Citing better than expected revenue and reduced spending in migrant care, New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday said he would stop a previously announced round of budget cuts.
Adams said he was cutting spending on migrants by another 10%, which helped the administration save a total of $1.7 billion, the mayor said through a press release. The administration will also lift the current hiring freeze on municipal jobs.
"The combination of our tough, but necessary financial management decisions, including cutting asylum seeker spending by billions of dollars, along with better-than-expected economic performance in 2023, is allowing us to cancel the last round of spending cuts, as well as lift the near total freezes on city hiring and other than personal spending," Adams said.
The mayor's announcement was a reversal from his statements earlier this year about drastic spending cuts for fiscal 2025 executive budget that would have slashed the budget of the Police and Fire departments, Department of Education, and many other city agencies.
City Council Members said they were relieved.
"New York City’s economy has proven durable and resilient, and blunt cuts that had a disproportionately negative impact on vital programs were never necessary," said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Finance Chair Justin Brannan through a press release.
