Looking at the criticism that the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, leveled in recent days against President Joe Biden, one would wonder if we are not on the verge of an even greater political disagreement.
Adams’ offensive coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Arizona and Texas governors beginning to send migrant buses arriving at the southern border. According to official figures, in the last year the number of applicants housed and receiving services in New York City exceeds 35,000.
Adams, who has not been especially tense in his claims to the president, first blamed him for not expediting work permits so many of those asylum seekers could be productive. “They don’t want our shelter or free food, they want to work,” he pushed.
Three days later, he again accused the federal government of turning its back on New York, going so far as to accuse that “the city is being destroyed by the immigration crisis.”
The whole issue of migrants and the spending they imply came at a terrible time: The days when the negotiations for the approval of their respective budgets for 2024, have the federal and state governments tied their hands without being able to make promises or operate certain strategies.
For now, the White House responded diplomatically to the New York mayor’s provocations, assuring that the Biden administration is “proud of our association with Mayor Adams and the significant investments we have made in New York City,” reminding him in passing of the that Biden has freed up resources for large infrastructure projects not only in the city but in the state.
On the one hand, it is appreciated that Eric Adams has taken off his partisan coat (despite the fact that Biden himself integrated him into his national advisory board for his re-election campaign) demanding a larger budget to attend to an issue that has meant additional expense for him. of 300 million dollars. Reflected, by the way, in the more than 100 emergency shelters and eight Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Centers, in addition to the center to receive immigrants operating 24 hours a day.
With the pressure, the mayor seeks that a good part of the 800 million dollars (a figure that may increase) that the federal government has reserved to help cities that receive extraordinary amounts of migrants go to New York.
Therefore, it is understood that the bullying against Biden is simply a warning so that the White House does not forget about the Big Apple. And what Adams receives, added to the $1 billion pledged by Gov. Kathy Hochul for the next two fiscal years, will be close to the $2 billion figure the mayor has in mind.
Despite Adams’ presumed rowdy attitude, the escalation will not take place given that Biden seems to have reserved his bullets for the MAGA movement while Adams still has many other battles to face.
* Juan Alberto Vázquez is a correspondent for MVS Noticias (Mexico) and author of the book “NXIVM: The sect that seduced power in Mexico”. Twitter @juansinatra