Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On ABC 7

February 21, 2024

Michelle Charlesworth: We begin with that major news from the New York City Mayor's Office, an exclusive interview. Mayor Eric Adams reveals he's cutting city spending on the migrant crisis by an additional 10 percent on top of the 20 percent in cuts he had already announced.

Pedro Rivera: Yes, and he says all of those citywide budget cuts have now been canceled. Our N.J. Burkett sat down with the mayor this morning for that exclusive interview. He joins us now from City Hall. N.J.?

N.J. Burkett: That's right, [inaudible] migrants will mean more money for city services. Yes, Mayor Adams says he is slashing funding for asylum seekers and counting on better than expected tax revenue. City agencies got the call about an hour ago that another round of drastic cutbacks to city services will not happen.

Mayor Eric Adams: You're not going to see some of those draconian steps that we were going to have to take that will get in the way of the cleanliness and the safety of our city.

Burkett: So, you say it's good news?

Mayor Adams: It's great news. It's great news...

Burkett: Mayor Adams says New Yorkers should feel relieved. After two rounds of punishing budget cuts to all but the most essential city services, the budget is stabilizing and a planned third round will no longer be necessary.

What does it mean for New Yorkers? How should people look at this, mayor?

Mayor Adams: Well, if we had to do the third round, it would impact garbage pickup. It would impact services to our older adults. It would impact libraries. It would impact a series of services that you would actually see the difference.

Burkett: In an exclusive Eyewitness News interview, Mayor Adams announced that funding for asylum seekers will be cut back by 10 percent on top of a previous 20 percent cut for nearly one‑third cutback on city spending for migrants.

Mayor Adams: When we inherited this, we were in an emergency state. Emergency conditions cost more money. We're now transitioning into a stabilized state because this is going to be here for a while.

So, by doing that we can renegotiate contracts, we can look at long‑term planning. We're not using this as an emergency. Although we're in a crisis status, we're treating it differently because the emergency still exists but we are managing it differently.

Burkett: Adams says the city's economic recovery will bring in better than expected tax revenue. The announcement comes one day after the administration was praised by the independent credit rating agency, Moody's, for its handling of the city's budget crisis.

Mayor Adams: We are far from out of the woods, but we're showing that we can manage this crisis if we watch how we spend and we manage the spending that we're seeing in the city.

Burkett: Well, the mayor says the cutbacks to migrant spending will take place in the coming weeks. We'll have much more from my interview with Mayor Adams and reaction to it coming up on Eyewitness News at five o'clock tonight. For now, we're live at City Hall, N.J. Burkett, Channel 7 Eyewitness News.