‘The city is experiencing a humanitarian crisis,’ Mayor Eric Adams’ budget director orders overtime cuts for NYPD
NYC mayor orders uniformed agencies to reduce overtime spending amid financial crisis caused by influx of asylum seekers.
Mayor Eric Adams' budget director, Jacques Jiha, has instructed the city's four uniformed agencies – police, fire, sanitation, and corrections – to curtail their overtime expenditures.
In a memo dispatched to city agencies on Saturday, Jiha stated his intent to issue a directive for the implementation of an overtime reduction initiative applicable to the NYPD, FDNY, DOC, and DSNY.
He said the agencies must submit a plan to lower their OT costs compared to last year and report their progress monthly to City Hall.
The memo came as Adams warned that the city is facing a financial crisis due to the influx of tens of thousands of asylum seekers, which he said could cost the city $12 billion in the next three years.
He said the city will have to cut its spending by 5% immediately and possibly by 15% by spring, although Jiha said that would still “only cover two-thirds of our projected asylum costs.”
Patrick Hendry, the leader of the Police Benevolent Association, the largest police union, slammed the idea of cutting police overtime. He said the NYPD is already understaffed and struggling to reduce crime to pre-2020 levels.
“If City Hall wants to save money without jeopardizing public safety, it needs to invest in keeping experienced cops on the job,” Hendry said.
A political strategist also said that Adams, who will run for re-election in 2025, is “taking a big gamble” by reducing the police manpower.
“If you cut overtime, you have fewer cops on the street. That equals less police protection,” said consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who has worked with police unions.
The NYPD’s OT budget was over $700 million last year, and critics have long complained about high police overtime costs.
But Adams, a former transit cop, also ran for mayor on a promise of restoring public safety.
The overtime reduction is part of a larger plan that Adams and his budget director have laid out to deal with the costs of caring for the asylum seekers.
The plan also includes a hiring freeze, except for public health and safety and “revenue producers”; a freeze on out-of-town travel, except to Albany and Washington, DC; a ban on buying new equipment and hiring new consultants; and a reduction in services for asylum seekers.
Jiha said the cuts are necessary unless President Biden and Congress and Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature provide more financial assistance. He said the current aid from Washington and Albany is “grossly inadequate.”
“The city is experiencing a humanitarian crisis we did not cause,” Jiha stated.
