West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT US
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result
SUPPORT THE RAG

Search the site

No Result
View All Result
Get WSR FREE in your inbox
SUPPORT THE RAG

Budget Cuts Hit Preschools, Cops, Libraries as Mayor Blames Migrants

A revised version of the mayor’s January budget now includes dramatic reductions in the funding of municipal services across the board

November 17, 2023 | 9:08 AM
in NEWS
40

Public library supporters rally at City Hall against budget cuts, March 20, 2023.

This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.

By Katie Honan, THE CITY

New York City’s expansion of universal pre-k, some trash pickup, and library services have been slashed as part of Mayor Eric Adams’ “extremely painful” cuts in a newly-announced budget modification that looks to trim the city’s spending.

Every agency will see 5% budget reductions this month, the mayor’s budget officials said, as the city faces slower tax revenue growth. Sources also told THE CITY there will be further cuts in a January 2024 modification.

Adams has warned residents for months of worsening budget cuts, but did not speak directly on Thursday about the latest changes. Instead, his budget officials briefed reporters virtually on the condition that they not be quoted directly.

Of the cuts, the mayor had said Tuesday, “it’s going to hurt, it’s going to hurt a lot.”

The modified budget reflects increased costs and spending since last winter’s projections, which caused a $7 billion deficit — forcing more cuts.

Adams has pinned much of the city’s financial woes on the asylum seeker crisis, as officials say more than 143,000 migrants have come to New York City over the last year and a half — many of them needing public assistance.

The city is still taking care of more than 60,000 asylum seekers in already overtaxed shelters and facilities across the city, as it is required to provide shelter to anyone under its “right to shelter” mandate.

The city predicts it will spend $11 billion on services and housing for migrants over the next two years, officials said — and plans to keep reducing those services, although they did not provide further details on how. City officials have already begun to shorten the length of time most can stay at city-run shelters. 

“To balance the budget as the law requires, every city agency dug into their own budget to find savings, with minimal disruption to services,” the mayor said in a statement Thursday afternoon, adding his recurring plea to the federal government for more financial support.

“Migrant costs are going up, tax revenue growth is slowing, and COVID stimulus funding is drying up.”

Services Slashed

Layoffs of city employees are not on the table, budget officials said, and Adams said in his statement that there would be “minimal disruption to services.”

But the cuts will nevertheless affect New Yorkers citywide, from summer camp programs to trash cleanup.

For the city Department of Education, it means a delay opening new 3-K and pre-k classes in The Bronx and on Staten Island by six months, officials said. More than $570 million has been cut over multiple years from the DOE, with up to $18 million in cuts to community schools over the current and next future year.

A hiring freeze and vacancy reduction — i.e. not filling open positions — will happen mainly at the DOE’s central office, officials said.

The city is also reducing hours and cutting Fridays for 30,000 middle schoolers for its Summer Rising program.

Mayor Eric Adams speaks about his anti-rat efforts during his State of the City address at the Queens Theatre, Jan. 26, 2022.
Mayor Eric Adams speaks about his anti-rat efforts during his State of the City address at the Queens Theatre, Jan. 26, 2022.

Libraries across the city will also see reduced hours and the end to Sunday services following the new cuts. Officials from the New York, Queens, and Brooklyn public libraries anticipate even more cuts in the future.

“Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library and The New York Public Library regret to announce that as a result of mid-year budget cuts, we must eliminate seven-day service across the city, including ending Sunday service at the vast majority of branches that currently offer it,” the three systems covering the five boroughs said in a joint statement. “We also will be reducing spending on library materials, programming, and building maintenance and repairs.”

The NYPD will also have to cut the next five upcoming academy classes for new recruits, without information on when they would resume. There are typically four classes each calendar year.

Even the city’s fight against rats, one of Adams’ obsessions, is being scaled back.

His “Get Stuff Clean” initiative — which invested $14.5 million into increased litter basket pickup, expanded camera enforcement to catch people dumping trash illegally, and rat exterminators, among other cleaning actions — has been slashed, officials said. The city is also eliminating funding for food scrap drop-off sites and community composting groups.

