NYC Mayor Eric Adams previews "extremely painful" budget cuts due to asylum seeker crisis
NEW YORK - Mayor Eric Adams says New Yorkers are set to really feel the price to the city taking care of asylum seekers, and it's going to hurt, with cuts to public safety and cuts to the classroom.
School safety agents make sure weapons don't get inside schools, and protect students from hate crimes and gang violence. But there's going to be far fewer of them now because the city has been forced to cancel a new class of 250 agents as it tightens its belt to pay for the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived in New York City seeking shelter.
That's the tip of the iceberg. Every single agency will see its budget shrink by five percent when the mayor unveils exactly what's on the chopping block this Thursday. There will be another five percent cut in January, and possibly another five percent in May.
"This is probably one of the most painful exercises I've gone through. When you look at, around police, what the numbers of police officers are going to be and how we've done so well in dropping crime in our city. When we look at the school safety agents. When we look at some of the other initiatives that we're doing. It's going to be extremely painful for New Yorkers," Adams said.
Sources tell CBS New York that cuts to the NYPD will involve a cut in overtime, and could force the city to put off hiring new cops to replenish the ranks. Sources tell CBS2 there will also be other hiring cutbacks that will reduce the size of the labor force.
"With the fiscal cliff, with the office vacancies, which really those buildings contribute to our tax base, as well as the asylum seeker costs, the resources are just not there, and every single agency is going to feel the impact of these cuts. And New Yorkers are going to feel it, top to bottom," First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright said.
When community activists and elected officials protested the cuts two months ago, they said the expected 15% cuts will devastate city services, including:
- $2.1 billion cut to Education
- $1.4 billion cut to the Department of Social Services
- $800 million from Homeless Services
- $300 million from the Fire Department
- $200 million from city hospitals
"This is extremely personally painful for this administration. These projects, and these initiatives, we knew was going to improve the lives of New Yorkers," Adams said.
Adams renewed his call for financial help from Washington.
Adams said nonprofit groups that provide a range of services to seniors, students, the homeless and others will also face cuts.
