New York, NY—Today, NYC Mayor Eric Adams gave his third annual State of the City address. This follows his FY25 preliminary budget announced last week, which did not take into account the investments that were announced in NYS Governor Hochul’s executive budget on the same day.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“This afternoon, Mayor Adams touted his success of upholding our City's legacy of welcoming the huddled masses yearning to be free - but he has dropped both the promise, and the torch, of the Statue of Liberty. Announcing nothing new to improve the lives of new arrivals or longtime immigrant New Yorkers, he had chosen to only recycle his arbitrary, short-sighted strategies that deny shelter and dignity to vulnerable families in need. As Mayor Adams referenced the number of people evicted as proof of success, we cannot help but ask how forcing people to pointlessly spend their days and nights in the cold winter streets helps them get on the road to self-sufficiency?
“One thing we can agree with the Mayor on is that we need to finally ‘get stuff done.’ But the way forward requires leadership that moves away from emergency response towards investing in the success of all New Yorkers – whether they’ve been here for 50 years or 50 days – through proactive policy solutions. At this moment, everyday New Yorkers are paying the cost of poor management and budgeting decisions, such as the dismantling of early childhood education and the stripping of resources to our public libraries, not to mention the ongoing affordability crisis. Smarter and more humane governance could add billions to our annual budget that could help restore services to all New Yorkers, while funding vital investments in our immigrant communities such as emergency legal services, language accessibility, early childhood education, and stable housing. For example, expanding CityFHEPS housing vouchers to New Yorkers regardless of immigration status could save the city $3 billion, a solution Mayor Adams has chosen to ignore in favor of fiscally irresponsible and ineffective policies that hurt more than they help. It’s time that the Mayor presented us with a strategy that allows every New Yorker a chance to ‘make it’ in this city.”