Mayor Adams blasts ‘far left’ for ‘doing nothing’ on border crisis: ‘I don’t believe the silence’

Mayor Eric Adams blasted the “far left” on Monday for its inaction and “silence” regarding the devastating impact of the US border crisis on New York City.

During an unrelated news conference, Adams, a Democrat, teed off on the progressive wing of his party after being asked about the tent city he is having built in the Bronx to process and temporarily house the migrants flooding into the Big Apple.

“The far right is doing the wrong thing. The far left is doing nothing,” he said outside City Hall.

“I mean, the silence — I don’t believe the silence I’m hearing.”

But the mayor again remained mum regarding President Biden’s role in the crisis, despite demands from Republicans and conservatives, including some Democrats, that he call on Biden to stop the flow of migrants to the city by closing the southern border — or at least stem the flow through it.

Adams’ broadside followed a Friday news conference at which several progressive Democrats on the City Council accused him of “exploiting” the migrant crisis to illegally construct the tent city in the Bronx.

3

Adams said Monday that the city was dealing with an “unprecedented influx” that last week saw between six and eight busloads of migrants arrive “two days in a row.” The mayor said that resulted in about 400 people a day entering the city’s shelter system, which he warned last month was nearing its “breaking point” due to the strain.

“That flow is beyond our imagination,” he said.

As of Sunday, about 16,600 migrants have arrived in the city since May, according to the latest City Hall estimate.

Adams’ reference to the “far right” during his remarks appeared to be his latest slap at Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who began relocating migrants to the city in early August to protest what he calls Biden’s “irresponsible open-border policies.”

3

But statistics reported recently by The Post showed that the city of El Paso, Texas — led by Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser — had actually sent more migrants in far less time after getting what Leeser described as a green light from Adams. Only about 1 in 5 migrants could be attributed to the Abbott buses, based on those numbers.

Adams was vague on his plan to open additional “relief centers” after the tent city under construction in the Orchard Beach parking lot begins operation this week.

“The team is constantly pivoting, shifting, finding the locations to make sure that those who come in, we do the proper analysis,” he said. “Two to three days and they make the determination on what type of shelter or what type of assistance they need.”

Adams added: “Some people that are here actually want to go to other locations.”

The mayor didn’t further address last week’s report by The Post that he was finalizing a deal with the Norwegian Cruise Line to temporarily house migrants at Staten Island’s Homeport and possibly strike a similar agreement with the Estonian shipping company Tallink.

3

On Friday, Adams said, “When we get an announcement of any type of deal, we will make it public with a level of transparency.”

During Monday’s news conference, Adams also said he didn’t know anything about the migrants who are being lured from the city to work illegally on Hurricane Ian cleanup in Florida.

The Post exclusively reported Sunday that scores of migrants boarded vans in Queens over the weekend based on vague promises that they’d be paid at least $15 an hour by contractors in the Sunshine State.

Under federal law, migrants have to wait at least 150 days after applying for asylum to seek a work permit, which can only be granted after at least another 30 days.

“I’m not aware of the van situation,” Adams said in response to a question from The Post.

“I know we are not doing anything as a city to send people via vans to Florida so I’m not aware of it at all.”

Adams also referenced Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial relocation of migrants from Texas to the liberal enclave of Martha’s Vineyard last month.

“The last I know, the Florida governor stated they didn’t need anyone and they were sending people out of Florida or sending people out of other locales, and so I’m not aware of that and we’ll look into it,” he said.

“And I’m hoping that whomever is there helping is doing it with the proper workers’ protection they need.”