© Seth Harrison / USA TODAY NETWORK + © El Paso Times-USA TODAY NETWORK
Mayor Adams pushing back against criticism of his planned 5% budget cuts.
(New York, NY) – Amid mounting criticism in response to his planned budget cuts — as well as lagging poll numbers — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is pushing back. On Tuesday, while holding his weekly off-topic question and answer session with reporter, Adams said the city faces a $7 billion budget gap that must be addressed. In the past, the mayor has blamed the budget shortfall on costs associated with the migrant crisis, lower tax revenue due to higher office vacancy rates, and expiring COVID-19 relief funding.
On Monday, City Council members rallied outside of City Hall and then held a hearing probing the budget cuts. Nearly all aspects of the city government faces cutbacks, including the NYPD, FDNY, Department of Sanitation, and Department of Education. But Adams says he hopes to minimize cuts to areas impacting public safety. He also noted yesterday the city plans to cut back on services provided to migrants by 20%, in a bid to lower costs. There will also be an effort made to reduce the migrant population within the city, in terms of those under the Adams’ administration’s care.
Meanwhile, Adams also finds himself on the defensive amid some poor poll numbers out recently from Quinnipiac University. Just 28% of respondents said they approve of Adams job performance. And 3 in 10 said they think Adams did something “unethical” regarding his 2021 campaign fundraising efforts — a situation being investigated by the FBI. The mayor argued at Tuesday’s hearing that “political opportunists” are out to get him, rather than support the city as a whole.
