New York City’s largest police union has rejected the budget cuts announced by Mayor Eric Adams, warning that they will make the streets less safe by reducing the number of officers to levels last seen in the 1980s and 1990s.
Adams, a former cop, unveiled a sweeping five percent cut to services on Thursday, saying the city must close the budget hole left by the more than 140,000 migrants who have arrived since last spring.
It is predicted that the Big Apple will spend approximately $12 billion over the next two years on the ongoing migrant crisis.
While the cuts will affect city departments across the board, the NYPD will see the most dramatic effect: the next five recruiting classes will be canceled, bringing the number of officers patrolling the streets from 33,541 to about 29,000 in two years — it lowest workforce since the 1990s.
“Police have already reached breaking point, and these cuts will return us to a workforce we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s,” said Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association.
‘We can’t go back there anymore. We need all levels of government to work together to find a way to support police officers and protect New York City’s thirty years of public safety progress.”
Mayor Eric Adams announced five percent cuts across the board, blaming the migrant crisis that has seen more than 140,000 people arrive in the city since 2022.
Adams ordered city agencies — including the NYPD, the Fire Department and the Department of Education — to cut budgets by 15 percent this fiscal year
The NYFD, in turn, will have to cut $74 million from its 2024 budget.
Andrew Ansbro, president of the NYFD union, said the city “should have taken a different approach with the life-saving agencies like the FDNY and NYPD, which could really affect safety in New York City.”
He added: “Because our work is dangerous, we have many members who are physically injured… now they are being pushed out the door into early retirement when they have a lot to offer. They are cutting back on people who truly contribute to the safety of the FDNY and residents of New York City.”
If conditions don’t change dramatically and the federal government doesn’t help the city with the migrant crisis, Adams said city agencies will be forced to cut city-funded spending by 5 percent two more times in the next two months.
The cuts will cut Department of Education funding by more than $500 million in one year, meaning a hiring freeze that could eliminate 37,000 vacant pre-K and 3-K positions.
In addition, free summer classes in a program known as Summer Rising will be discontinued for high school students.
The Sanitation Department will also be hit hard by the announced $32 million in cuts. There will be fewer trash bins in the city and the rollout of comps in the Bronx and Staten Island will be postponed.
“Police have already reached breaking point, and these cuts will return us to a workforce we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s,” said Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association.
The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library would also have to eliminate Sunday service due to the budget cuts.
Adams also said the budget includes a 20 percent cut to migrant services, but did not reveal details of which areas would be affected.
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander has also criticized the cuts — and Adams’ claim that the migrant crisis is to blame.
“Today’s proposed cuts risk harming the well-being of all New Yorkers, especially our most vulnerable,” Lander said Thursday before adding, “City Hall must stop suggesting that asylum seekers are the reason for imposing severe cuts if they is only contributing to a portion of these budget deficits, much of which already existed.”
The municipal council will have to approve the announced cuts, but the members have not yet indicated whether they will support the measures.
However, not every group was happy with the mayor’s budget proposal on Thursday. Chairman of the City Council’s progressive caucus, Lincoln Restler, told the New York Times that his group would not participate in the cuts proposed by the Democratic mayor.
“Mayor Adams’ unnecessary, dangerous, and draconian budget cuts will only worsen New York’s affordability crisis and delay our city’s economic recovery by cutting funding for the schools, childcare, food assistance, and more that help New Yorkers survive in this city to live and raise families,” he said.
Migrants from Africa, Mexico and Venezuela line up outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan in August. The hotel has been given the name ‘Ellis Island’ because this is where the migrants are processed
Adams warned that more cuts could be on the table early next year unless the federal government provides more financial and logistical help to house the migrants.
‘In recent months, our administration has delivered for you time and time again. There are more jobs, crime is down and every day we deliver something for working people,” Adams said Thursday.
“But for months you’ve heard me talk about the fiscal challenges facing the city as the costs of the humanitarian crisis for asylum seekers have skyrocketed, putting severe pressure on our budget.”
“At the same time, Covid-19 stimulus funding is coming to an end – we have made it clear that without significant, timely action from our state and federal partners, we will be forced to make some difficult choices.”
While Mayor Adams deals with the budget and migrant crises, his office is also undergoing an FBI investigation into his campaign fundraising.
The Democrat had his phones seized by the FBI after federal agents raided the homes of two of his aides as part of an investigation into an alleged campaign kickback scheme involving the Turkish government.