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Q&A
Use of emergency executive orders for asylum seeker crisis and Rikers Island
3:44:23
ยท
4 min
Council Member Restler questions the frequent use of emergency executive orders by the current administration, particularly for the asylum seeker crisis and Rikers Island. Law Department representatives explain the rationale behind these orders.
- Mayor Adams has issued emergency executive orders every five days for 895 days regarding the asylum seeker crisis.
- Continuous emergency executive orders have been issued for Rikers Island related to the Nunez consent decree.
- The Law Department justifies these orders due to the ongoing nature of the asylum seeker crisis and the need to comply with court-appointed monitor requirements for Rikers Island.
Lincoln Restler
3:44:23
My chief of staff, Molly, and I often talk about the increase in emergency executive orders under this administration.
3:44:31
As you know, state law gives the mayor the power to issue emergency executive orders to quote protect life and property or to bring an emergency situation under control.
3:44:39
Mayor Adams has issued an emergency executive order every five days for the past eight hundred and ninety five days on the asylum secret crisis.
3:44:46
And the entire time the mayor has been in office, he has issued continued emergency executive orders relating to the Nunez consent decree on Rikers.
3:44:55
Do you think this use of executive orders is consistent with what you've experienced from previous administrations?
3:45:04
And is this use of executive orders for years on end an end around of our city laws that, you know, we should be concerned about?
Muriel Goode-Trufant
3:45:17
First, with respect to the asylum seeker crisis, we were forced to absorb hundreds of thousands of people without the opportunity to properly prepare for them in advance.
3:45:36
And while many people have moved on to their next destination, we are still grappling with caring for people who find themselves to be residents of New York City.
3:45:53
And so there still is an emergency that was not of our making.
3:46:01
Appropriate to continue to resign that order every five days.
3:46:06
With respect to Rikers, I am going to turn to my colleague, Sheryl Neufeld.
Sheryl Neufeld
3:46:16
So with respect to Rikers we have to look at it all in the context of the ongoing Nunez case in which there is a consent judgment pending before Judge Swain in the Southern District that has requirements that the monitor appointed by the court and who reports to the court has to review many areas of the Department of Corrections practice, some of which are, or most of which are actually also covered by local laws and rules.
3:46:47
And so in situations where they can't be harmonized, we're in a position where it is appropriate to take action to ensure that we're not in a situation of not complying with rules while we are at the same time having the monitor undergo the analysis to figure out what can be done safely.
Lincoln Restler
3:47:06
Do you you all have a healthy wealth of experience at the law department.
3:47:13
Do you think that the use of executive orders, emergency executive orders in this administration has been consistent with previous administrations?
Muriel Goode-Trufant
3:47:25
I I don't know.
3:47:29
And it may be because I was in a different role doing other
Lincoln Restler
3:47:36
It's a somewhat impossible question to answer.
3:47:37
So I don't but my impression is that it is different, and I'm concerned about it.
3:47:43
I recognize every situation is different and that I can't argue that the incredible challenges that we faced in welcoming hundreds of thousands of migrants into New York City and providing resources and care and housing for them was a major strain on city resources.
3:48:01
And to do so we had to utilize emergency powers to be able to make that work.
3:48:10
But, you know, when we're using emergency executive orders for years on end, there's a question of do we need to have a conversation between the mayor and the council to adjust our laws to reconsider certain policies.
3:48:24
And I'm not aware of any of those conversations taking place and so just wish that we could recognize, we could work collaboratively to make adjustments where they're needed rather than just use emergency executive orders to work around local laws.
3:48:42
But know that I asked some tough questions and questions that but I am grateful for your forthright answers and far more grateful for your thoughtful leadership of the law department and representing the best interest of New Yorkers day in and day out.
3:48:57
So thank you each for your service and thank you to everyone at the law department for their hard work.
Muriel Goode-Trufant
3:49:00
Thank you.