Gov. Hochul slams Mayor Adams’, NYC’s handling of migrant crisis in legal filing

NEW YORK — A lawyer for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration filed court documents late Tuesday condemning aspects of the Adams administration’s handling of the deepening migrant crisis, offering an unvarnished analysis that described a shaky and slow-footed City Hall response.

The 12-page filing, issued in response to litigation over the state’s right-to-shelter responsibilities, defended the state, and asserted that the city has been sluggish in providing reimbursement documentation, inconsistent in its communication and sloppy in its handling of funds. The state’s lawyer, Faith Gay, wrote that the state has assisted the city despite “substantial questions” about the city’s primary contractor and failure to use hundreds of vacant shelter beds as migrants languished for days outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown this summer.

The state’s lawyer also said that the city has failed to take advantage of opportunities to use state property, and that it did not prioritize an effort to secure work permits for arrivals, potentially depriving thousands of migrants the swift opportunity to begin to work.

A city program that has bused some migrants upstate and invited a storm of litigation also drew the state’s criticism. The filing said the city had embarked upon the program with “little or no notice” or coordination with the Hochul administration and upstate counties.

“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,” said the filing, adding that the city “can and should do more to act in a proactive and collaborative manner with the state.”

Though Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul immediately downplayed their differences, the document appeared to surface private fissures and frustration in the partnership between two moderate Democratic political allies who often express pride in their publicly warm relationship.

With New York officials strained as they have worked to care for about 100,000 asylum-seekers who have arrived in the city since spring 2022, tensions have flared between New York’s leading Democrats. The state attorney general, Letitia James, has removed her office from its role defending the state in the case, a highly unusual move that underscored policy disagreements between James and Hochul.

At a news conference in the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon, Adams said he appreciated that the governor had given “her analysis” on the “extremely difficult” challenge. He said he was “really pleased” with his relationship with Hochul.

“If her observation is that here are some things you can do differently, we’re all in,” the mayor said. “Whatever feedback my partner in the governor’s mansion wants to give, we want to hear. But we also want to explain some of the actions we took.”

Adams said his office would “sit down” with the governor and explain why it could not use spaces listed in the filing and why the city had taken as long as it did to provide invoices.

“I like her,” Adams said of Hochul. “She likes me.”

Hochul agreed that their relationship is strong, telling NY1 that the mayor has “had extraordinary challenges.”

“We are here to help,” she told the station Wednesday afternoon. “The reason for the letter is simply that a judge told us that we had to do that.”

The city and state are being challenged in Manhattan Supreme Court over their obligations to migrants under the city’s right-to-shelter rule, which stems from a consent agreement that the state and city entered into in 1981. Under the right-to-shelter mandate, the city is expected to offer shelter to anyone who needs it.

The state’s critical Tuesday filing came after the city filed a court-ordered letter last week requesting specific state resources to support the migrants. The city has said the crisis could cost the city $12 billion by 2025, a staggering figure.

In its filing, a lawyer for the city Law Department argued that the state should cover a majority of the costs, perhaps stoking the strong state response.

“While the city maintains that the federal government should absorb at least one-third of the expenses incurred in connection with the new arrivals, in the absence of meaningful federal funding, the city contends that the state should cover the remaining two-thirds,” said the city’s letter, which was dated Aug. 9 and released through a public records request.

The state’s response said the Hochul administration would “continue to work closely with the city to meet its obligations” and that the “support by the state reflects Gov. Hochul’s understanding that this humanitarian crisis deserves both compassion and substantial assistance.”

On Monday, the New York Daily News, citing city Department of Homeless Services data, reported that hundreds of beds in the city shelter system sat empty while a large group of migrants were sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel for several consecutive nights earlier this summer. The state’s filing cited the report and voiced concern about the Adams administration’s “decision to allow hundreds of migrants to sleep on the street.”

The state’s response also cited a report in The New York Times last month describing how a city contractor, the medical services firm DocGo, was said to have mistreated migrants.

Josh Goldfein, a senior attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which petitioned for an emergency court conference after the Roosevelt Hotel incident, said he agreed with many elements of the state’s letter, including its contention that the city fell short of its legal obligations when migrants slept outside the Roosevelt.

But Goldfein also said the city and the state share the blame.

“There are a lot of things the city could be doing differently,” he said. “And the state has not up until this point viewed this as an urgent situation.”

“Going forward, we’re interested in finding solutions so that new arrivals get what they need,” he said.

On Tuesday, the city opened a cot-filled, state-funded megashelter at the state-owned Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in eastern Queens. The shelter, expected to house about 1,000 asylum-seekers, amounted to a major investment, and city officials took pains to thank the Hochul administration for making the site available.

The shelter will likely cost about $350 million, Hochul said Wednesday.

In its court-ordered response Tuesday, the state said it had reviewed dozens of state-owned properties to house migrants, and listed 14 locations — many owned by the state — that could serve as shelters. They included the Aqueduct Racetrack in southeast Queens and parking lots at the SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx.

Mass shelters, including the Creedmoor site, have invited blistering criticism from locals. Zach Iscol, the city’s emergency management commissioner, said the city was still reviewing the state’s list of sites but that some of the locations could pose environmental challenges, have seasonal restrictions or impose burdens on neighbors.

The state’s Tuesday filing also outlined other state assistance so far, including nearly $1.5 billion in state funds, and a pledge of “significant additional funds” in next year’s budget. Hochul has said she is aiming for an additional $1 billion in aid to the city in the upcoming state budget.

“The state will continue to support migrants’ needs statewide through various programs, in collaboration with the city,” the filing said. “But the state asks for the city’s cooperation to ensure that state funds are properly managed.”

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