Mayor Eric Adams urged parents in the Big Apple to prepare for “all hands on deck” as the city slashed newly trained safety agents amid the ongoing migrant crisis, warning parents that they may need to volunteer at their children’s schools.
“To make sure we continue to create an environment for our children, we have to shift around personnel as much as possible… we’re going to be leaning into parents and parent groups and do some volunteerism,” Adams said in a media briefing on Tuesday afternoon.
“We have to pull all hands on deck,” the mayor said.
The democratic mayor assured media representatives that he would never “allow” schools in the city to become unsafe for children.
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“In my concern that we will drop and make schools unsafe for our children, I am never going to allow that to happen,” Adams said. “But we are going to be straining at a very high level to get this done correctly.”
Adams also touted New York City public schools, arguing that the city has not experienced mass shootings, unlike other school districts.
“We have been successful, unlike other municipalities, where they have had shootings on school grounds and in some cases of mass shootings,” Adams said. “We have not had one shooting inside our school because of the working school safety agents and the New York City Police Department.”
His remarks come as Staten Island officials blasted his administration for abruptly terminating a school safety program of 250 recruits as the city pours more resources into handling the influx of migrant asylum seekers from the southern border.
“There’s nothing more important than the safety of our children. And this is part of a dangerous trend that the mayor has been setting for this city,” Representative Nicole Malliotakis said during a press conference on Monday. “We are seeing a reduction in the NYPD overall. We’re seeing less cops on the street. Less detectives being able to solve crimes to put people behind bars. And now we’re seeing 25% less safety agents than there were pre-COVID pandemic.”
The reports come after New York City Adams announced in September that departments across the board have until this month to cut 5% from their budgets as the city pours more resources into handling the influx of migrant seekers. The mayor has also warned of another round of 5% cuts in January
Adams previously said that New York faces a “financial tsunami” that would impact every government service from “child service to our seniors to housing,” due in part to the migrant crisis plaguing the Big Apple.
Mayor Eric Adam’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.