The flood of immigrants coming into New York has pitted the state’s top two politicians against each other as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams trade barbs over the handling of 100,000-plus new arrivals that have descended on the city. Hochul’s administration has filed court documents condemning the mayor’s handling of crisis, while Adams bemoans the level of assistance coming from Albany.
A 12-page court filing, issued in response to lawsuits over the state’s right-to-shelter responsibilities, asserts that the Adams administration has been sloppy in handling funds, delayed reimbursement documentation, and has been inconsistent in communicating with state officials. Hochul’s attorney on the case, Faith Gay, wrote that the state had assisted the city despite “substantial questions” about one of its main migrant services contractors and failure to utilize hundreds of vacant shelter beds, while homeless migrants languished outside the Roosevelt Hotel this summer.
Gay also charged that the Adams Administration failed to make use of state property offered to house the migrants and did not prioritize an effort to secure work permits for the asylum seekers, which could be depriving them of opportunities for employment. Criticizing Adams further, Hochul’s lawyer said the city’s attempt to bus migrants to upstate counties was not coordinated with her administration, which received “little or no notice” of the controversial plan.
“The city has not made timely requests for regulatory changes, has not always promptly shared necessary information with the state, has not implemented programs in a timely manner, and has not consulted the state before taking certain actions,” said Gay’s court filing, which added that the city “can and should do more to act in a proactive and collaborative manner with the state.”
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“If her observation is that here are some things you can do differently, we’re all in,” Adams said of Hochul. “Whatever feedback my partner in the governor’s mansion wants to give, we want to hear. But we also want to explain some of the actions we took.”
The two are in the hot seat after their offers of sanctuary were taken up by thousands of aliens who then needed housing, food and other services. The city has run out of room, and efforts by both Hochul and Adams to take care of them will cost taxpayers more than $12 billion over the next two years, the mayor reported. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are castigating the pair for their handling of the mess, as well as President Biden and his administration for creating the crisis by ushering illegals into the country in unprecedented numbers. New York Attorney General Leticia James tried to distance herself from the debacle by refusing to defend the Hochul administration in the case, a highly unusual move that underscores a pronounced rift between the two elected leaders.
The two administrations are being sued in Manhattan Supreme Court over their obligations to provide beds to migrants under the city’s right-to-shelter rule, which stems from a legal agreement the state and city made in 1981. Under the mandate, the city is required to offer shelter to anyone who needs it. Lawyers for Adams argue that the state should cover a majority of the migrant costs. His entreaties to the Biden administration for more money have been ignored.
“While the city maintains that the federal government should absorb at least one-third of the expenses incurred in connection with the new arrivals, in the absence of meaningful federal funding, the city contends that the state should cover the remaining two-thirds,” city attorneys argued. The court filings show that nearly $1.5 billion in state funds have been spent on the crisis so far and the Hochul administration expects “significant additional funds” in next year’s budget.