© Paul MartinkaMayor Eric Adams claimed that the migrant crisis might bankrupt the city.
Adams — who's asked the federal government for $1 billion to pay for migrant housing and services — said there were "real dollar amounts" tied to the state of emergency he declared in October.
"This is an expensive endeavor that we are in and we have to find ways of carrying out this task without bankrupting the city," he said.
During an unrelated news conference in Brooklyn, Adams also said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom and other officials were "meeting continuously to pivot, shift and figure out how to solve this crisis that was that was dropped on us."
But when two reporters invoked Biden in their questions, Hizzoner wouldn't even utter the name of his 80-year-old fellow Democrat.
"Listen, we have to solve the migrant, immigrant issue, so it's easy to point to whoever's in the White House at the time. Those are Band-Aids. We have a problem at our borders," he said in response to a question from The Post.
Mayor Eric Adams claimed that the migrant crisis might bankrupt the city.Paul Martinka
"And so when I say the federal government, I'm talking about Congress and the executive branch resolving this issue of our migrants. And we're not going to try to simplify this."
Adams' remarks came a day after revealing that he'd learned Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was "going to be sending migrants to places like New York City and Chicago."
Adams called that move "unfair to local governments," adding, "There is no more room at the inn."
Adams said it's "easy to point to whoever's in the White House at the time" but refused to blame Biden for the migrant crisis.
Polis later told Politico that he actually began relocating migrants from his state weeks ago, before a recent storm created a backlog in Denver.
On Wednesday, Adams echoed a statement Tuesday from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who called Polis' actions "inhumane."
Adams' attack came after he said he spoke Tuesday with Lightfoot, who told him, "Eric, you know we have been a little too patient but, you know, we can't do anything to embarrass our families. But it's about time we start to do that."
A spokesperson for Polis didn't immediately return a request for comment.
As of Sunday, about 35,700 migrants have flooded into New York City since the spring and more than 24,000 were being housed in 68 emergency shelters and processing centers, according to the latest official statistics.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took credit for adding $800 million in migrant-related aid to the $1.7 billion federal spending plan that Biden signed Thursday while vacationing in St. Croix.
At the time, Schumer said New York City could seek some of the funds but City Hall — which has formally applied for $1 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency — said it hasn't yet been awarded any money.
(getting into Nedlud form here)