Gov. Hochul says she was caught off guard by Eric Adams’ push for extra $1.6B for migrant crisis
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was caught off guard by Mayor Eric Adams’ sudden push for another $1.6 billion in funding for the migrant crisis — saying Wednesday that the state has already earmarked a “substantial contribution.”
Hochul said that while she was surprised by the mayor asking during a budget hearing in Albany Tuesday for cash to cover at least 50% of New York City’s costs, the two remain on good terms.
“After the mayor left [the budget hearing], he sat right in this room with me and thanked me profusely for the support of the state of New York for what we’re doing over two years,” Hochul told reporters during an unrelated press conference when asked about Hizzoner’s plea.
“He did not put in that request to me,” she noted.
“He’s grateful for what he’s getting. So our relationship is strong.”
Adams — during the annual “Tin Cup Day” — skewered state lawmakers for not doing enough to help the Big Apple with the crisis, arguing that the city deserves more cash to make up for a lack of action from Washington.
“The state’s commitment to the city is just over $3 billion — or roughly 28 percent — which is $400 million short,” Adams claimed in his remarks. “Today, we are asking the state to increase its commitment and cover at least 50 percent of our costs.”
Those figures raised eyebrows in the legislature and in the governor’s office after Hochul pressed for an additional $500 million injection of state money for the crisis next fiscal year instead of saving the cash in New York’s rainy day fund.
The governor proposed setting aside a total $2.4 billion in her executive budget for FY2025 on top of the $1.9 billion for FY2024 — bringing the state’s allocations to help the city handle the influx of asylum-seekers to $4.3 billion.
“We are already making a substantial contribution to deal with the problem,” Hochul said Wednesday.
A City Hall rep said the Adams administration didn’t include some $400 million the state will reimburse the city, or $1 billion in migrant costs directly paid for by the state — such as for the National Guard — in its budget plan.
“That does not factor in the 5,000 units that we have already done at Creedmoor, Lincoln Correctional, Randall’s Island and Floyd Bennett field so if you add all those 5,000 that are not part of the equation,” Hochul speculated Wednesday.
“We said we would absorb those costs entirely these larger settings because the strategy of having people in hotels and shelters was quickly overwhelmed,” she added.
The state says it has set aside about $2.15 billion to reimburse the city for any of their migrant services, nearly $1 billion to repay the full costs for large tent cities, such as Floyd Bennett Field and Creedmoor, $451 million for the National Guard, $326 million in disease testing, $160 million in safety net assistance and $250 million in resettlement and other costs.
The city estimated the cost to care for the 170,000 asylum seekers who have come through since Spring 2022 at $10.6 billion through the end of FY2025 after City Hall managed to cut the price tag of services by 20% earlier this year.
