Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans on spending another $1.2 billion next year on migrants arriving in the Big Apple, according to his preliminary budget proposal — and the combined price tag for the crisis is set to exceed $10 billion over the last half decade.
Mamdani’s fiscal year 2027 budget plan released Tuesday notes that the number of asylum seekers under the city’s care has nearly halved from 68,660 at its peak in January 2024 to 30,813 last month.
The cost of emergency city-run shelters contributed to the bulk of the expense, and Mamdani’s first financial plan notes he wants to phase them out entirely.
“As of February 2026, there is only one remaining emergency shelter site being operated outside of the DHS system, exclusively serving single adults,” Mamdani’s budget plan notes.
The city spent a massive $3.75 billion on migrants in the fiscal year 2024 budget at the height of the crisis, and $8.11 billion between the 2023 and 2025 fiscal years.
The city estimates it will spend around $1.47 billion in the 2026 fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The state comptroller’s office reports that the total spending is currently at a cumulative $9.2 billion.
Mamdani plans to reduce the spending to $500 million in the 2028 and 2029 fiscal years, per the financial plan.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers have chipped in funding to cover $3.9 billion of migrant-related expenses.
But Hochul’s state budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year does not include any new funding for the crisis.
Mamdani also wants to spend an additional $33 million to hire another 200 lawyers and 100 support staff for the city’s law department, he said Tuesday.
“As we look to protect New York’s fiscal health, we will also protect new Yorkers rights. We are bringing on 200 attorneys and 100 support staff within the law department,” he said.
Though it’s unclear exactly what those lawyers would be doing, Mamdani has previously called for more public funding to give migrants facing deportation legal resources.
Hizzoner even seemed to contradict himself elsewhere in his speech unveiling his budget plan – also saying that the 200 lawyers would be used to help the city battle pesky tort cases like slip and falls. He claimed fighting such cases, instead of opting for quicker but more costly settlements, would somehow save the city around $125 million.
“We are also adding 200 lawyers to the law department to reduce tort liability,” he said.
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