Good morning. It's Monday. We'll look at how the influx of migrants from Texas has created unexpected challenges for Mayor Eric Adams. |
 | | Mary Altaffer/Associated Press |
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Mayor Eric Adams has acknowledged that the influx of homeless migrants has presented challenges no one anticipated — including criticism directed at him at almost every turn. It's clear that the arrival of more than 20,000 migrants in the last few months has made the city's shortage of shelter beds and housing for the poor more acute, even as the mayor moved to open more than 45 emergency shelters in hotels. But he has also faced resistance along the way. I asked my colleagues Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Jeffery C. Mays to discuss what the influx means for Adams and for the city. |
Emma, you write that the influx of migrants has left Adams at the mercy of others. Is there any sign of relief in sight for him? |
Adams said he's hopeful that changes President Biden recently announced to federal immigration policy could help reduce the flow of migrants to New York. We haven't seen many migrants arriving at the tent shelter on Randalls Island, and it's possible the buses could slow down. But Adams has been very critical of Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who the mayor says is uncooperative to the point of refusing to let him know when buses are coming. |
Adams is being criticized for not mounting a well-coordinated response to this fast-moving crisis. He has been the public face of the migrant crisis because the social services commissioner, Gary Jenkins, has all but disappeared. Why is that, and to what extent is Jenkins dealing with the influx? |
Jenkins is under investigation for violating the city's right-to-shelter law by allowing homeless people to sleep overnight at an intake center, and he has been less visible in public with the mayor. |
The mayor's office said that Jenkins has been dealing with the existing homeless system for New Yorkers while other agencies, including the emergency management department, are overseeing the temporary relief center at Randalls Island. |
Jeff, Adams has frustrated homeless advocates and groups like the Legal Aid Society by pushing to change rules for providing shelter to homeless people. What's the political calculus for him? |
New York City has a unique set of legal requirements, known as right to shelter, that require it to provide shelter to anyone who asks. Groups such as Legal Aid believe that requirement applies to migrants as well as traditional shelter seekers; Adams has suggested that the city should review certain aspects of that requirement when it comes to migrants. |
The mayor has said repeatedly that he does not want to compromise the health and safety of New Yorkers seeking shelter because of the demands of the migrant population. When he announced that he was declaring a state of emergency because of the influx of asylum seekers, the mayor said that the city must "continue to prioritize the needs of long-term residents even as this crisis unfolds." |
As a candidate a year ago, Adams ran on a platform of focusing on New Yorkers of color living outside of Manhattan and struggling with issues such as affordable housing. The majority of homeless shelter residents are Black or Latino. When he was running for office, the mayor argued that he understood the challenges those New Yorkers were facing because he had faced the same challenges, such as potential homelessness, while growing up. |
Jeff, Adams is under fire for something that sounds like Politics 101 — not consulting people like City Council leaders who opposed the tent shelter on Randalls Island. He has now been mayor for nearly 11 months. Broadly speaking, how is he getting along with the Council? |
The relationship between the mayor and the City Council has been bumpy. Some members of the City Council have said that they don't feel as if the mayor and his administration view them as partners while dealing with the migrant crisis. Council members rejected the mayor's plans to build a tent city on Orchard Beach, citing the potential for flooding, and also criticized plans to open the encampment on Randalls Island for the same reasons. They also oppose a potential plan to place migrants on a cruise ship. |
Adams has accused the Council of being overly critical as he seeks to deal with a difficult crisis. He has claimed, without evidence, that some Council members asked for shelters not to be placed in their district, but he has declined to name anyone and has tried to place the criticism into a political context. "The far right is doing the wrong thing. The far left is doing nothing," he said this month, referring to Governor Abbott of Texas on the one hand and to left-leaning Council members on the other. |
Critics say Adams should have moved faster on affordable housing, but it takes time to build buildings. Has the production of affordable housing slowed in the 10 months he has been mayor? What do his critics say he should have done in the short term? |
Even before the migrant crisis, Adams faced criticism for his affordable housing proposals. The mayor did not name a deputy mayor for housing, and his plan to build affordable housing did not cite a specific number of units he planned to create. |
According to the Mayor's Management Report, which included his first six months in office, the number of new affordable housing units created has declined by 45 percent compared with the previous fiscal year. |
The City Council, and other advocates, have urged the mayor to take steps that would help ease the housing crisis for city residents and migrants, including waiving the rule that requires a 90-day shelter stay before someone can move into permanent housing and fixing the way housing vouchers are administered. |
The mayor said earlier this month that some of those changes were in the works, but they have yet to be announced. |
Emma, Adams says he rereads a speech by Theodore Roosevelt titled "In the Arena" almost every day. It's about dealing with adversaries. What does he see as the takeaway from T. R.? |
The mayor has been really frustrated by the criticism he's received and what he views as the naysayers — critics on the left and the right who aren't on the front lines of the migrant crisis. He's saying he is "in the arena" every day trying to help people and pivoting when things don't go well, and he'll keep working hard for the city. |
Prepare for showers, with patchy fog and steady temperatures near the mid-60s. Fog continues through the evening, with a chance of light rain. |
Suspended today (Diwali). |
 | | Dakota Santiago for The New York Times |
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Getting my haircut in Morningside Heights (with thanks to Frank O'Hara) |
After lunch at Broadway Au Lait, where it's almost all
Middle Eastern food, and Tony speaks Arabic
with the owner, and we look out the window
to make sure that Dante, Ellie's dog, is still
attached to his leash and waiting patiently, |
I stop at the barbershop next door,
because during weeks of reading
and then finals, my hair has gotten shaggy.
The woman who cut my hair two months ago,
remembers me and then comments that I
must have had Alexander cut it in the meantime
because she recognizes his work. Her accent is still strong even though
she tells me she has been in the country
for 40 years. Russian pop music TV
plays on the screen on the wall,
and I ask her if she is Russian. "No,
Colombian," she says, but then she nods
toward the other barber. "She is Russian,
they all are, except me, here
and at the other salon." She compliments
me on my gray hair. "Covid," I tell her, "I stopped
coloring it during Covid, but now I like it too."
She nods. |
We talk about grandchildren. An ambulance sirens by, and the men who are building the scaffolding around
the building carry more lengths of blue ladders
up through the webs of pipes and platforms to the roof. |
I pay her and tell her I'll see her in the fall, and as I leave, I see Alex from the Olive Tree Deli,
he calls out to me to ask if I am coming in for sandwiches.
"Tomorrow," I tell him, "Tomorrow." |
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. |
| Melissa Guerrero and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
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