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By: Hellen Zaboulani
New York City’s migrant crisis has caused some NYC agencies to rack up massive overtime bills, despite Mayor Eric Adam’s requests to cut costs.
As reported by the NY Post, there are roughly 140,000 asylum seekers who have come to the Big Apple since April 2022, leading to a multi-billion-dollar migrant crisis. Two city agencies in particular—the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Department of Homeless Services (DHS), paid city employees for a whopping total of 2,690,659 overtime hours. This cost the city an extra $123.1 million in total payouts, per city records. This means overtime earning by city employees jumped 70 percent, up from $72.3 million in fiscal 2021, before the migrant crisis. This also marks a 51 percent increase in overtime hours worked, when DSS and DHS staffers had worked overtime 1,770,634 hours.
Per the Post, the newly released city payroll records show that 47, or almost half of NYC’s top 100 overtime earners work at the DSS or DHS, with duties including assisting migrants. Other agencies also paid OT hours, but these agencies were extremely understaffed due to the surge of incoming migrants arriving from Central and South America. The 47 top OT staffers each made at least 1,937 hours in extra pay for the fiscal year ending June 30.
Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) said the costs of meeting the needs of asylum seekers has been daunting, and like Mayor Adams, he is pointing a finger at the White House. “New Yorkers are getting the short end of the stick, facing cuts to critical services while migrants get more,” he said. “It’s long past time to stop this nonsense, redirect those buses to the White House, and get back to serving New Yorkers.”
Per the Post, Mayor Adams announced last week that he is asking every city agency across-the-board to cut expenses by 5 percent. He also said there will be another 10% cut coming early next year, as the city grapples to offset the estimated $12 billion tab for aiding incoming migrants. As a result, the next five Police Academy classes are set to be cancelled. “When we go bankrupt, thank a migrant, and more importantly, thank the politicians who supported this madness,” said Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli (R-Staten Island).
The Adams administration has been asking President Joe Biden to step in and provide additional aid to fund the open border policies. The federal government has provided or promised just $142 million in aid to NY so far, compared to $1 billion earmarked for the expenses by state lawmakers in Albany.
The White House previously commented saying: “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting local jurisdictions hosting recently arrived migrants and we will continue working to deliver support in every way we can,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said in early November. “Starting this week, the Biden-Harris Administration, in partnership with New York City and New York State, will be scaling operations of its first-of-its-kind work authorization clinic to help thousands of migrants living in New York’s shelter system apply for work permits,” he added.
The DSS also commented. “DSS has been at the forefront of the city’s response to the asylum seeker crisis since it began, and we are incredibly grateful to our staff from across the agency who, despite truly unprecedented challenges, have stepped up and worked long hours to provide necessary supports for our newest arrivals,” said department spokesman Nicholas Jacobelli.
