African Whistle Magazine

05/08/2025

The Catholic Church has elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as pope

White smoke streamed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signaling to the world that the 133 Roman Catholic cardinals inside have elected a new pope.
A roar erupted from the crowd when they saw the white smoke billow from the chimney, which is shown on several large screens in St. Peter's Square. At the same time, the enormous bells of St. Peter's Basilica began to ring, tolling the news that the Catholic Church has a new pope. The crowd continues to build as many carry their countries' flags.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States is elected the 267th pope.

Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is the first ever pope from the United States. He will be known as Leo XIV.

A leader with global experience, he spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis' reforms.

05/08/2025

COMMUNITY NEWS UPDATE: NEW YORK
TO REDUCE E-BATTERY FIRES, NYC DOT ANNOUNCES
PROPERTY OWNERS AND TENANTS MAY NOW APPLY FOR PERMISSION TO INSTALL E-BIKE BATTERY CHARGING CABINETS ON SIDEWALKS

NYC DOT Publishes New Guide to Explain the Application Process

New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced property owners and tenants with property owner approval can apply to install e-bike battery swapping and charging cabinets on sidewalks within the public right-of-way in front of their properties. Applications are now open following the adoption of rules by NYC DOT. The initiative is a cornerstone of the Adams Administration's Charge Safe, Ride Safe commitment to combat lithium-ion battery fires and support safe e-mobility use.

The measure is designed to reduce apartment fires by moving more battery charging and storage to safe, Fire Department New York (FDNY) approved cabinets on sidewalks. The agency also published a step-by-step guide with information on the process to apply for e-bike battery swapping and charging cabinets on public sidewalks. The effort builds on the success of last year’s pilot program that reduced e-battery charging in apartments by 35 percent among pilot program participants.

“As more and more New Yorkers turn to e-bikes as a safe, affordable and convenient way to get around, we need to do our part to ensure charging is safe and accessible,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “These rules help us continue the important work to expand access to safe e-bike charging options, and I encourage anyone who is interested to check out our new guide.”

“Structural fires caused by lithium-ion batteries have seen a troubling rise this year, and increasing access to safe, FDNY-approved charging cabinets is a vital step in reversing this trend,” said FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker. “We know that New Yorkers rely on e-micromobility devices to live and work throughout the five boroughs and this proactive measure will help ensure that innovation and safety go hand in hand.”

Under the rules, an e-bike battery swapping and charging cabinet may be installed outdoors and adjacent to buildings with ground floor commercial and community facility uses and residential buildings with five or more dwelling units through a revocable consent.

A revocable consent is the grant of a right to an individual or organization to construct and maintain certain structures on, over, or under the inalienable property (streets and sidewalks) of the City of New York. Each e-bike battery swapping and charging cabinet will need to comply with the siting requirements for revocable consents, including clear path requirements to make sure there is space for the comfortable movement of pedestrians, and minimum clearance requirements from existing streetscape elements, such as subway entrances and bus stops. Additionally, each cabinet will need to comply with new size and installation requirements.

NYC DOT published Sidewalk E-Bike Battery Swapping and Charging Cabinets 101 to provide property owners and tenants with an overview of how they can apply for a revocable consent from NYC DOT for a charging cabinet. The guide explains the requirements for eligibility and site design, while also detailing the approval process.

NYC DOT will review applications through the revocable consent process and will coordinate closely with FDNY, which will conduct site inspections prior to installation. All e-bike battery swapping and charging cabinet models will require approval by FDNY’s Technology Management unit. The New York City Department of Buildings will be responsible for issuing electrical permits for cabinet installation.

In recent years, use of micromobility devices, such as e-bikes and e-scooters, has dramatically increased, offering affordable and convenient options for a range of New Yorkers, from families to delivery cyclists. This includes e-bikes and illegal e-mopeds that use low-quality and uncertified lithium-ion batteries. The proliferation of these low-quality batteries combined with unsafe charging practices has contributed to an increase in fires started by lithium-ion batteries, which are now a leading cause of fires and fire deaths in New York City.

Electric micromobility device battery swapping and charging cabinets provide a safer way for e-bike users to charge and access Underwriters Laboratories (UL)-certified batteries that are designed to minimize fire risk. Batteries used in battery swapping systems are owned, digitally monitored, and inspected by battery swapping companies, further reducing risks because companies can proactively identify damaged batteries and remove them from circulation.

