Each of New York’s 10.7 million taxpayers would have to fork over $215 on average to foot the bill for the state’s ongoing migrant crisis, according to a new analysis.
Put another way, it would take the entire tax bill paid by 328,471 New Yorkers together to cover the $2.3 billion tab to house and care for the staggering number of asylum seekers in the state.
The analysis was conducted by the campaign of Gina Arena, the Republican candidate in the 40th state Senate district in the lower Hudson Valley, based on the average $7,000 state income tax bill for New Yorkers in 2022.
“It’s time to wake up to what we’re doing to taxpayers,” said Arena, who is running against incumbent Democratic state Sen. Pete Harckham in a district that encompasses parts of Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties.
Arena said the migrant crisis has spiraled out of control, especially in New York City, where with young gang members housed in city shelters have been marauding around the Times Square tourist district committing crimes, as reported by The Post.
Much of the funds have been going to hotels being used as emergency shelters to house the asylum seekers, with the city intending to reserve up to 14,000 hotel rooms through next year.
“At this point we’re paying members of Venezuelan gangs – in tax dollars – to turn Times Square into a criminal zone. That’s how messed up New York has become under one-party progressive rule,” said Arena.
“New York desperately needs a reality check. When the annual state income tax revenue from an entire state senate district isn’t enough to cover a portion of migrant housing costs, something is seriously wrong with this state,” she said.
A mother of eight, including a daughter with autism, Arena said she’s an advocate for the needy, including people with disabilities.
But she said New York policy makers have misplaced priorities by spending so much on the migrant crisis.
“New Yorkers have enormous hearts,” she said, “but we have real needs of our own. Our road infrastructure is a mess, special needs families aren’t getting enough help, senior centers need rebuilding, and vital school projects go unfunded.
“At the same time, our taxes are through the roof; healthcare, energy, and insurance costs are some of the most expensive in the nation, and the price of everyday goods remains stubbornly high,” said Arena. “To New York progressives this is just another $2.3 billion, but for hundreds of thousands of hardworking New Yorkers it’s the fruit of their annual labor squandered.”
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration said the city will pay out $5.76 billion to house and care for migrants from the summer of 2022 through next June.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature budgeted $2.4 billion for migrant costs in the current fiscal year that runs from April 1 to March 31.
The city budget office’s asylum funding tracker said Albany has committed a total of $4.3 billion in funding migrants costs statewide combined last year and this year.
The direct state aid to the city is $3.1 billion over two years, according to the tracker.
During a League of Women Voters debate last week, Harckham blamed Republicans in Congress for failing to put up federal dollars to help New York address the influx of migrants and for refusing to pass compromise legislation to bolster border security.
“Gina Arena continues to look for ways to distract voters from her long fight in New York against women’s reproductive healthcare freedom and her support for extremist policies that would hurt all New Yorkers,” Harckham for Senate Campaign Manager Victoria Doody said in a statement.
“Desperate for attention, she distorted numbers on immigration with a dog-whistle to hide the fact that her Republican allies in Congress have failed to do anything to solve the migrant crisis,” Doody claimed. “Conversely, Pete Harckham is fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedoms and cutting middle-class taxes to keep New York affordable.”