Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) criticized New York City officials in a letter Tuesday night, saying the city has “failed” to accept the state’s help or recommendations regarding the immigration crisis there.
A lawyer for Hochul explained in a 12-page letter the steps her administration has taken to address the problem and denounced New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s handling of the estimated 100,000 asylum-seekers who have arrived over the last year.
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Hochul criticized the city for not accepting a number of state offers for money and support.
“The State has identified numerous additional State-owned properties and non-State owned sites that are viable options for sheltering migrants, but the City has not accepted these offers,” the letter from lawyer Faith E. Gay reads, emphasizing the city refused to accept assistance that could have housed more than 3,000 immigrants.
“Well, it is true that they did not accept some of the help we offered. That’s a statement of fact,” Hochul told Spectrum News NY1 on Wednesday afternoon.
Hochul said multiple state-owned sites are still available, noting there are 12 sites spread throughout the city.
“Creedmoor is going to cost probably $350 million,” she said, pointing to the city’s newest migrant relief shelter at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, which will house thousands of immigrants.
She named several locations the city passed on: “We offered Riverbank State Park. We offered Aqueduct. We have smaller sites as well.”
Hochul said the state is continuing to push for additional sites and spoke on the phone with the White House on Wednesday, urging the federal government to sign off on using Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field and discussing leasing matters.
Hochul blames the city’s administration for not always sharing “necessary information” or consulting with the state, and failing to implement “programs in a timely manner” or make “timely requests for regulatory changes.”
New York is legally held accountable to provide shelter to those who seek it, but Hochul claims the city has failed to fulfill its responsibilities. Adams asked a judge in May to suspend its long-standing requirement, but the request has not been granted yet. The rule was set in place in 1981 after a court ruled the city must provide temporary housing for every homeless person who seeks it.
Last week, Adams announced that the influx of immigrants will cost New York City an estimated $12 billion by the summer of 2025 if the current rate of arrivals continues. He urged the Biden administration to call for a state of emergency to manage the crisis at the United States-Mexico border.
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On Tuesday, Republican state Sen. Tom O’Mara pushed for a state of emergency order in upstate counties to curb the large volume of immigrants arriving there, writing the crisis comes amid a “failed response on the state and federal levels.
“While Governor Hochul and Acting Commissioner Guinn appreciate Mayor Adams’s public acknowledgment of the State’s significant role in the crisis response, the City can and should do more to act in a proactive and collaborative manner with the State,” Hochul’s letter concludes.
