The migrant crisis is driving a wedge between Democrats in New York as the state reckons with its sanctuary policies and tens of thousands of destitute immigrants.
Attorneys for Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a letter to attorneys for New York City on Tuesday addressing a letter the city sent the state last week with a list of requests, according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the letter. The city’s Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, has grown outspoken about the lack of help he says the city has received to care for tens of thousands of immigrants.
Adams has directed most of his intraparty criticism at President Joe Biden and the White House. The Democratic mayor has also leaned on Hochul for aid and the state government for action in regards to the burgeoning humanitarian crisis in New York City as more immigrants arrive.
Hochul’s administration lashed out at Adams in the letter sent Tuesday, blaming the city for lapses in working with the state and for failing to follow through on requests. The letter also faulted the city for not taking full advantage of aid already offered to the city.
“In some instances, the City has failed to accept the State’s offers of assistance or recommendations for State facilities. The City has not made timely requests for regulatory changes, has not always promptly shared necessary information with the State, has not implemented programs in a timely manner, and has not consulted the State before taking certain actions,” the letter states.
“While Governor Hochul and [Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance acting commissioner Barbara Guinn] appreciate Mayor Adams’s public acknowledgement of the State’s significant role in the crisis response, the City can and should do more to act in a proactive and collaborative manner with the State,” it chided.
Fabien Levy, the deputy mayor for communications for the city, told the Times that while the city appreciates the state’s help, the significant extent of the problem requires the state to do more. He called on state lawmakers to pass “a statewide order that bars localities from passing ordinances that prevent asylum seekers from being relocated to other parts of New York State.”
Adams on Wednesday downplayed the tension between his administration and Hochul. “People want to see the governor and I fight. That’s not going to happen,” he said, according to the Times. “I like her. She likes me. And the things that we can learn from each other we are going to do together.”
The immigration situation in New York has been exacerbated by Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. In order to relieve the pressure on his state from hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants that have crossed the U.S. southern border, Texas has paid for dozens of busses to transport willing immigrants up to New York City and other self-identified sanctuary areas.
New York City’s policies toward the recent destitute immigrants are building backlash among the city’s longtime residents. Joe Germanotta, a restaurant owner and the father of the artist known as Lady Gaga, said the immigrant housing has brought chaos to his Upper West Side neighborhood.
“Ever since they moved in, it’s become chaos,” Joe Germanotta told Fox News. “It’s really changed the Upper West Side from back when it was the seventies. We’re back. We went backwards.”