‘The governor’s wrong’: Eric Adams blasts Kathy Hochul as migrant crisis boils over on New York streets

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul for her handling of the state’s surging migrant crisis during a fireside chat at the Center for New York City Law on Tuesday.

Adams said that Hochul was “wrong” for her stance that New York City should not transport incoming migrants into the suburbs, especially without the consent of state leaders. Adams and Hochul have been at odds over how New York should handle the crisis as over 100,000 migrants have arrived in the state with more on the way.

“I think the governor’s wrong,” Adams said during the fireside chat. “She’s the governor of the state of New York. New York City is in that state. Every county in this state should be part of this… And all those counties — we are the economic engine of this state. New York goes down. The entire state goes down.”

Hochul said that she would not force other counties in New York to take in incoming migrants during a press conference last Thursday. She has also accused Adams of busing migrants into the state’s suburbs while refusing to accept state assistance, including shelter resources.

Chants of “Out with Adams!” as protesters against new migrant shelters rally outside Gracie Mansion in New York this afternoon pic.twitter.com/iQqmURXtQ3

— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 27, 2023

Hochul recently rejected a proposal from Adams that would have prevented municipalities from blocking incoming migrants, citing the fact that “right to shelter” mandates don’t apply beyond the city’s five boroughs, according to Politico.

“This is an agreement that does not apply to the state’s other 57 counties, which is one of the reasons we cannot and will not force other parts of our state to shelter migrants, nor are we going to be asking these migrants to move to other parts of the state against their will,” Hochul said last Thursday.

Hochul’s comments are a reversal from her position in May, where she said New York counties should end their “bigoted policies” and welcome the migrant influx as an opportunity to fill blue-collar jobs. Hochul’s office responded to Adam’s comments on Tuesday by stating that the Biden administration needed to provide federal assistance if the problem was truly to be solved, a position both she and Adams agree on, according to Politico.

But the Biden administration said that it was the state’s leaders who were responsible for the migrant crisis, according to a letter sent by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to Hochul and Adams on Tuesday. The state’s dysfunction has resulted in poor organization of resources and a failure to plan for the migrant influx, according to Mayorkas.

There are nearly 100,000 migrants located in New York, and the number continues to grow despite Adams having declared a state of emergency over the matter nearly a year ago. Hochul has thus far committed $1.5 billion to try to mitigate the crisis, and Adams said in early August that the problem would cost New York City $4.3 billion over the course of two years, noting that “from this moment on is downhill.”

Adams and Hochul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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