Per-migrant care costs in NYC climb again even as City Hall pushes to reduce costs
Story by Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News • 12h
NEW YORK — The city’s currently spending more money on housing and services per migrant than it did last summer, despite projections from Mayor Eric Adams showing the overall price-tag for the crisis is dropping thanks to reductions in the number of asylum seekers in the city’s care.
Molly Wasow Park, Adams’ commissioner of the Department of Social Services, revealed in a City Council hearing Monday that the city’s current average per-night cost for caring for a single migrant household — known as the “per diem rate” — is $388. That price-tag is inclusive of all expense categories related to migrant care, including shelter and food.
The figure disclosed by Wasow Park is $5 higher than the $383 migrant per diem rate Adams cited last August, although the number has fluctuated.
The slight per diem uptick comes even though Adams announced a directive in November for his administration to reduce overall projected migrant spending by 20% in the current 2024 fiscal year, which runs through June 30. Last month, City Hall said the administration had been “successful” in formulating a plan to achieve the 20% cut, putting its new projected total price-tag for the crisis at $10.4 billion through the end of the 2025 fiscal year, down from the previously forecasted $12.6 billion. Overall, the city aims to save $1.7 billion over the course of the current fiscal year, which has led to Adams restoring budget cuts across city agencies.
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