NYC Mayor Adams reveals budget cuts will slash 4,000 police jobs over the next two years
Eden Villalovas
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams detailed immediate budget cuts due to the immigration crisis on Thursday, which includes reducing the number of officers from 33,000 to 29,000 in the next two years.
The next five police academy classes will be canceled, meaning the city’s police department will see staffing below 30,000 for the first time since the 1980s.
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New York leaders have warned that significant budget cuts would upend the living standards in the city, and without additional federal aid, the rising cost of the crisis is expected to continue.
“This is extremely personally painful for this administration. These projects, and these initiatives, we knew was going to improve the lives of New Yorkers,” Adams said on Thursday.
Many of the cuts are expected to take effect immediately — shrinking every single agency by 5%. Among the highest cuts are a $2.1 billion slash to education, $1.4 billion from the Department of Social Services, and $800 million from Homeless Services.
“This is truly a disaster for every New Yorker who cares about safe streets,” police union President Patrick Hendry said in a statement posted on X, the social media website formerly known as Twitter. “Cops are already stretched to our breaking point, and these cuts will return us to staffing levels we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s.”
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“We cannot go back there. We need every level of government to work together to find a way to support police officers and protect New York City’s 30 years of public safety progress,” Hendry said.
Disputes between New York lawmakers have been occurring for months as officials grapple with how to handle 10,000 illegal immigrants a month, pleading with the Biden administration to send federal resources and services to assist with the surge of people. Earlier this year, Adams said the city would spend about $12 billion on the projects over the next two years.