NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s request for federal aid for cities struggling with the influx of migrants on Wednesday, saying the city had managed the situation “alone” and that there had been no federal support.
“Here in New York City we have taken on the challenge of this extraordinary surge of migrants that has been imposed on us alone,” de Blasio said at a news conference. “We have not had help from the federal government, we have not had help from the state to handle this crisis, it’s been up to us to do this. And we have done it, we are doing it. We are doing a great job caring for the human need of these people and addressing the safety aspect as well, but it’s been all us. It’s been all us doing it alone.”
De Blasio added that he believed there should be federal aid for cities like New York that are burdened with managing the migration crisis without sufficient outside resources.
“I think Gov. Cuomo’s absolutely right to be pushing for that,” he said. “This should not be our responsibility alone, but it has been and we are getting through it the best we can.”
