Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams backtracked on his vow to house migrants in Gracie Mansion on Thursday, saying that the “symbolism” of his offer spoke volumes.
Adams said earlier in June that he’d welcome migrants into the five-room Gracie Mansion if city lawyers approved it, but backtracked Thursday during a press conference with reporters.
“Leading the challenge of the migrant problem is both substantive and symbolic and as I always said, ‘Good generals lead from the front,’” Adams said, according to the New York Post. “They don’t send their troops into battle and ask, ‘How was the war?’ They lead them into battle. The symbolism of saying, ‘I’m willing to put a homeless family in Gracie’ is that symbolism.” (RELATED: NYC Mayor Says City Might Have To Put Migrants In ‘Private Residences’)
Adams then said he could not allow migrants to stay at his mansion due to “legal issues,” according to the New York Post.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 18: Asylum seekers board a bus en route to a shelter at Port Authority Bus Terminal on May 18, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“We are never going to break the law. And so, we’d be able to know what we can’t do and what we can’t do as a symbolism of saying, ‘I’m willing to open up the people’s house to the people of the city.’”
The city has sued over 30 counties across New York State for issuing emergency executive orders that prohibit local hotels from hosting migrants bussed in by Adams. The suit asks the court to declare all executive orders “null and void.”
The move comes after Adams announced plans to house migrants arriving in the city at hotels located in other counties.