top of page
Shasta Unfiltered FF-01_edited.png

SHASTA

Serving the North State with Honest News and Entertainment

UNFILTERED

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Instagram
  • Youtube

Mamdani announces $12B Budget Gap for NYC

Conveniently Forgetting Adams' $12B Migrant Warning

Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's recent announcement of a staggering $12 billion budget deficit over the next two fiscal years has sparked controversy. The mayor pinned the blame squarely on his predecessor, Eric Adams, for alleged fiscal mismanagement.


Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani blames Eric Adams for deficit - Image www.abcnews.go.com
Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani blames Eric Adams for deficit - Image www.abcnews.go.com

In a January 28 press conference, Mamdani claimed the shortfall—projected at $2.2 billion for 2026 and a whopping $10.4 billion for 2027—stems from Adams' administration underestimating expenses by over $7 billion to artificially balance budgets. Mamdani decried this as leaving the city with "underestimated costs that now require immediate action," while pushing for tax hikes on the wealthy and on corporations as a fix.



But this narrative conveniently overlooks a key fact: Adams himself publicly warned in 2023 that unchecked funding for migrants arriving in the city could balloon into exactly this $12 billion crisis.




Adams' 2023 Prophecy: A $12 Billion Warning Ignored

Far from mismanagement, Adams' administration highlighted the financial black hole created by the migrant influx, pleading for federal and state intervention to avert disaster. Critics argue Mamdani's finger-pointing is a politically expedient dodge, ignoring the root cause of mass migration policies that have strained NYC's resources to the breaking point. In August 2023, then-Mayor Eric Adams sounded the alarm on the escalating costs of housing, feeding, and providing services to tens of thousands of asylum seekers—many entering illegally—flooding into New York City.


In a stark announcement, Adams projected that without swift federal or state aid, the crisis would cost the city up to $12 billion over three years, including $5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year alone. He described it as a "humanitarian crisis exacerbated by national immigration policies," emphasizing that NYC was "left to pick up the pieces of a broken immigration system."


Adams' office updated forecasts amid the arrival of nearly 100,000 migrants since spring 2022, warning that daily expenditures had hit $9.8 million for shelter and support. By September 2023, with an average of 10,000 asylum seekers arriving monthly, Adams implemented budget stabilization measures, including a hiring freeze, to brace for the $12 billion hit by 2025. He repeatedly blamed the federal government under President Biden for failing to secure borders and provide relief, stating the city could not sustain the burden indefinitely.


This wasn't hidden mismanagement—it was a transparent, dire prediction. Adams' team estimated the total could exceed $12 billion by July 2025 if migrant flows continued unabated. Yet, in Mamdani's telling, the deficit is purely a product of Adams' fiscal sleight-of-hand, with no mention of the migrant factor that Adams flagged years earlier.


Mamdani's Efficiency Push: Band-Aid or Blame Shift?

In response to the shortfall, Mamdani signed Executive Order 12 on January 29, requiring every city agency to appoint a "chief savings officer" from existing staff to devise efficiency plans within 45 days. These officers are tasked with streamlining operations, cutting waste, and prioritizing essential services—moves Mamdani touts as building on his commitment to internal reforms, including axing ineffective programs from the Adams era.


While efficiency is commendable, skeptics see this as window dressing. Mamdani's call for state-approved tax increases on high earners and corporations aims to plug the gap without slashing services for "working New Yorkers." He insists on "structural revenue solutions" beyond one-time fixes, noting that even Wall Street windfalls won't suffice. A preliminary budget is slated for February 17, involving City Council and state collaboration to safeguard the city's credit rating.


However, this approach raises eyebrows. By framing the deficit as Adams' legacy of underestimation, Mamdani sidesteps the ongoing costs of migrant support—costs that have only grown since Adams' warnings. City Comptroller Mark Levine's estimates align eerily with Adams' 2023 projections, yet Mamdani attributes it to prior "fiscal gimmicks" rather than policy-driven expenditures on migrants. As one budget analyst put it, "Blaming mismanagement ignores the elephant in the room: federal inaction on immigration that's turned NYC into a de facto border town." Recent X discussions on the announcement:

Broader Implications: Politics Over Pragmatism?

Mamdani's progressive agenda, including protecting programs for vulnerable populations, is admirable in intent. But critics, including fiscal conservatives and Adams' former allies, argue it's disingenuous to rewrite history. Adams' 2023 pleas for help went largely unheeded, leading to the very deficit now unfolding. With Governor Kathy Hochul's support needed for tax hikes amid state budget talks, Mamdani's strategy risks alienating moderates who see migrant funding as the true culprit. Should Mamdani be successful implementing new wealth taxes, it will fuel the further flight of taxpayers from NYC.


As NYC grapples with its largest gap since 2008, the question looms: Is this deficit Adams' fault, or the predictable outcome of policies Mamdani himself endorses? By ignoring Adams' prophetic $12 billion alert on migrant costs, Mamdani's announcement feels less like accountability and more like partisan deflection. New Yorkers deserve transparency, not a blame game that masks the immigration crisis at the heart of the shortfall.


Sources:

Primary Sources on Adams' $12 Billion Warning:

YouTube Videos Referenced in the Article:

Additional Contextual Sources:

bottom of page