City officials are also planning a 20-month freeze on all new civilian hires within the sanitation department, putting the brakes on auto mechanics and other maintenance jobs, a source familiar with the city’s plans told THE CITY.

Whose Fault?

In a joint statement with City Council finance chair Justin Brannan, Speaker Adrienne Adams pushed back on the mayor’s assertion that the budget woes come solely from asylum seekers.

The two called for the full protection of vital services for New Yorkers and criticized the mayor’s use of “expensive emergency contracts with for-profit companies” for care of the migrants.

“The administration’s approach of reducing budgets of all agencies broadly through additional cuts and a hiring freeze, along with inflicting cuts on our libraries, CUNY, and cultural institutions, is too blunt and not the prudent or sole choice,” they wrote.

A migrant couple waits in line outside the Roosevelt Hotel shelter.
A migrant couple waits in line outside the Roosevelt Hotel shelter, Aug. 1, 2023.

“With clear evidence that city agencies are lagging in their ability to provide New Yorkers with necessary benefits and services at historic levels, the administration must prioritize real exemptions from cuts to turn around city agency performance issues.”

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also blasted the mayor for pinning cuts on migrants.

“Every time the city has faced a challenge in the last two years, the answer from the administration has been to cut,” he said in a statement.

“Blaming fiscal woes solely on the asylum crisis, even though, truthfully, has absolutely impacted our budget, it only explains a portion of a shortfall we’ve anticipated long before the first bus arrived.”

THE CITY is a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of New York. Sign up for our SCOOP newsletter and get exclusive stories, helpful tips, a guide to low-cost events, and everything you need to know to be a well-informed New Yorker.

Share this article:
SUPPORT THE RAG
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

40 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
lin
lin
1 year ago

Incredibly, it appears that the City is still spending on bike lanes and open streets.

So more trash and rats, cuts in schools etc are all OK.
Also OK that the MTA has raised fares and keeps cutting essential bus service.

But fine to keep spending on bike lanes.

19
Reply
nycityny
nycityny
1 year ago
Reply to  lin

The MTA is run by and funded by the state, not the city.

3
Reply
mat
mat
1 year ago
Reply to  nycityny

nycityny-
The City makes substantial contributions to State MTA and works closely on transportation policy and decisions.
The City also administers bus stops, the City funds Fair Fares.

1
Reply
Sal Bando
Sal Bando
1 year ago
Reply to  lin

Bike lanes are cheap and improve qualify of life while making the streets safer. So they’re a good investment.

18
Reply
D M
D M
1 year ago
Reply to  Sal Bando

Bikes are for young and fit. Not everyone can or want to ride them.

Our city is way too big and busy to rely on bike lanes as means of transportation. We need to improve subway and bus services instead of harping on how great bike lanes are for everyone.

19
Reply
Carol
Carol
1 year ago
Reply to  Sal Bando

Yet the bikes still ride on the sidewalks and with the cars in the street

24
Reply
lin
lin
1 year ago
Reply to  Sal Bando

Sal Bando:
With respect …

As a pedestrian, bike lanes and bicycles – especially Citibike – have made the streets unsafe and unpleasant for me and my family.

As a bus and subway rider – not OK for bus/service to cost more and to decline and yet at the same time, plenty of money to expand bicycling.

30
Reply
EdNY
EdNY
1 year ago
Reply to  lin

The city has no control over budgets for buses and subways or their operations.

1
Reply
UWS Dad
UWS Dad
1 year ago
Reply to  lin

Adding bike lanes is hardly a major budget item for the city… plus MTA / DOT budgets are entirely separate.
I don’t bike much myself but find the bike lanes far more pleasant then street parking for SUVs

5
Reply
Anon
Anon
1 year ago
Reply to  UWS Dad

It isn’t bike lanes or parking. In most cases the bike lanes are inscriptions to parking with reduced lanes for cars and trucks. See the bike lanes along Columbus or Amsterdam — sidelwalk, bike lane, parkong, travel lanes.

