City Hall To AOC: Do Your Job Rather Than Blast NYC Budget Cuts

NEW YORK CITY — Do your job and don't question our $4 billion budget cuts.

That's the response a top City Hall official had for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after the congresswoman said she doubted the math behind controversial proposed cutsimpacting libraries, the NYPD and more.

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, chief adviser to Mayor Eric Adams, said Tuesday that AOC could better help the city by working on a solution to the asylum seeker crisis that officials contend is sapping coffers.

"It would behoove her to go to Washington, D.C., to meet with her colleagues and put together a decompression strategy and immigration policy rather than look to our budget," Lewis-Martin said.

"We need her help, that's what she's there for," she said.

But Lewis-Martin's response largely sidestepped what Ocasio-Cortez and other critics have been saying: the city's numbers don't add up.

Ocasio-Cortez said during a Monday town hall that Adams hasn't really shown the math behind the cuts to everyday New Yorkers, Politico reported.

"To be very frank, I don't — I'm not sure if I believe those numbers," Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Politico. "I'm not sure if these cuts are actually justified."

City Hall spokesperson Fabien Levy, in response, said Ocasio-Cortez can review the budget books herself, as well as briefings by top officials.

But Ocasio-Cortez isn't alone in questioning the math, especially when it comes to blaming the cost of the migrant crisis for shortfalls.

"City Hall should stop suggesting that asylum seekers are the reason for imposing severe cuts when they are only contributing to a portion of these budget gaps, much of which already existed," said Comptroller Brad Lander after the cuts were proposed nearly two weeks.

Lander has faced frequent criticism from Adams for not visiting Washington, D.C., to request federal aid for the migrant crisis. On Tuesday, he announced he was indeed traveling to the nation's capital.

"I'm happy he's going, it took a little while," Adams said.