NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Following a series of controversial budget cuts by City Hall in November, Mayor Eric Adams and public safety officials announced on Wednesday the reversal of certain cuts to the FDNY and NYPD, made possible by achieving savings in the city’s handling of the migrant crisis.
FDNY ‘fifth firefighter’ restoration:
The FDNY was forced to cut the “fifth firefighter” on Dec. 1, referring to the fifth firefighter on each shift at the 20 engine companies that make the most fire runs in the city.
This cut was reversed on the grounds of public safety, and FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said that this was an essential move amid the increase in fire calls that occurs in the winter, new fire-safety challenges from climate change and the rising number of severe fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
Officials stressed the importance of the fifth firefighter in getting water on a fire faster (as it takes immense physical effort to get water from a hydrant through a fire hose), and to aid the department in responding to weather emergencies.
“Call volume for fire operations is ever increasing. They are busier than ever, our units … We need the additional personnel, the additional experienced personnel and resources, to tackle some of these new challenges that we’re confronting. And this will do exactly that,” Kavanaugh said.
NYPD police academy class restoration
Adams announced that the city has restored the April police academy class, which will produce 600 additional police officers that will be on the street this coming fall, and join three additional police academy classes that were already scheduled to graduate this year.
“More police officers means safer streets, safer subways and a safer New York City,” Adams said.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban acknowledged the significant drop in crime the city saw in 2023 and announced in a briefing last week, and said that the progress the city has seen is impossible without police officers.
“As we look to further improve public safety in 2024, we need every officer we can get, which is why today is a great day for the NYPD and all New Yorkers. There is no greater investment in public safety than an NYPD officer,” Caban said.
Migrant crisis savings
In August, City Hall projected the asylum seeker crisis cost – based on the increasing number of arrivals and increasing cost per household – to be roughly $12 billion over three fiscal years, if there was no change.
Adams and city officials, that have continually called out the lack of federal funding to handle the crisis, set a goal of dropping these costs 20% in the next two years.
Cuts to migrant services have begun and were conducted in as “fiscally prudent” a manner as possible, according to Adams. These cuts allowed for the restoration of the select public safety initiatives announced on Wednesday.
“[Chief of Staff Camille Varlack and her team] looked at what we were paying, and said 'How do we go in and do cost savings, cost efficiencies.' And our goal is that in fiscal year 2025 is come over 20% saving. And everywhere, everywhere, from food, to the cost of housing, to laundry, to security, everything is on the table of how do we get a better price for it. So we’re not leaving anything off the table to bring down the cost,” Adams said.
Adams reiterated that looking at the migrant crisis and finding ways to reduce the cost is a primary goal of the budget, in combination with getting asylum seekers to a place of self-sufficiency through policies like the 30- and 60-day shelter allowances.
According to Adams, 80% of single adults that were subject to the 30-day notice are now self-sufficient, with 20% reentering the system. He said the concept is the same for the 60-day notice.
Despite the measures being taken to lower costs, Adams emphasized the city’s commitment to keeping people off the streets.
“I will reiterate over and over again. No child, no family will sleep on the streets of the city of New York based on our policies. It is our policies, the goal is to have families and individuals to be self-sustaining,” Adams said.
Looking forward
While the city's savings in housing asylum seekers have resulted in the restoration of these few public safety services, officials directed reporters to tune in to Tuesday’s budget briefing for information on other possible service restorations.
Adams also made a point of saying that the city is not yet out of the woods in terms of the budget, as there remains a massive budget gap for fiscal year 2025. Tuesday’s briefing will provide information on how the city plans to close this gap.
Hizzoner said he has been in conversation with Gov. Kathy Hochul about state funds and is looking forward to an announcement from her, but also called, yet again, for aid from the federal government.
“We do need Albany to play a role, but most importantly, we need our national government to treat this national crisis as it deserves,” Adams said.