The session was aimed to provide insight into the work and for New Yorkers to learn more about the everyday efforts of their city government.
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A media briefing was attended by Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Chief Advisor to the Mayor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Housing Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar, Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg, Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget Jacques Jiha and New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.
Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy, Communications, the city for the City of New York rolled out the 8th session thanking everybody for the weekly in-person media availability. The session was aimed to provide insight into the work and for New Yorkers to learn more about the everyday efforts of their city government.
Mayor Eric Adams said, “The feedback he gets on the subways and the streets, is that the New Yorkers are happy to hear directly from them in Tuesday briefings as it allows us not to live just through a tweet, but what we’re doing on the streets, and it’s reflected in the conversation we’re having with New Yorkers.”
He began by talking about the November update plan. The Mayor said, “As many of you know, we have to file a budget two years in the making, and in November we have to do the necessary adjustments. That’s why we have Jacques Jiha that’s here today to have these conversations about the decisions we had to make. And this team that’s up here now, this was a real tough exercise. After doing PEGs several times, 3% PEGs, then we had to go back to the table and do 5% PEGs and find efficiency in all of our agencies. It was extremely challenging to do so.”
He further reiterated that the tax revenue that’s coming in is not at the rate that is expected. So many men and women were held without their union contracts being settled. Over 300,000 employees were given a fair salary so they could afford to live in New York. About the asylum seekers, he said that still a substantial number of people, like in thousands, are coming in every week.
Mayor Eric Adams emphasized that he is going to support working people. The focus is keeping the city safe and attracting businesses to continue to make the economy strong.
He also said, “I know New Yorkers are angry when they hear about these deficiency cuts, but New Yorkers, I want you to know I’m angry also. I am angry that instead of doing a budget that I want, a budget that pours into services for our seniors, cleaning our streets, continuing to build housing, putting support into our young people. Instead of doing that budget that I am excited about doing, we have to move in another direction and look at these cost savings to continue to have our city operate and to abide by the law.
As the weather conditions changed in New York in last 2-3 days, the Mayor reiterated that NYCEM and the team had already put in place a travel advisory. He urged the New Yorkers to sign up for a NotifyNYC to stay informed on the latest weather information.
On being asked about the next round of cuts on migrants and shelter, and the worry that some of the shelters might close, Mayor Adams said, “Our desire has always been a layered approach. The first most important layer is not to have children and families sleeping on the street. That has been my number one concern. Second layer is not to have everyday people sleeping on the street. I have done too much in the last 20-something months of removing the unsightliness of tents and encampments. We did it in record time through the work of Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom and her coordination. And that is continuing to be our desire.”
He further added, “But I’ve made it clear after over 140,000 migrants and asylum seekers, of course, that is just continuing to increase, thousands are still coming in each week, the visible signs of this crisis is going to start to show itself. And our goal is to not have people sleeping on the streets. And you actually, believe it or not, there are migrant and asylum seekers who are saying we want to sleep on the streets. And people have a right to do so. We need to be clear on that.”
Jacques Jihia, Director, Office of Management and Budget said, “Yes. Like you indicated, mayor, the governor has indicated to us about 3 weeks ago in the memo issued by the state budget director that the state will be moving away from funding shelter to funding job placements and legal services. Our plan is based on the assumption that we would get a third of the funding from the state. However, yesterday the governor gave some clear indication that she would be working with her staff to see what she can do to provide some kind of assistance and relief to the city. So, we are hoping that we don’t have to get there because we are expecting to get more assistance from the state now, that she’s committed again to provide us some assistance.”
On the discussion about the 3-K and pre-K slots, The mayor said, “We were doing previously under the previous administration, we were paying for seats, not children in seats. And what First Deputy Mayor Wright did and her team is they looked at how do we properly align the seats so we could know where they’re needed, because it was based on ages. This is just not a one size fits all.”
First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright added, “Through the analysis that was done by the team, it’s very important for everybody to know that there is a seat for every child who is eligible.”
Mayor Eric Adams also addressed the report of increasing threat to the City of New York.
He said, “First we have been monitoring the threats to the deputy mayor and the commissioner and the whole team at NYPD and Deputy Commissioner Weiner. As you know, we have a Joint Terrorist Task Force in the city to focus on these threats and monitor a lot of chatter that’s out there. And when you think about it, we have over 300 protests that took place in the city. Some of them were side by side, and some of the violence you’re seeing in other municipalities you did not see here. Hats off to Commissioner Caban and what his team has done.”
Mayor Adams also reiterated, “My review and the review from our compliance team continue to show what I’ve always felt and will continue to say. Our campaign follows the rules. And that’s something I always tell them, follow the rules, follow the rules, follow the rules, and I’m going to continue to say that and that’s what the preliminary review from our compliance team.”
