Governor Hochul: “We are committed to this. It's important that New Yorkers know that. These are individuals, human beings, and they deserve to have the ability to be taken care of when they arrive. But the State is committed to continuing to work with the Mayor without a doubt.”
Hochul: “We are focused on helping find as many sites at considerable state expense in the city and we believe there's still more capacity based on the list we've already provided and trying to work with the federal government to open up more sites. So, we're committed to continue to work with the city to solve what is an enormous crisis. It is a federal crisis as well. We need more help there.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on NY1 to discuss the asylum seeker crisis in New York State.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Dean Meminger, NY1: Governor Kathy Hochul joins us exclusively to talk about the ongoing situation with migrants and asylum seekers. Governor, thank you for your time.
Governor Hochul: Well, thank you for having me on. And truly, we are here in the city in the midst of a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and the State of New York has provided unprecedented resources to help the city fulfill their obligations, and we will continue to do so. Our attorneys made clear in court that we've offered other resources that are still available, that we have resources still on the table, that we've brought significant dollars to the table. We'll continue to do so, $1.5 billion already, shelters, National Guard, health care, voluntary relocation, as well as $10 million just recently for legal services.
So, we are already sheltering thousands of these migrants at state-owned properties and have stood them up at great expense and are looking to bring more online, working in partnership with the federal government to get the approval for new sites. So, hopefully we hear within the next week or so. So, we are committed to this. It's important that New Yorkers know that. These are individuals, human beings, and they deserve to have the ability to be taken care of when they arrive. But the State is committed to continuing to work with the Mayor without a doubt.
Dean Meminger, NY1: Well, do you agree with the letter though, from your lawyer or lawyers that the city hasn't done enough, has been slow and did not accept some of the assistance the state offered?
Governor Hochul: Well, it is true that they did not accept some of the help we offered. That's a statement of fact. I can show you all the sites we offered when they're in need of state-owned sites. We offered them months ago, they're still available. That's the point we're saying we're not taking off the table –
Dean Meminger, NY1: What are those sites, if you can mention them?
Governor Hochul: What are those sites? I have a list right here. Some of them at JFK, they're throughout the city. I mean, I can give you – there's probably 12 of them listed if you want me to read them all on your show, but–
Dean Meminger, NY1: Sure.
Governor Hochul: There's 12 of them that we've offered, but also as large-scale sites. I mean, Creedmore is going to cost probably $350 million. We have now stood that up this week it'll house thousands of migrants. And we offered Riverbank State Park, we offered Aqueduct. We have smaller sites as well. So, we are continuing to help identify sites and are pushing hard for Floyd Bennett Field, and I think that that could be a significant development. And again, on the phone with the White House again today to talk about the leases for that. So, I believe that is going to happen. It's just a matter of when.
Dean Meminger, NY1: Now you, along with the Mayor, you have worked side by side on so many issues, even this issue, but you know, this letter shows some cracking perhaps, in that relationship, do you think the city may have dropped the ball somewhat in dealing with this crisis? Over a hundred thousand migrants, arriving in New York City since spring of last year.
Governor Hochul: No, the mayor has had extraordinary challenges. He didn't invite all these individuals in. I think there was an expectation that not so many would be allowed to come to the border or that they'd relocate in other states. So, no, this is nothing anyone could have anticipated, and it's been an enormous challenge. And what I want to just put out there is people enjoy, particularly the media, identifying any disagreements as a major fight.
I was just with the mayor this past week announcing a joint, $200 million for a project in [Kingsbridge] to bring back the Armory to have economic development projects. We are doing a lot on crime. We're working together on housing, so that relationship is strong. My point is we are here to help and when we identify areas where we think more can be done, that's what we're doing. And the reason for the letter was simply that a judge told us we had to do that. That was in response to being ordered by a judge to identify our response to the city. And that's the reason it is out there.
Dean Meminger, NY1: The Mayor, city officials and advocates have been asking that migrants also go to counties outside of the five boroughs. What's your conversation with those leaders? Because people are saying migrants can't only stay in the five boroughs, they should be going to other counties.
Governor Hochul: No, we're in constant communication with the welcoming counties Upstate and Buffalo and Rochester and Albany and other communities have embraced them, and we are providing National Guard, we're providing support for those services as well. So, that is happening already.
But let's be very clear, you cannot involuntarily take people from the city and send them all over the State of New York. They have a right to decide where they want to go once they get here. We can't just ship them all over against their will. There were individuals just recently who were put on a bus – I'm not sure they thought they were going up to Rochester, but they landed in Rochester. They wouldn't get off the bus. They want to come back to the city. The city has more opportunities for them to work, has more opportunities with public transportation, it has more English as a Second Language programs than they do in these rural counties. Putting someone in a hotel on a dark, lonely road in Upstate New York and telling them they're supposed to survive is not compassion.
We are focused on helping find as many sites at considerable state expense in the city, and we believe there's still more capacity based on the list we've already provided and trying to work with the federal government to open up more sites. So, we're committed to continue to work with the city to solve what is an enormous crisis. It is a federal crisis as well. We need more help there. We've been asking for work authorization, number one. For the last 14 months we've been asking the federal government to let these people work. I have traveled the entire state even in the last few days. Every employer I meet regardless of party, they are asking, can we send these people to Upstate, to the restaurants and hotels and to the nursing homes and the hospitals. There is such a desperate need for help, especially our farmers who produce the food that comes to the City of New York. 5,000 farm jobs opening today, which is why the Farm Bureau stood with me in support of making sure we can get this work authorization.
But also, here's the sequence. They can't work right now because they don't have legal status. What we are pushing for and why I am putting $10 million toward legal services, and this is an area where I think the process could have been started a lot earlier, even upon their arrival last summer, once they properly applied for asylum, after 180 days, they can have legal work status. So, there are a lot of people out there now who could have been working, should have been working, and the processing didn't occur, which is up until the last six weeks has only just started. This is another area where we’ll be glad to help the city out.
Dean Meminger, NY1: Let me jump in, Governor, because we only have a few seconds left, but this is a complicated issue. The feds, the state, the city, in your case you have a private attorney representing you. Why is Tish James not representing you? We understand that there is some debate there between her office and your office over this issue.
Governor Hochul: Well, certainly, you know, she has a different interpretation of the law and I need an attorney who actually supports our view. I have a strong constitutional team. Much of this stems from the fact that the reason people are coming to New York is because it's desirable, it's known there are jobs, but also it is well known out there that the city has a consent decree ordered by a court back in 1981 that they agreed to continue the right to shelter. Anyone who presents themselves has a right to shelter. I'm not sure it was ever meant to be a universal right of unlimited shelter to anyone who comes to the City of New York, but I'll certainly tell you that that right does not extend to the entire State of New York. But we are going to do what's right because these are human beings, it's a humanitarian crisis, and I don't have the legal obligation to do it, we're doing it because that's who we are as New Yorkers.
Dean Meminger, NY1: Governor Kathy Hochul, thank you so much for your time.
Governor Hochul: All right. Thank you very much.