Charge Safe, Ride Safe.

In addition to public e-bike charging initiatives, Mayor Adams’ Charge Safe, Ride Safe Action Plan is focused on building a safe, welcoming environment for e-bike riders citywide. To promote the safe use of e-bikes and reduce risk of deadly e-bike fires, often caused by uncertified batteries, NYC DOT has also begun building wider bike lanes and launched an e-bike trade-in program. Eligible delivery workers are able to trade-in their substandard e-bike or non-street legal moped for a safer UL-certified e-bike with a spare UL-certified battery.

Additionally, the FDNY launched a $1 million public education and awareness campaign this summer on the dangers of unsafe lithium-ion batteries, following data showing that 59 percent of 2023’s lithium-ion battery fires started when those batteries were not charging.

Safe Charging Accelerator.

Through the New York City Safe Charging Accelerator, the city also convened a working group consisting of representatives from tech companies, real estate stakeholders, and municipal experts focused on transportation and fire safety. The group is tasked with developing recommendations on how to update city rules and processes to increase adoption of safe charging cabinets within buildings.

05/08/2025

COMMUNITY NEWS UPDATE: NEW YORK
Mayor Eric Adams Community Op-Ed: Destroying Guns, Protecting Our City

The Adams administration has been committed to public safety from the start, and getting illegal guns off our streets and out of our lives is core to that mission. Since the day I took office, the NYPD has seized more than 21,400 illegal fi****ms — and last week, I was able to help send many of these confiscated weapons to their final destination — a wood chipper that destroyed these guns so they can never be used to cause harm again.

The Reworld facility in Westbury is where the NYPD sends evidence, including illegal fi****ms, to be disposed of after it is no longer needed in a case. Members of our administration and the NYPD gathered there last Thursday with violence interrupters, anti-gun advocates, faith leaders, and the families of victims to help put these dangerous weapons into the gun chipper to be destroyed forever — ensuring they will never again endanger another child, terrify another New Yorker, or destroy another precious life. The destroyed guns will be turned into scrap metal, recycled, and sent to the School of Cooperative Technical Education, where students in the welding vocational program will finally make use of these products and create a memorial to honor victims of gun violence.

It was a bittersweet occasion. Each gun we destroy closes a door on a future act of violence — but also reminds us of the precious lives we have already lost — including the life of Excenia Mette, the beloved Harlem bodega owner and grandmother who was shot dead in a crossfire just last week.

Excenia’s death is tragic reminder of how gun violence tears apart lives and entire communities. This is the issue that keeps me up at night — and gets me up every day as your mayor. We must get criminals off our streets and illegal guns out of their hands. We must enforce our laws, prosecute wrongdoers, and fight recidivism. Every New Yorker must be safe and feel safe, confident that their city is looking out for them and their families, no matter where they live.

Over three years ago, we came into office determined to make this city safer. And each one of these guns we have confiscated is making good on that promise. Each gun we destroy saves lives, damming up one more river that leads to the sea of violence, and sending a message that these weapons have no place in our city or in our society.

I am proud to say that our administration has made significant strides in creating safer streets, safer subways, and a safer city for New York families. We have had five straight quarters of declining crime, and the first three months of this year saw the lowest number of shootings in recorded history. This is a direct result of our anti-gun efforts and major win for the NYPD and our city. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is already leading this department into a new era of safety and success, along with Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry and the brave men and women of the NYPD, who run towards danger rather than away from it.

We can never forget the countless number of men and women who have placed their lives on the line to defend and protect the City of New York. Every day, our team is out there doing this dangerous work, interacting with violent and, far too often, armed recidivists who have made up their mind to wreak havoc on our city. As your mayor, I want every one of them to know how grateful this city is for their courage and dedication.

Because of our steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America. But we will keep pressing for more — more officers, more safety, more results. This administration is all about going the distance, with long-term plans to ensure that New York City remains the greatest city on the globe and a safe place for our families, our children, and our grandmothers.