3
Reply
UWS Dad
UWS Dad
1 year ago

Adams is truly a disaster

24
Reply
Cathy Bernstein
Cathy Bernstein
1 year ago
Reply to  UWS Dad

I don’t think we can pin everything on the mayor. We have a lot of migrants or illegal immigrants, staying in hotels, and not providing any tax dollars back to the city. This is untenable. If you’re watching the videos from the south of the border, everyone is headed to New York City to stay in a hotel.

Yes, we have the new tent city at the national park, but if you read the interviews, most of the migrants went there, and said they were going back to the Roosevelt hotel…they only wanted to stay in a hotel.

This is untenable. Everyone here, in New York City, voted for Democratic policies of a sanctuary city. This is the end result. We just lost pre-K for our kids

3
Reply
Kevin
Kevin
1 year ago
Reply to  UWS Dad

It’s getting so bad that we’ll soon have to rename the Peter Principle the Eric Principle.

(Google it, kids.)

6
Reply
peter
peter
1 year ago

Maybe if they hadn’t utterly screwed up the retail marijuana rollout, they’d have some additional revenue.

19
Reply
gmartin
gmartin
1 year ago
Reply to  peter

or if they stopped the wasteful street cleaning procedure and replaced it with something a bit more rational.

0
Reply
First and Last Name Unknown
First and Last Name Unknown
1 year ago

Still want to continue with Participatory Budgeting? Let’s let that pork barrel program (only good for the hyperbolic newsletters of the respective council members) set sail.

6
Reply
Joanne
Joanne
1 year ago

The truth of the matter is, we can’t afford to take care of them all. If they were immediately given work permits and could start earning a living within a reasonable time frame, I’m all for it. But for all of them to live here for an indefinite period of time while using our resources, sorry, it doesn’t work. The city doesn’t have the right to use my taxes to take care of them. Let the idealistic city residents give them donations.

43
Reply
D M
D M
1 year ago
Reply to  Joanne

A good number of them already work. Read about the new tent city, some of them complained that it is far from work. So even those who work still stay in shelters rent-free. Just wonderful.

21
Reply
Joe Black
Joe Black
1 year ago
Reply to  D M

The migrants that live on West 88th Street off RSD are mostly working. They’re living rent free in a converted hotel / slash dorm that was used by NYIT for the past 20 years or so. The owner is billing the city an exorbitant amount daily for a fully populated facility. The people living there are working. The block is overrun with mopeds / scooters and they come and go with delivery equipment at all hours. Several of them own cars. I’m all for giving people a leg up when they arrive, but if they’re working and buying cars and their kids are going to local schools they should be paying rent. The dynamic on this once quiet street has changed dramatically since last May when they arrived. Additionally, there are 3 uniformed National Guard soldiers at the facility at all times to protect the migrants, as well as social workers and other staff. The National Guard people park illegally in front of fire hydrants and essentially sit around all day doing nothing guarding a building that houses people living rent free. I don’t know what the solution is, but this is untenable and Adams doesn’t have the skill to navigate the city through this.

15
Reply
Natalie
Natalie
1 year ago
Reply to  Joe Black

I live on this street, directly next to the building. There has been no change in “dynamics.” The street is still quiet and friendly. Neither the residents nor the national guard folks have negatively affected the quality of life. I’m not quite sure why the national guard folks are there, but I’m sure people would find reason to complain if they weren’t.

1
Reply
Joe Black
Joe Black
1 year ago
Reply to  Natalie

With all due respect, you probably have an apartment that isn’t facing the street. My apartment does, directly across from the building. As I type this I am listening to the alarm of one of the over 20 scooters parked in front of the former hotel that’s housing these folks. That alone is “reason to complain”. Is it ok with you that the tenants are working and buying cars and living rent free?

