Potential budget cuts that Mayor Eric Adams ordered back in September are set to impact the police and sanitation departments, as well as asylum seekers, NY1 has learned.

The November financial plan is due Thursday. It is a normal part of the city budgeting process, in which the city and agencies assess their spending projectons with actual costs. 

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Eric Adams and his budget director are expected to announce new budget projections for the city on Thursday

  • As part of the November financial plan, Mayor Adams ordered city agencies to cut budgets by 5% amid the growing costs for migrants

  • Sources said so far major impacts are set for the NYPD, sanitation department and migrant services

  • The 5% cut is expected to save the city over $1 billion

This year’s plan, however, came with a potential 5% budget cut.

Earlier this year, amid the ongoing migrant crisis, the mayor ordered agencies to find efficiencies and savings.

At the time he said that the city would “seek to minimize disruption to programs and services, and there will not be layoffs.”

NY1 has now learned through sources what some of those cuts will look like. They include a hiring freeze at the NYPD, cutbacks in litter removal at the sanitation department and cuts to migrant services with more spending on legal funds instead of housing.

Adams addressed these cuts at his weekly off topic briefing on Tuesday.

“In all my time in government, this is probably one of the most painful exercises I’ve gone through, Adams said. “And when we look at the numbers, our police officers have done so well dropping crime in our city, when we look at the school safety agents, when we look at some of the other initiatives that we are doing — it’s going to be extremely painful for New Yorkers, and that is why we continue to say we need help.”

In the past, Adams has spared the NYPD from cuts or lowered their targets. So the fact that the mayor could be making any cuts to the NYPD is a sign he is looking deep for savings.

The administration has said the migrant crisis has been a driving force for the cuts, but other organizations like the Citizens Budget Commission note that other areas like labor union contracts and expansion of the city’s voucher assistance program need to be properly budgeted for.

The CBC estimates that the budget gap going into the next fiscal year has increased by nearly $900 million. They also note the projected savings for this round of cuts are around $1.7 billion.

Meanwhile, the projected gap ahead of Thursday was around $5 billion for the next fiscal year. These cuts are on top of 10% cuts the city had already made since last September, however, those looked at savings through efficiencies and the cutting of vacant positions.

In the end, the mayor could potentially choose to roll back cuts for certain departments and agencies depending on final projections and impact on services.