NYC comptroller strips Mayor Adams’ emergency migrant spending power, citing ‘extensive’ reporting failures

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander revoked Democratic Mayor Eric Adams’ emergency power, which allowed him to make deals with contractors for migrant services without prior approval, the New York Post reported Monday.

In November 2022, Lander’s office authorized Adams to strike emergency deals to address the city’s migrant crisis without the comptroller’s preapproval. In a Thursday letter, Lander’s office announced that it would be stripping Adams’ administration of the emergency power, now requiring the mayor first to seek approval from the comptroller.

“Given the rapid expansion of the City’s efforts to shelter arriving asylum seekers, our Office is revising its prior approval,” the letter stated.

“The comptroller’s office citywide prior approval,” the letter continued, “is hereby revoked.”

Since May, approximately $500 million has been used to provide various migrant services, including housing, food, and laundry, to asylum-seekers, city contract records reviewed by the Post revealed.

According to Lander’s office, New York City spent $1.7 billion in emergency contracts to address the migrant crisis from January 2022 to September 2023.

Following a review, the office concluded that a $432 million emergency contract “uncovered concerning information & lack of experience in providing shelter & support services.” The comptroller ultimately rejected the contract following several issues with the company.

“The review found significant delays in agencies submitting required outlines and contracts. In FY23, agencies filed emergency contracts on average 144 days (nearly five months) after the start of the contract term even though the City’s procurement rules require that agencies submit contracts to the Comptroller’s within thirty days. The Comptroller’s review also found that agencies likely failed to report the vast majority of subcontractors on these contracts, as required by procurement rules,” the comptroller’s office stated.

A spokesperson for Lander’s office, Chloe Chik, stated, “Our review found extensive failures to report subcontractors despite problems that surfaced with many of them and 80 percent have no performance reviews at all.”

“In response, we concluded that the most prudent course for the city’s fiscal health and integrity would be to require City Hall to seek prior approval before using emergency procurement on a case-by-case basis, as required by the City Charter, rather than blanket approval to use whenever they want,” Chik added.

Lander stated that agencies “should not defer reporting deadlines and must adhere to guidance around transparency, accountability, and greater cost efficiency when stewarding city dollars.”

“Otherwise, unscrupulous vendors could take advantage of the situation, supplies could go to waste, and the public could lose its trust in government to act responsively and responsibly in times of crisis,” Lander explained.

A City Hall source told the Post that the source believes the revocation of the emergency power will slow down urgently needed migrant services.

“Do you want it to take longer to get food to people? I know everyone isn’t a fan of what we are doing, but if the alternative is to sit and wait in bureaucracy, then whatever,” the source told the outlet.

Charles Lutvak, a City Hall spokesperson, criticized Lander’s decision to revoke Adams’ emergency power. He accused Lander of “tying our hands behind our back," which he said is "unfair to both new arrivals and longtime New Yorkers and will unquestionably slow down every step in the process.”

City Councilman Justin Brannan (D), a supporter of Lander’s decision, told the Post, “While managing and financing an international migrant crisis should have never been our responsibility alone, the administration has relied far too much on costly emergency contracts with for-profit companies that have milked taxpayers for millions.”

“While the migrant influx continues, it is no longer an unexpected situation and therefore no longer warrants emergency contracts without oversight,” Brannan contended.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!