By Chris Sommerfeldt
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — New York City won’t freeze hiring of police officers or lay off disabled firefighters this fiscal year after all, Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday, saying he’s able to call off the planned NYPD and FDNY cuts thanks to “better than anticipated” tax revenues and a reduction in projected migrant crisis spending.
In an afternoon press conference at City Hall, Adams said the reversal will allow the NYPD to proceed with a new Police Academy class in April that got canceled as part of a laundry list of municipal budget cuts announced in November. Thanks to the reinstatement of the class, 600 recruits are now set to enter the pipeline to become NYPD officers, according to Adams’ office.
“We need every officer we can get, which is why today is a great day for the NYPD,” said Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who joined Adams for the announcement, along with City Hall budget director Jacques Jiha, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.
Also under Adams’ reversal, the FDNY will no longer need to eliminate the so-called “fifth firefighter” position at 20 engine companies or lay off 190 firefighters on long-term disability who were supposed to be let go under the November cuts.
Adams, however, wouldn’t say whether any other city agencies will be spared from deep budget cuts announced in November. He said Jacques Jiha, his budget director, will do a “deep dive” on that this coming Tuesday when his administration plans to roll out its preliminary city budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
“He lives for this time of the year, so I don’t want to take away his thunder,” Adams said of Jiha. “He’s going to go deep into all of that.”
While he wouldn’t say whether any other agencies are going to get relief from the belt-tightening, Adams, a retired NYPD captain who was elected in 2021 on a tough-on-crime platform, told reporters he recently directed Jiha to make it his top priority to find a way to reinstate the Police Academy class.
“At the heart of what’s important to me is that this city is safe, and I said to Jacques, I need to find a way to get those classes,” the mayor said. “We cannot go backwards, and that is why I focus so hard on anything that’s going to erode our ability to keep this city safe.”
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