Migrants, pandemic and struggling economy strain NYC budget

Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday proposed a $102.7 billion budget for New York City, a spending plan that continues reductions in the municipal worker head count amid an economy still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

The proposed budget also comes at a time when office workers are working from home in greater-than-forecasted numbers and needy migrants are being shipped north straining government coffers.

A decade ago, Mike Bloomberg left the mayoralty with an adopted budget totaling about $70 billion. It was proposed at $73.7 billion soon after Bloomberg’s successor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014 and ballooned to $102.8 billion by the end of de Blasio's last term.

What Adams proposed on Thursday is an opening offer of sorts in an annual process of negotiations between a mayor and the City Council, which must vote to approve each fiscal year’s budget. Those talks can continue until June at the latest, when the budget must be finished and adopted — and balanced — pursuant to rules put into place during the city’s financial crises of the 1970s.

Budget cuts have rankled the City Council leadership.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the finance chairman, Justin Brannan, criticized the prospect of the reductions. “The budget vision put forward by the administration to cut funding for CUNY, libraries, social services, early childhood education and other essential services for New Yorkers is one this Council cannot support,” the two said.

Adams said that the budget is being strained by migrants crossing the southern border and being bused to New York City, where there is a legal right to shelter. He said it could wind up costing the city $1 billion that strain the budget for other municipal services.

“Trust me when I tell you, our numbers, we are still receiving hundreds of migrants. In the last few days we received, I believe, 800,” Adams said. “We're still in this crisis, and so we're  [predicting] it's going to be about a billion dollars during this fiscal year, maybe more. If we open the borders again, it's going to increase even more. And it's a lot.”

NYPD and policing

The NYPD’s budget is set to remain relatively stable, as is the head count of cops: $5.1 billion, which excludes certain costs such as pensions and fringe benefits.

The head count of cops is forecast to be about 35,000, its current approximate level.

“I am not going to trade off public safety. We have to be safe. I'm not going to trade that off. We have to not only have real numerical indicators that we're safe, but there's a need for symbolism. New Yorkers must feel safe, and they feel safe when they see that blue uniform. We're going to recruit. We have to use overtime in a smart way, we're going to do that,” Adams said.

A slowing economy

The slowing economy means less tax revenue for the city, a problem that has buffeted the city since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020.

"This creates the perfect storm. We will still need to support the cost of services that New Yorkers depend upon every day, but with fewer resources. In addition, we face billions of dollars in new and unfunded costs related to asylum-seekers, labor deals and health care. So we must be more efficient. We must make smart decisions, invest wisely, and give New Yorkers the most bang for their buck," Adams said in his prepared remarks releasing the budget.

A document released by Adams' Office of Management and Budget sounded an additional caution: "The impact of waning activity on Wall Street profitability has been unambiguous."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.