring for to cover tens of thousands of people. who have arrived in New York to seek refuge.

But on Tuesday, Mr Adams said even that would not be enough.

The mayor told lawmakers at the state Capitol in Albany that the state would have to pick up at least half the cost of migrant care to prevent the city from making drastic cuts, an amount his team estimated at $4.6 billion .

“We are the economic engine of the state,” Mr. Adams said. “And we've always been here for the state. We need the state to be here in town for us now.”

Officials in New York had hoped to divide the costs of housing migrants equally among the city, state and federal governments. But federal officials refused to abide by that arrangement, forcing the city to press the state for more money.

In addition to more money for immigrants, the mayor used his trip to Albany — an annual tradition known as Tin Cup Day, when local leaders make their budget presentations to the state — to meet with legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul. He also urged lawmakers to give the mayor oversight of schools, the power to crack down on illegal cannabis sellers and an expansion of the city's borrowing power.

New York legalized recreational marijuana use in 2021 with the goal of empowering communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. But licensing to sell cannabis has been slow to come as regulators sort through economic, environmental and legal issues, allowing unlicensed sellers to proliferate.

Last month, Ms. Hochul called the rollout a “disaster” in an interview with editors at The Buffalo News and proposed measures that would allow the state and municipalities to crack down on illegal sellers. Mr Adams has said he supports the proposal but believes it could go further.

While mayors in Albany often face tough crowds, Mr. Adams found a generally sympathetic audience this year, receiving compliments from both sides of the aisle for several aspects of his handling of the migrant crisis despite partisan differences over the broader solutions to the problem. .

The warm welcome was undoubtedly welcome by Mr. Adams, whose popularity has waned amid local and federal investigations into people in the mayor's office and into his fundraising practices. Earlier today, an unrelated federal investigation resulted in the indictment of 70 people tied to the New York City Housing Authority, an investigation that Justice Department officials are calling one of the largest public corruption cases in history.

Mr. Adams, a former senator, has described his record in Albany as largely victorious, citing the passage of red-light cameras, a favorable deal on funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and two changes to the state's bail laws as evidence of his strong relationship with the legislature.

But Mr. Adams' decision to publicly and repeatedly push for changes in the state's bail reform laws angered many Democratic lawmakers. They saw his position not only as an undermining of the party's work on criminal justice, but as election-year fodder for Republicans who blamed the law for a pandemic. era increase in violence.

And while Mr. Adams ultimately succeeded in securing changes in state law that would allow judges to jail more people pending trial, he failed to convince lawmakers to grant him four years of mayoral control over city schools. Instead, Mr. Adams secured just two years, on the condition that he reduce class size.

This year the mayor is again asking for four years of school control, a request supported by Ms Hochul.

Still, some lawmakers have expressed concerns about the practice of awarding control of schools to the mayor in the first place, suggesting that a different management system could be more effective. Others raised questions about the ways the mayor had chosen to spend the city's current budget, pointing to cuts to libraries and sanitation.

“If you get this $2.4 billion, that's a pretty big tin cup,” Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat from Manhattan's West Side, told the mayor at one point, referring to the proposal. governor. “Do we have your commitment that all cuts will be restored?”

Mr. Adams shifted the question, repeating that $2.4 billion would not be enough. “We need more,” he said.

During a later exchange about the request to increase the city's borrowing limit, Senator John C. Liu, a Democrat from Queens, questioned the mayor's priorities.

“So what comes first: schools or the prisons?” the senator asked the city's budget director, Jacques Jiha.

Mr. Jiha laughed and said it was a good question.

“Say school quickly before I run out of time,” Mr. Liu urged.

“We have three big—” Mr. Jiha began, before Mr. Liu interrupted him.

“Wrong answer,” he said.

Dana Rubinstein reporting contributed.