Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to help solve the Big Apple’s shelter crisis by relocating newly arrived migrants to upstate cities — which could use the population boost to qualify for pork-barrel federal funds as she seeks reelection, The Post has learned.
Gillibrand (D-NY) has floated the idea to City Hall and discussed it with Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday during a closed-door meeting in Washington, a source familiar with the matter said.
The senator has also contacted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office to seek her support, a second source told The Post.
City Councilmember Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) confirmed Gillibrand recently pitched the idea to her as well.
“She told me that arrangements could be made for housing assistance, childcare, school assistance and working,” Brewer said. “She seemed to feel this is a solution for some who might want to go.”
Gillibrand’s plan, if successful, could help the Albany native bring home the bacon to struggling locales as she looks ahead to a likely re-election bid in 2024, a DC source close to the senator said.
The money would come from the $9 billion-plus federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which is supposed to help low- and moderate-income communities by preventing or eliminating slums and blight.
Last year, New York received a total of $316 million in CDBG grants, according to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which runs the program.
“It’s a cash cow in that it provides to upstate cities the arguable golden safety net,” the Gillibrand source explained.
The annual giveaways have been criticized by conservative groups — including The Heritage Foundation and the Manhattan Institute — as riddled with wasteful spending, cronyism and corruption.
The majority of CDBG grants go to major cities, smaller cities with populations over 50,000 and urban counties with populations over 200,000.
The upstate cities of Niagara Falls and Binghamton both have populations of around 48,000, meaning they could easily qualify for CDBG funds by accepting just a fraction of the estimated 11,000 migrants who have flooded into New York City amid an ongoing border surge.
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Adams warned Wednesday that the influx was bringing the city’s shelter system near its “breaking point.”
The following day, his chief legal counsel, Brendan McGuire, said the city would seek to amend a lawsuit settlement that guarantees beds for homeless people mere hours after they apply.
“What we’re talking about is the reality that this is completely unforeseen, this rate of influx of people into the system,” McGuire said. “And so it’s irresponsible not to reassess how the system works.”
“Upstate New York communities have a proud tradition of welcoming immigrant families who have since thrived for decades, becoming important pillars of the local economy and culture,” Gillibrand said in a statement Friday.
“I have discussed this with several other local leaders and stand ready to help in any way I can, including securing more federal funds for New York City and reforming the immigration court system to function much more efficiently,” she added.
When asked about the possibility of moving migrants upstate, Adams press secretary Fabien Levy declined to comment directly.
“While no decisions have yet been made, we need to consider all options that help us meet our moral and legal mandates,” he said in a lengthy prepared statement.