8
Reply
Natalie
Natalie
1 year ago
Reply to  Joe Black

My apartment directly faces the building. The issue of the city’s ability to fund a continued influx of migrants is a separate one. I have noticed on this board that if the migrants work, they are a problem, and if they don’t they are a problem. This board is full of such contradictions. But regardless, I don’t think they have negatively impacted the street in any way. Yes there are mopeds. Otherwise, there would be cars.

2
Reply
Joe Black
Joe Black
1 year ago
Reply to  Natalie

Im a reasonable person who has empathy for the struggle of new arrivals. Yes, it’s a challenging situation for sure and people are conflicted. Housing in NYC isn’t plentiful for low income people, especially in Manhattan. As I mentioned in my initial post, I believe we should help new arrivals. The conflict ends for me when I witness people taking advantage. My concern is the fact that many of them are working, not paying rent and can afford to buy scooters and cars. Is that ok with you ? And they access other benefits indefinitely when our neighbors line up for food pantries. It seems you’re comfortable with that, as well as the fact that the National Guard personnel park illegally in front of fire hydrants and don’t get ticketed. I’m surprised you don’t find the scooters an issue on West 88, but then again I can’t be sure if you even live on the block. You claim to be “directly next to the building” the migrants are living in and in your next post claim your apartment “directly faces the building”.
Lastly, if you want to survey what your neighbors think you should speak to the doormen at 155 RSD, 160 RSD and 345 West 88. More people would say the dynamic on the block has changed since the building in question was turned into a shelter for the migrant population, and not in a positive fashion.

3
Reply
Jen
Jen
1 year ago
Reply to  Joe Black

Same in the 70s. I’m appalled. I was saying that all along but was shut up by our local virtue signalers.

10
Reply
School Psychologist
School Psychologist
1 year ago
Reply to  Joanne

Joanne,
ITA! Enough…..is enough!

19
Reply
Paul
Paul
1 year ago

A good number of blue states and cities are facing a budget shortfall for the next several years. Los Angeles, California as a whole, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc.

If you read the statistics the city payroll in terms of employment has grown something like 20-30% mostly through the DeBlasio administration to present.

It’s ok to spend as long as that revenue stream continues generously. NYC as most cities has hit a wall with the pandemic and now the contributing factors involved with the migrant crisis.

This is where most progressives fail. Yes, I will generalize. Government needs to be run like a business. You must prepare for the down times or you’ll fall off a cliff. This is what we’re experiencing now.

NYC has been spending, spending and spending since Bloomberg left office. Now after 10+ years of very generous spending we are looking at a very challenging next 10 years.

It’s great to have all these services and pay for free things for many people. However, at some point it’s unsustainable and that’s our reality.

Unfortunately, I don’t see this administration and this city council as up to the task of solving this problem.

If all recall, the administration along with the city council just passed a record budget recently coming out of the pandemic. This speaks volumes to the fiscal irresponsibility of our city leadership.

18
Reply
RAL
RAL
1 year ago

I feel another real estate tax hike coming

20
Reply
Barbara
Barbara
1 year ago

I wish that someone would do a deep dive into what the migrants are really costing the city. I just don’t trust any numbers that come out of this administration. Also, there have been numerous news stories about how many city jobs are unfilled so I don’t understand why there’s such a large budget shortfall, resulting in the need to hire fewer cops and penalize social services like libraries and schools. I think the Administration is so inept (yet Adams manages to hire so many of his cronies and is paying them huge salaries). I’m just concerned that a lot of the budget shortfall is being blamed on migrant care. Of course it is expensive but $11 billion? Just don’t see how….

13
Reply
charles
charles
1 year ago

“The sky is falling.” The hysterics over a 5% budget cut boggles the imagination. There is a tremendous amount of fat in city government. There are solutions but the Mayor is in cahoots with the city labor unions and with the hotel industry .
I hope this gets published even though the West Side Rag does not like criticism of city labor unions or the Mayor.

