The $107M blame game
Adams & staff point finger back at feds over migrant funding
Mayor Adams and several of his top advisers struck a defiant tone Tuesday after President Biden's administration accused them of failing to submit the correct documents to unlock a total of $159 million in federal migrant crisis aid earmarked for New York City.
As first reported by the Daily News on Monday, the city has only received $49 million of that money because federal authorities say the Adams administration isn't filing the right paperwork to secure the rest. One Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to be candid, even said Adams' team hasn't “stepped up to the plate” when it comes to putting the right application paperwork together for the remainder of the aid, which was allocated last year by Congress.
Asked why his administration's struggling to furnish the right documentation, Adams sought Tuesday afternoon to flip the script back on the feds by noting the outstanding $107 million is small potatoes when compared with the $4 billion the city has spent so far on providing housing and services for migrants.
“Why don't you go back to that person who stated we haven't stepped to the plate, and say: ‘Have you guys stepped up to the plate and helping them with this $4 billion, securing the border, allowing people to have work authorization, make sure we have a decompression strategy?'” said Adams, who has for over a year lamented what he sees as a lack of migrant crisis help from the Biden administration. “Ask them: Have they stepped up to the plate? New Yorkers have stepped up to the plate.”
To offset migrant spending, Adams has in recent months enacted steep city budget cuts. The cuts have resulted in various service reductions, including the elimination of Sunday hours at all public libraries.
After the mayor's briefing, a White House official told The News that the Biden administration wants to provide New York City with more financial help to alleviate the migrant-related fiscal burden, noting it supported the creation of a new $1.4 billion fund that'd reimburse cities across the U.S. for migrant costs. However, House Republicans have blocked that allocation.
“Of course, we would love to do more,” the White House official said.
Jacques Jiha, Adams' budget director, first revealed during a Council hearing Monday that the city has only received $49 million in migrant aid from the feds to date. In his testimony, Jiha said the city hasn't been able to access the rest of the aid due to “stringent” eligibility requirements that make it “very difficult” to apply.
Neither Adams nor multiple top advisers who joined him for Tuesday's briefing at City Hall would provide more details on what specifically in the requirements are tripping up their application.
“We'll look into it and circle back to you,” Fabien Levy, Adams' deputy mayor for communications, said when asked for specifics.
Sheena Wright, Adams' first deputy mayor, suggested a finger should ultimately be pointed at the feds, not the mayor's team.
“We know how to submit paperwork,” she said. “So I think the question is for them: Why haven't these funds been released?”
Among other requirements, municipalities applying for the aid must provide names, dates of birth and so-called alien registration numbers for migrants who stand to benefit from the financial support, according to guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA guidance also says spending on hotels cannot exceed 5% of the total amount of aid requested by any given municipality, a wrinkle that could pose a problem for the city, which is housing thousands of new arrivals in hotels.
According to Biden administration officials, FEMA dispatched a team to New York last week to help Adams' office with resolving aid application snags.
However, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams' chief adviser, claimed it's “not true” a FEMA team came to New York when asked about the matter during Tuesday's briefing.
“Why don't they come and say, ‘Listen, this is what you need to provide,'”
Lewis-Martin said. “If we give people paperwork to fill out and they cannot get it done, please assist them.”
Asked about Lewis-Martin's comments, the White House official reiterated that the FEMA team was in New York last week and provided on-the-ground application support. The official said the administration would contact Lewis-Martin about the matter.
A City Hall spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment on whether Lewis-Martin misspoke.
The latest clash between the mayor's team and the Biden administration comes as more than 60,000 migrants remain housed in city shelters. Though he says he still supports Biden's reelection bid, the mayor has been vocally frustrated for months with what he sees as a lack of migrant crisis help from the Democratic president, including declaring last year the commander-in-chief had “failed” New York City.
The outstanding federal migrant aid issue came up during a budget hearing held in the City Council on Tuesday, when Manuel Castro, Adams' Immigration Affairs commissioner, testified that the city is banking on receiving the full $156 million from the feds this year.
Castro's comment prompted Brooklyn Councilwoman Alexis Aviles, a progressive Democrat, to note that the city has received less than a third of the outlay so far.
“There are some operational issues to address there,” she said.