Eric Adams under fire for plan to cut NYPD funding as city hoards money for labor deals

On Friday, Mayor Eric Adams came under fire for his plan to cut funding for the city’s police force and other essential services, while saving up $15 billion to pay for new contracts with municipal unions.

“The NYPD is the last agency I would cut,” said City Council member Robert Holden (D-Queens). “We want New York back. We must renounce crime. We need more cops. We have less.”

Holden added: “We need more technology, more cameras. We want more people to take the subway to work.”

City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) also cited an estimated $1 billion annual cost for the city’s escalating migration crisis, which Adams did not include in the proposed $102.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2024. which he released on Thursday.

“It is alarming that uncontrolled spending by migrants is putting pressure on our core services. I think it goes deeper than the standard trim,” Borelli said.

“I am very concerned about any cuts to the police department as night after night my social media feed is filled with reports of people having their cars stolen and their homes broken into.”

Borelli added, “I need more cops, not fewer.”

Council member Joanne Ariola vowed to oppose Adams’ spending plan.

“You are cutting back on police, fire, sanitation, mental health and youth services,” she said. “We’re going to get those numbers back where they should be. I am not in favor of reducing any of our services.”

Ariola specifically cited Adams’ plan to cut sanitation costs from $1.93 billion to $1.82 billion, stating “we’re just making the city clean again.”

Adams’ plan will cut funding for all city agencies, including the NYPD, which will cut its budget from $5.59 billion to $5.44 billion. The school budget – the largest in the city – will also be cut from $31.25 billion to $30.74 billion.

But Adams also proposed a 12.4% increase in the amount of money in the city’s Miscellaneous Fund, which the independent Citizens Budget Commission says is primarily reserved to cover raises and arrears in payments to city union members, who all work for free. contracts.

The fund is also used to pay for increases in the cost of benefits, including health insurance.

CBC President Andrew Rein said Adams will need to stay on track with spending and “aggressively” manage and restructure public services if he wants to avoid a major financial crisis.

“The gaps in recent years are huge. We’re about to hit the wall. Hitting a wall is hard,” he warned.

During a Friday appearance on Brooklyn-based online radio station Caribbean Power Jam, Adams compared his budget plan to a recurring message he received from his mother growing up.

“Our national economy is unstable,” he said. “We better be smart, financially prudent and ready to understand, as mom says: “This is what we brought. And that’s what we have in the accounts.”

Adams added: “Until then, we have to get out of these rough waters. I have to make some tough decisions.”