New York, NY—Today, NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced the cancellation of the Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) for city agencies. Despite a budget surplus, Mayor Adams also announced an additional 10% cut to city-funded asylum seeker costs.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Mayor Adams is becoming the real life example of the boy who cried wolf. After spending months scapegoating asylum seekers for what the Mayor described as a looming fiscal crisis that required deep cuts to the city’s social services—he has had to retract his words and budget cuts twice already. While that’s good news for the city and New Yorkers, in general, this Mayoral Administration fails to take any responsibility for the false narrative it has created about asylum seekers. To add insult to injury, Mayor Adams is also trying to spin these cutbacks as being a result of his own fiscal management. It would be laughable, if not for the harm caused by the 30 and 60 day rules for new New Yorkers in shelters, and the additional round of cuts being imposed on asylum seekers. The Mayor has no excuses left—the 30 and 60 day rules are arbitrary bureaucratic hurdles designed to push vulnerable new arrivals and their families into the streets. It’s cruel and unnecessary, especially when we can be moving people out of shelters using housing vouchers to stabilize families in need, while saving the city $3 billion. Now, that would be the prudent thing to do, if the Mayor really cared about being financially responsible.”