Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to issue a directive ordering the New York Police Department to slash overtime spending in order to help cover costs associated with the migrant crisis, the New York Post reported.
Adams’ budget director, Jacques Jiha, reportedly sent a memo on Saturday to the city’s police department, fire department, Department of Correction, and the Department of Sanitation, stating that each agency would be expected to cut overtime.
“The mayor will … issue a directive to implement an overtime reduction initiative for our city’s four uniformed agencies (NYPD, FDNY, DOC/DSNY),” Jiha wrote. “These agencies must submit a plan to reduce year-to-year OT spending.”
The memo instructed the departments to submit monthly budget reports to City Hall “to track overtime spending and their progress in meeting the reduction target.”
According to Patrick Hendry, the head of the Police Benevolent Association, the city’s largest police union, cutting overtime will be a difficult task for the department.
“It is going to be impossible for the NYPD to significantly reduce overtime unless it fixes its staffing crisis,” Hendry stated. “We are still thousands of cops short, and we’re struggling to drive crime back to pre-2020 levels without adequate personnel.”
“If City Hall wants to save money without jeopardizing public safety, it needs to invest in keeping experienced cops on the job,” he added.
Last year, the city’s police department spent over $700 million on overtime.
In addition to slashing overtime budgets, Adams plans to enforce a hiring freeze. The hiring freeze will not apply to public health and safety positions or “revenue producers,” the Post reported. At this time, the city does not plan to implement layoffs to meet the new cost-cutting goals.
The memo also stated that there would be a ban on new equipment purchases and future consulting contracts. Out-of-town travel restrictions will also be implemented.
Jiha noted that the city’s cost-cutting measures will impact migrant services as well.
“We are also reducing services being provided to asylum seekers and closely monitoring these services to ensure they are being delivered in the cost efficient and cost effective manner possible,” Jiah’s memo said. “The city is experiencing a humanitarian crisis we did not cause.”
Last week, Adams stated that the influx of migrants “will destroy New York City.”
“We have a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut. Every service in this city is going to be impacted, all of us,” Adams said Wednesday. “I said it last year when we had 15,000, and I’m telling you now with 110,000. The city we knew, we’re about to lose, and we are all in this together, all of us.”
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