NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency Friday over the city’s migrant crisis and pleaded for financial and legislative assistance from the federal government and state lawmakers.
The emergency declaration will suspend certain land use requirements in order for the city to more rapidly construct tent camps to house migrants, such as the controversial facility set to be constructed on Randalls Island, Adams said in a speech from City Hall.
But the declaration only goes so far, Adams said. With more than 17,000 South and Central American migrants currently in the city, the homeless shelter system is nearly at 100% capacity and social services are being strained to the brink of collapse, he said.
“It is burning through our budget,” he said, predicting that the city will spend more than $1 billion on the crisis in this fiscal year alone.
“It is not sustainable, and it is not right,” he added.
As a result, Adams demanded that President Joe Biden’s administration and state lawmakers in Albany do what they can to help, including allocating emergency funding and passing legislation that would expedite work permits for the migrants.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment,” he said.
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