8
Reply
early_hominid
early_hominid
1 year ago

The Mayor’s got a point. If you can’t solve the problem by giving a $400 million no-bid contract to a company with no experience providing the services you’re contracting them to provide or building a tent city in a flood plain, then we have no choice but to cut non-essential services like police and sanitation along with boondoggles like pre-school and libraries.

18
Reply
S G
S G
1 year ago

Here’s a novel idea…observe US immigration laws and stop the flow of illegal immigrants on the southern border!

33
Reply
Lisa
Lisa
1 year ago
Reply to  S G

We need to change our asylum application process so that bogus claims are vetted before the migrant enters the country. Why do we allow “asylum” seekers to enter the country before we’ve made a decision on their claim? This is crazy, and deeply unfair to those who are following the rules and applying as they are supposed to.

20
Reply
Levon
Levon
1 year ago

NY wanted to be a sanctuary state accepting all the worlds migrants. Now you’ll have to pay for them until you vote out the politicians who made these choices.

25
Reply
mark
mark
1 year ago
Reply to  Levon

NY is not a sanctuary state, only NYC was foolhardy enough to do that. When they decide to increase they NYC taxes, a huge chunk of the increase. is going to support these people seeking economic asylum, and once it is fully funded even more will come to live in our hotels and public housing which will lead to never ending tax increases.

15
Reply
Anon
Anon
1 year ago
Reply to  Levon

As I’m sure you kmow, this is about Right to Shelter, not being a sanctuary ciity

2
Reply
OPOD
OPOD
1 year ago

The lady in the harbor says it all, America is open to everyone. No room at the inn mentality left Jesus out in the cold , New York can better.

2
Reply
UWS Father of 3
UWS Father of 3
1 year ago
Reply to  OPOD

And if you want to have room for everyone, then you cannot also complain when budget cuts are enacted. The fact of the matter is, there isn’t enough money to pay for everything.

15
Reply
Steevie
Steevie
1 year ago

Just fooling around with my calculator. Mayor Adams says it will cost 11 billion dollars over 2 years to take care of the migrants who number 60,000 presently. 11 billion dollars divided by 60,000 persons equals $183,000 per person for the 2 years or $91,500 per person per year. I know this is very, very simplified, but I think we can all agree that it is expensive.

11
Reply
Get a Grip
Get a Grip
1 year ago
Reply to  Steevie

The contracts are no-bids to politically connected firms like DocGo. This is graft. Many of the higher ups are tight with Eric and his crowd

3
Reply
St. Pierce
St. Pierce
1 year ago

Cut, cut, cut… and then this idiot mayor wants to spend $500 million on new radios for the cops so they can talk to each other on an encrypted channel. I could talk about that stupid robot thing too but honestly that’s like a rounding error on $500M (or $700M in NYPD overtime).

To think, but for 0.8 percentage points, we could have had Kathryn Garcia as mayor…

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

More Than 100-Year-Old Upper West Side Building Slated for Demolition
NEWS

New 12-Story Building Slated for Busy Upper West Side Block: Permits Show

May 14, 2025 | 11:33 AM
COLUMNS

Openings & Closings: Softside; Superfly; Little Italy Pizza; Boggi Milano

May 14, 2025 | 7:55 AM
Previous Post

Upper West Side Bakery Named Most Popular In The United States

Next Post

‘Nyad’ Playing at UWS’s Plucky Art House Theater; What To Do With Your ‘One Wild and Precious Life?’

this week's events image
Next Post
‘Nyad’ Playing at UWS’s Plucky Art House Theater; What To Do With Your ‘One Wild and Precious Life?’

‘Nyad’ Playing at UWS's Plucky Art House Theater; What To Do With Your 'One Wild and Precious Life?'

Home Safety for People with Hearing Loss

Accessible Travel

New-York Historical Society Announces Details of New 80,000-SF ‘Democracy Wing’ to Open in 2026

New-York Historical Society Announces Details of New 80,000-SF 'Democracy Wing' to Open in 2026

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.