WORLD WORLDWIDE USA NewYork NY NewYorkCity NYC thecity THE CITY News Journal Update - THE CITY Scoop: Speaker Adams Says Mayor Adams in “Panic Mode” Over Migrant Crisis, City Council Shut Out

 

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If you know anyone who might like this newsletter, send it to them. If this was sent to you by someone else, subscribe here — it's free!  Dear New Yorkers, As Mayor Eric Adams and his team scramble to respond to a surge of migrants here, the City Council has been mostly shut out by a “very reactive administration,” Speaker Adrienne Adams told THE CITY. The executive branch is in “panic mode,” she said, which has stymied any collaboration between the two sides of government. “We’re going to have to be very proactive against what's been a very reactive administration,” she said. “So if we have to do that as the grownups in the room, then we've got to do that.” Speaker Adams also told THE CITY in a recent sit-down interview that the Council has largely been cut out of any planning or conversations as the city works to house tens of thousands of people who’ve recently arrived by bus and by plane, seeking asylum in the United States and a place to sleep in New York.  Her comments come as Mayor Adams’ administration races to open a seventh “respite center” for migrants, THE CITY has learned. There’s capacity for 1,600 people at the six centers running now, but they’re already almost filled and have opened with no community input. A seventh center could open at the St. Brigid Church in the East Village in the next day or so.  “Respite centers” are apparently part of a new system of accommodations that, unlike the city’s shelter system, are only available to newly arrived migrants — and where, city officials have maintained, the traditional rules that govern shelters don’t apply. Read more here about the respite centers, and here for our interview with Speaker Adams. Sponsor message Some other items of note: A man locked up on the city’s jail barge was on a ventilator for nearly two weeks after he was tackled by a group of correction officers, THE CITY has learned. According to paperwork filed by the officers, the takedown was captured on video surveillance. The footage is under investigation.  The federal government has moved to keep NYCHA under the full-time oversight of an independent monitor for another five years. The city’s public housing authority could have applied to end the monitorship in January 2024 — but that would’ve required it to complete promised building upgrades that are still a long way off.  Airport workers at LaGuardia are protesting unsafe working conditions, which they say include vehicles with bad brakes and spewed lavatory waste. Now, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. The H+H/Elmhurst Hospital strike is over, after trainee doctors reached a tentative deal with the Mount Sinai Health System. The proposed deal includes 18% raises over three years, which would reach pay parity with their non-union peers at Mount Sinai’s flagship private East Side campus. The NYPD’s top uniformed officer, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, has been served with a misconduct charge by the police department — and in an unusual move, his case is headed to an administrative trial. On Thursday, June 1, THE CITY’s Gwynne Hogan will moderate a candidate forum for City Council District 43, which includes Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach. The forum is co-sponsored by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), Asian Pacific Americans Voting & Organizing to Increase Civic Engagement (APA Voice) and diverse AAPI member organizations. RSVP here. Thank you to everyone who attended the Missing Them project’s closing reception at the Bronx Documentary Center on Sunday! Our public art exhibitions with Photoville are on view through Memorial Day weekend. For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 hospitalizations, positivity rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker.  Sponsor message Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday's Weather Rating: 9/10. Okay, yes. High temperatures in the upper 60s with mostly sunny skies and low humidity. A north wind remains very blustery throughout the day, but it's not something we're going to complain about too much. The vibes are very good! THE KICKER:  “My music doesn’t sound dated; it’s still standing strong. Like me.” —Legendary performer and icon Tina Turner, who died yesterday at age 83. Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday. Love, THE CITY P.S. If you liked something about today's newsletter, or didn't, let us know at zshah@thecity.nyc

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