Migrant crisis costing NYC ‘at least’ $600M a year, fiscal watchdog figures

The city will spend at least $596 million a year to provide shelter, education, health care and legal aid to thousands of asylum seekers who’ve arrived in recent months, its Independent Budget Office said Sunday.

The IBO estimate — requested by Staten Island political leaders — was calculated based on 17,500 refugees currently living in city-run shelters or under the city’s care in hotels.

And the price tag could balloon dramatically.

“The arrival of an additional 10,000 asylum seekers — assuming the current mix of households remains consistent — would increase costs by around $246 million,” IBO Acting Director George Sweeting wrote.

“The total cost of providing the identified city services cannot be estimated with certainty as the number of people arriving continues to evolve.”

In September, Adams asked President Biden for $500 million to deal with the migrant crisis, but federal help is unlikely to come, Sweeting warned in a memo accompanying the report.

Gov, Kathy Hochul on Friday opened the door to providing state funding for the migrant surge — after months of trying to deflect the issue to the Biden administration amid her tough election fight with Lee Zeldin.

The comments came the day after the revelation that Adams will be closing the city’s migrant tent city on Randall’s Island, and relocating its inhabitants to the Watson Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

The Randall’s Island facility replaced an earlier one at Orchard Beach in The Bronx that was relocated because of flooding concerns — but only after the city had already spent $750,000 building it.

City officials have declined to disclose how much it spent on the second tent encampment and how much it cost to dismantle the first facility.

City Councilman Joe Borelli — who requested the IBO’s analysis along with his Staten Island colleagues — blasted the massive spending, which he said could have been used to shore up losses to city workers’ pensions.

“It’s incredible to think that if we weren’t spending $600 million to accommodate Biden’s open border, we’d have the $600 million we need to keep our city retirees from losing their current health plan. It’s all coming from the same purse,” Borelli said.

Adams had estimated the cost of housing migrants at $1 billion — but he admitted on Saturday the price tag would ultimately be much less.

“As the number of asylum seekers arriving in New York City in recent weeks has fluctuated substantially, we’re reviewing past analyses to determine if there is a more accurate estimate of the total cost over the current fiscal year,” City Hall spokesman Fabian Levy said in a statement.