NEW YORK (1010 WINS/ WCBS 880 NEWS) –Mayor Eric Adams outlined New York City's $109.4 billion Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, with a strategy for the city’s recovery, focusing on public safety, clean public spaces, and funding young people, in a Wednesday morning interview with 1010 WINS' Scott Stanford.
Adams stated that despite a significant $7.1 billion budget gap caused by the asylum seeker crisis, the end of federal COVID-19 stimulus funding, unresolved labor contracts, and slowing tax revenue growth, the administration managed to balance the budget.
“Our message was to have a budget that's going to invest in public safety, people and public spaces and we wanted to do it based on what we acknowledged in November, a real crisis and we came with a real management to really deal with the crises that we were facing and the economic challenges in front of us,” Adams said.
According to a statement on Tuesday, this was achieved through a citywide hiring freeze and a Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) savings program, avoiding layoffs, tax increases, or major disruptions to city services.
The growing asylum seeker crisis, which saw New York City provide care to more than 170,700 asylum seekers, with over 60 percent leaving the city's care due to the administration's policies.
“We now have only 86,000 [migrants],” Adams said. “That was a real cost savings for us, over 60%."
These measures helped reduce costs from $12.25 billion to $10.6 billion, generating approximately $1.7 billion in savings.
When questioned about the government's lack of assistance in the migrant crisis and the city's budget surplus, Adams responded, “I want to be very clear, there's not a windfall, we are not out of the woods.”
He also expressed his continued support for President Biden.
“I think the Democratic Party has a real vision for the country and when you support a candidate is not one issue of item that you are just looking on,” Adams said. “When you look at the economy, when the president came here, we were dealing with crime, moving in the wrong direction. He came here and gave real support and stability to the ATF. We're seeing the success. The New Yorkers should really be proud of where we are.”
Adams stated that the city needs to establish a sense of normalcy in addressing the issues they are facing, which he said isn’t going away anytime soon.
“We aim to provide clear guidelines for all residents,” Adams said. “We recognize that most of those who come here are pursuing the American dream and doing the right thing. However, for the small number who have been disruptive, we want to send a clear message: there are rules that must be followed, starting with the curfew, and everyone's actions should not compromise the safety of the communities they are in."
The budget proposal will be negotiated with the city council, focusing on areas such as libraries and public services. Adams emphasized the importance of collaboration, “We're gonna sit down, we're gonna note, negotiate and we're gonna land this plane together because the law requires us to do so.”