Tensions seem to be growing between the New York City mayor and the state's governor. In a letter, a lawyer for Governor Kathy Hochul criticized Mayor Eric Adams' handling of the asylum-seeker crisis.
Meanwhile, the city continues to dig for funds to house the continuous influx of migrants.
The governor's letter comes in response to a list of requests made by the city, and says that the city failed to accept several offers of assistance made by the state, including the use of more than a dozen state-run sites it said could be converted into shelters.
"I thank her for giving her analysis over this extremely difficult time what we both are going through," said Adams, while insisting there isn't bad blood between them.
"People depict that letter as a brutal attack against us. People want to see the governor and I fight. That's not going to happen. I like her, she likes me, and the things we can learn from each other we are going to do together," said Adams.
The letter from the state said the city failed to accept several proposals to use state-controlled sites that could house more than 3,000 migrants.
In an interview with New York Times, the governor laid out what the state has done to help NYC with the crisis.
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"The state of New York has provided unprecedented resources to help the city fulfill their obligations and we will continue to do so," said Hochul. "It is true they did not accept some of the help we offered. That's a statement of fact. I can show you all the sites we offered. When they are in need of state-owned sites, we offered them months ago. They are still available."
"We're going to sit down to show why we could not use those places. She stated that the invoices ... were taking too long. We are going to sit down to show her why it took that long, and to come up with some ideas. We're really pleased with the relationship we have with this governor," said Adams.
The Hochul administration also believes the city is not prioritizing the migrants' work permit applications.
The city says they've repeatedly asked the federal government to expedite the process so migrants can start working.
"I think we've been very clear, very publicly, that work authorization has been a priority of ours since last year. I don't think anybody has been more outspoken about that than the mayor," said New York City Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy.
Meanwhile, the mayor also addressed discontent by some residents after the opening of a new shelter in Queens.
"I don't have the authority to deport people. 'Why can't you just not house them?' I don't have the authority not to do that. So, I would go on with this administration to give people clear information, so they don't have this displaced anger," said Adams.
City Hall says more than 101,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022. The Adams administration says they have opened over 200 shelters in the city.
Mayor Adams called on the governor to stop the banning of the construction of migrant housing in communities surrounding New York City.
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