NYC Mayor Halts Final Round of Budget Cuts After Slashing Illegal Immigrant Spending

New York City will be slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in projected spending on caring for illegal immigrants, a move that helps the city roll back an expansive budget cut for public services, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday. Under a plan first unveiled by the Adams administration in the fall of 2023, all city agencies would have to shave 15 percent off their budget in three rounds of cutbacks by this April—in order to offset an estimated $10 billion cost generated by providing shelter, food, medical care, and legal services for the new arrivals. After two rounds of 5 percent budget cuts to all but the most essential services like police and sanitation, the city is now spared of a potentially punishing third, said Mr. Adams, thanks to “better-than-expected” tax revenue growth in 2023 that resulted in a more positive fiscal outlook, as well as extra cuts to the city’s planned spending on illegal immigrants....