For the second time in a week, Gov. Kathy Hochul has seen a private disagreement with another Democratic official over the migrant crisis in New York City spill into public view ”“ and this time, the spat is with the city”™s mayor, Eric Adams.
The New York Times reported that Faith E. Gay, a partner at the law firm representing Hochul”™s office in a legal proceeding on the management of the city”™s migrant crisis, sent a 12-page letter to the city”™s Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds- Radix criticizing how Adams”™ administration is handling the ongoing problem. The city has more than 100,000 migrants to accommodate but has run out of space in shelters to house them and needs additional funding to support their needs.
While much of the letter detailed the efforts made by the state to assist the city, some passages offered a harsh rebuke at how Adams”™ administration is responding to the problem.
“In some instances, the City has failed to accept the State’s offers of assistance or recommendations for State facilities,” the letter said. “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. While Governor Hochul and Acting Commissioner 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.”
The letter also stressed that Hochul “is in daily contact with the White House in this effort,” which could be seen as a jab at Adams”™ vocal criticism of the Biden administration”™s handling of the illegal immigrant influx. Furthermore, the letter berated Adams”™ administration for transferring busloads of migrants to Hudson Valley and upstate counties and localities with advance communication regarding their actions, noting the city need to ensure that “school districts can support additional children, and that the existing homeless populations in those counties and localities are not displaced because of migrant relocation efforts.”
“A lack of coordination from the City to date has impeded the State’s ability to foster productive relationships and discussions, including with the counties and localities that have offered to help,” the letter declared. “In particular, the City chose to send migrants to counties and localities outside of the City with-little- or-no notice to or coordination with the State or those counties and localities. That has created opposition and has led to litigation that might have been mitigated or avoided if the City had acted in concert with the State and with the counties and localities where it sent migrants. Moreover, the City’s failure to inform the State of critical incidents that have occurred in shelters outside of the City has compounded these difficulties.”
However, the letter”™s origination from a private law firm and not the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James highlighted Hochul”™s difficulties in coordinating a united front on the migrant issue. Last week, the New York Times reported that James opted not to represent Hochul”™s office in the legal proceedings regarding the migrant issue in New York City. James did not comment publicly on her decision, although the cited an unnamed “person familiar with her thinking” in claiming James “had fundamental policy disagreements with the governor over the state”™s role in managing the crisis.”
Photo courtesy MTA / Flickr Creative Commons
