A union of public school teachers is suing Democratic Mayor Eric Adams of New York City over his proposed budget cuts to offset the cost of its migrant crisis, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Adams announced on Sept. 9 that the city would be cutting all agency budgets by 5% amid high expenditures on sheltering illegal immigrants who have crossed the U.S. border with Mexico, and who have been transported to the city by Republican governors of southern states. In response, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) filed a lawsuit in state court against the mayor, arguing that the cuts violate state law guarantees of certain initiatives, according to the AP. (RELATED: Eric Adams Announces Funding Cuts For Cops, Schools To Pay For City’s Illegal Migrant Crisis)
“This is going to become difficult and ugly. We have never had an administration try to cut their schools when they have historic reserves and their revenues are all up,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew during a news conference outside the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday.
Why are we suing the city to stop the cuts to education? Because we have little confidence that the @NYCMayor and his administration will be visited by any ghosts this holiday weekend. pic.twitter.com/2eMPXrpvTM
— UFT (@UFT) December 21, 2023
Among the cuts imposed by the Adams administration are a hiring freeze for the New York City Police Department and the closure of the public libraries on Sundays. The city’s education department will have its budget cut by $1 billion over two years.
“From time to time, friends disagree. Sometimes it ends up in a boardroom and sometimes it ends up in a courtroom,” Adams said at a news conference on Thursday, the AP reported. Adams has blamed the cuts on the influx of migrants, saying that they will “destroy” New York City.
Even as Adams is cutting the city’s budget, figures from the city’s Independent Budget Office suggest that New York’s fiscal situation is not dire. Contrary to Adams’ claims of a $7 billion budget deficit, the office projects that the city will have a budget surplus of $3.6 billion at the end of fiscal year 2023-24, with a deficit of $1.8 billion the following year, the AP reported.
Adams’ approval ratings have declined to 28%, the lowest in recorded history. Apart from the migrant crisis, he is currently the defendant in a civil lawsuit for alleged sexual assault and his 2021 campaign is under a federal criminal investigation for allegedly receiving unlawful foreign donations from Turkey.
The UFT is the largest teachers union in New York City, with nearly 200,000 members. The city’s largest public-sector union, DC 37, has also sued Adams to block the cuts, the AP reported.
Adams’ spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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