For all their very different styles and the inevitable institutional conflicts, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are natural allies against the crazy progressives.
The first half of that sentence was glaring in this week’s tense exchange of letters between their offices, but the second half is lurking in the background.
City Hall sent the state the first missive, outlining Gotham’s dire needs in the migrant crisis and pushing for the state, “in the absence of meaningful federal funding,” to cover two-thirds of the cost of sheltering the newcomers.
Back came a letter (seemingly leaked in advance to The New York Times, which made it look like a political attack) harshly slapping down the mayor’s ask.
Signed by an outside lawyer, it sniffed that Adams has failed to jump on state offers of space for all of 3,000 beds (the city’s now sheltering nearly 60,000 illegal migrants plus almost as many “native” homeless), hit him for being slow to help the new arrivals get permission-to-work paperwork started and more — pointedly claiming that Albany’s already giving $1.5 billion worth of help.
The outside lawyer, Faith Gay, is the first clue to the real issue here.
Hochul had to hire her because the counsel that taxpayers already provide, Attorney General Tish James, last week said she wouldn’t rep the gov here (as the state Constitution says AGs should) because James feels Hochul is wrong about the “right to shelter.”
That so-called right, sacrosanct to Gotham lefties, exists only in the city, and only thanks to a decades-old court settlement that Adams is trying to get modified now that it’s proving a municipal-suicide pact — fiscal poison amid the migrant wave.
In response, the Legal Aid Society and other forces behind the “right” have gone to court to make it statewide.
That could force the state to pony up for the city, but would also force other cities and towns to adopt ginormous, expensive homeless-services blobs like NYC’s.
Counties now refusing to host migrants might have no choice.
Cue a voter revolt to make last year’s Empire State red wave look mild.
Thing is, the legal basis for the “right” comes from (a tendentious reading of a generic passage in) the state Constitution, so the courts might go for it.
Hence Gay’s dis of Adams’ migrant efforts: She wants nothing in the public record that could boost the new suit.
A politically deft lawyer would’ve handled it better, but again James has refused to do her job because she doesn’t want to upset the left.
Neither does Hochul, who never wants to upset anyone except maybe die-hard Republicans.
But if she doesn’t want City Hall, in its desperation for help from somewhere, siding with the “statewide right to shelter” drive, she’ll need to step up in support of Adams’ push to pare back the city’s obligations —- and to get Adams more of the cash he needs.
Adams’ handling of the crisis has been uneven, but he’s facing a perfect storm.
If Hochul doesn’t step up and firmly ally with him, it’ll slam her even harder.