Migrant crisis widens political rifts in Queens and beyond
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migrant crisis in New York City, which has seen well over 100,000 asylum seekers arrive to the five boroughs since last spring, has been the impetus of a number of political divisions, political observers say. File photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By Ryan Schwach
As the ongoing migrant crisis in New York City intensifies with no signs of slowing down, as has the rift between various sects of city electeds with different strategies for fighting it, splintering Mayor Eric Adams’ hopes of a united front.
As the city works to manage well over 100,000 migrants that have come through its borders in the last year, decisions by Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul have received criticisms from both sides of aisle – as well as from each other in recent weeks – fraying some political relationships and making some combative political relationships more intense, political observers say.
"There have been united political fronts recently on seeking more federal aid from DC, but given the massive logistical and humanitarian challenges, and complicated political dynamics here, it is understandable that City and State public leaders have not been in agreement on every detail,” said Democratic strategist Trip Yang. "Both Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul have repeatedly called on the federal government for more resources, and the migrant crisis has intensified various leaders' relationships with each other.”
In the last week alone, Republican officials have vowed to take the city and state to court over a planned migrant shelter at Floyd Bennett Field, and on Monday a group of 20 socialist elected officials called the city’s response to the crisis “cruel”.
The 20 electeds, which include Queens officials Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, State Senator Julia Salazar and Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, challenged the governmental response to the crisis in a scathing statement and made arguments on how to improve the response.
“We do not accept the New York City and State officials’ cruel response to asylum seekers, and the scapegoating of those new arrivals to defund public goods for everyone,” the electeds wrote.
The several page statement comes in response to a slew of budget cuts from City Hall as the city faces financial strain from the crisis, which included a 5 percent cut to city-funded spending initiated by Adams last week.
Adams defended the cuts, saying that they are the result of a lack of support and resources.
“Since the large influx of asylum seekers to our city began last spring, we have warned New Yorkers that every city service could be impacted by this crisis if we did not get the support we needed,” he said. “Coupling the costs of a national crisis that has fallen onto New York City with COVID funding that is running out and reduced revenue growth, our city’s financial future may be at risk if we do not act.”
“While our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” he added.
In their statement, the socialist electeds called the budget cuts “violent,” and implored the mayor to reverse the cuts or find the funds in other agencies, including the NYPD or the Department of Correction.
The progressives also called out comments made by Adams last week, in which he warned that the migrant crisis would “destroy” the city, which many interpreted as xenophobic.
“On top of his dangerous policy agenda, Mayor Adams has been echoing the xenophobia of Donald Trump and Curtis Sliwa, pitting working-class New Yorkers against new arrivals,” the electeds said. “He is trying to distract us from the government’s failure to make New York a livable place for everyone. The Mayor wants working people to feel small and afraid, but we know better. Nothing will ever ‘destroy’ New York.”
Public Advocate Jumanee Williams issued similar statements in an amNY op-ed Monday, only a few weeks after he joined Adams as well as Comptroller Brad Lander to call on increased federal support, something the 20 Socialist officials also said was needed.
“The comments, the cuts, and the crisis are all meeting a context of longstanding neglect and disinvestment in longtime New Yorkers – largely from Black, Brown, and working-class communities across our city,” Williams wrote. “People who have seen their neighborhoods and livelihoods suffer from a lack of government investment or attention now see news every day about new arrivals and requests for new resources.”
On the other side, Adams and Hochul have both received criticism from more moderate Democrats and Republicans on the placing of migrant shelters in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Last week, Republican Councilmember Joann Ariola said we should “fully wage war” on the governor, the president and “all others who advocate for the continuation of this entirely untenable experiment,” a reference to the planned construction of a migrant tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in South Brooklyn.
Although Ariola does not represent Floyd Bennett Field, her Queens district begins just over the Marine Parkway Bridge in the Rockaways.
Ariola also called the migration “illegal,” although the process of seeking asylum is generally considered a fully legal process.
On Friday, Ariola pledged to file an injunction against the state over the Floyd Bennett shelter in an attempt to halt it.
“I am promising my constituents and all New Yorkers: we will fight this,” she said in a statement on Friday. “Upon consulting our attorney, we have been assured that we are on firm legal ground to win this lawsuit and prevent the establishment of a massive base camp at Floyd Bennett Field.”
Ariola’s office told the Eagle that they planned to file the injunction on Monday night.
Adams and Hochul’s shelter plans have not only been criticized by Republicans like Ariola and Curtis Sliwa, but by Democrats as well.
Democratic electeds have fought shelters at Floyd Bennett, as well as Creedmoor Psychiatric Center and Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, arguing that they were not adequate locations, wouldn’t work for the surrounding suburban communities and that the plans lacked appropriate communication with local officials.
“It's ridiculous to me that this is happening without any of the community members, elected officials and leaders being part of the conversation or knowing what is happening,”moderate Democratic City Councilmember Linda Lee said at a rally in early August. “We need more transparency, we need more communication about what the details are.”
Hank Sheinkopf, a political consultant and professor, told the Eagle that he believes that Democrats criticizing the city’s response to the migrant crisis could help them at the polls in November, and in coming elections when the crisis is sure to be on the minds of voters.
“The governor knows that if this spills into the suburbs, it will injure Democrats this fall and next fall,” he said.
Sheinkopf argues that the complexities and difficulties surrounding the migrant crisis has exacerbated existing wounds, and has given elected officials an outlet to express pre-existing grievances with each other.
“The suburbs don't want the migrants, the progressives don't want Adams, and it's a meeting of an unconscious cabal,” he said. “It's made the right, left divide even harsher.”
