NYC Mayor Eric Adams admits DC migrant crisis meeting was fruitless: ‘Help is not on its way’
Mayor Eric Adams threw up his hands Friday after his latest trip to Washington, DC to plead for federal aid to handle the migrant crisis — admitting “help is not on its way.”
The fed-up mayor had been invited to a last-minute sit down with Biden administration officials Thursday as he was already in the nation’s capital to attend a holiday party thrown by the federal Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
“I did not leave with optimism,” Hizzoner said Friday about his meeting.
“I left with the cold reality that help is not on the way in the immediate future. It is going to be, at this moment, it’s going to be up to New Yorkers and this administration to continue to navigate this challenge that we’re facing,” he told a gaggle of reporters at the end of an unrelated press conference.
Thursday marked the 10th time Hizzoner was in DC to seek help with the crush of asylum seekers that has overwhelmed New York City’s shelter system and led to unpopular budget cuts.
He had a meeting on the books with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, which he previously said he hoped would open up a “menu” of options by which the federal agency could assist the city, but didn’t make the specifics public.
While in DC, Adams also connected with several other New York lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
Those meetings similarly proved uneventful, sources told The Post.
“This could have been done in New York,” one source quipped.
More than 150,000 migrants have come through the Big Apple since the start of the crisis, which is expected to cost $12 billion.
The feds, meanwhile, have carved out less than $150 million for New York City.
“We did not walk out from D.C. with any level of optimism that anything is going to drastically change. It is clear that for the time being, this crisis is going to be carried by the cities,” Adams added Friday.
The mayor, whose approval rating is tanking, pointed to the migrant crisis as the source of the Big Apple’s budget woes.
“We are at an untenable situation right now,” Adams said.