05/08/2025

05/08/2025

06/07/2024

COMMUNITY NEWS UPDATE: NEW YORK
MAYOR ADAMS, NYPD COMMISSIONER CABAN ANNOUNCE
ENHANCED SUMMER ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO REMOVE ILLEGAL MOPEDS AND SCOOTERS FROM CITY STREETS

Officials Crush More Than 200 Illegal Mopeds and Scooters Seized in 2024

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward A. Caban today announced the NYPD’s enhanced summer enforcement strategy to help remove illegal motorized scooters, mopeds, bikes, all terrain vehicles (ATVs), and other unregistered vehicles from city streets as warmer weather months typically see an uptick in crime patterns involving these illegal vehicles. In 2023, the NYPD confiscated 18,430 illegal and unregistered motorized scooters, bikes, and ATVs — the highest number in city history — representing a 128 percent increase from 2022. This year, the NYPD has already removed more than 13,000 illegal two-wheeled vehicles and ATVs, bringing the total number to nearly 42,000 since the Adams administration came into office. The 42,000 figure represents the largest number of illegal moped and scooter seizures in a 30-month span in New York City history.

“When it comes to protecting public safety, this administration is crushing it and that includes our efforts to crack down on the ongoing issue of illegal mopeds and scooters on our streets and sidewalks,” said Mayor Adams. “Mopeds and scooters are not only endangering pedestrians when they are driven recklessly, but we have also seen an exponential increase in criminals using them to ride around and sn**ch property from New Yorkers. That’s why the NYPD will be ramping up a summer enforcement strategy to curb use of these illegal and unregistered vehicles. We are sending an important message to everyone who drives on the streets of our city: no one is above the law, and if you drive an illegal vehicle, you will face the consequences — and so will your vehicle.”

“These illegal vehicles have no place in New York City,” said NYPD Commissioner Caban. “These motorbikes are dangerous and reckless, and they put everyone on our streets and sidewalks at risk. On top of that, these bikes have become the vehicle of choice in the commission of robberies and other violent crime patterns across our city. The NYPD takes this issue seriously, as proven by the thousands of vehicle seizures we have made so far this year. We will continue to listen to concerned New Yorkers who correctly demand that these hazards be removed from their neighborhoods, and we will keep working closely with City Hall, the city's Department of Transportation, and all the people we serve to keep our roadways safe.”

Since 2022, crime patterns for street robberies and grand larcenies involving the use of illegal scooters and mopeds have steadily increased. In the first five months of 2022, the NYPD tracked 10 total robbery patterns, made up of 44 complaints involving these types of unregistered vehicles. Over those same five months in 2023, the number of robbery patterns increased to a total of 22, while the number of complaints jumped to 104.

Through just the first five months of 2024, the NYPD has already identified a total of 79 robbery patterns (almost eight times the figure in the same period in 2022), with more than 415 complaints (almost 10 times the figure in the same period in 2022).

While overall index crime across New York City dropped another 2.4 percent in May 2024, compared to the same month last year, robberies and felony assaults experienced increases in May, largely fueled by offenders fleeing crime scenes on illegal, unregistered motorized scooters, bikes, or other vehicles.

Scooters and similar modes of transportation enable criminals to quickly commit offenses — often physically assaulting a victim in the process — without ever getting off their vehicle or simply by temporarily dismounting while a second individual stays seated. In both instances, mopeds and scooters facilitate a fast escape. For example, the NYPD recently made arrests following a citywide crime pattern where two individuals used a motorized vehicle to commit, and quickly flee, 112 separate chain-sn**ching incidents. Scooters have also been increasingly used in attempts to evade police because these two-wheeled vehicles can be driven onto sidewalks and into tight alleyways through which police cars cannot fit.

In response, the NYPD has strategically deployed Public Safety Teams to the locations and times at which many of these crimes are most likely to occur. Further, investigators are working to uncover any criminal networks that are enabling offenders.

The NYPD’s enhanced summer enforcement strategy includes intensifying efforts to curb the illegal use of motorized scooters, bikes, ATVs, and other unregistered vehicles on city highways and streets through the strategic redeployment of Community Response Team (CRT) officers to focus on removing these illegal vehicles. NYPD officers will also increase the use of strategic checkpoints staged at bridges, tunnels, and other major roadways and crossings across the five boroughs. Such operations have already proven highly successful, contributing to more than 40,000 illegal motorized scooters, mopeds, ATVs, and other bikes seized since the start of the Adams administration.

The Adams administration has also been advocating for state legislation in Albany to help crack down on the proliferation of illegal and unregistered vehicles on city streets. This critical piece of legislation (S7703/A8450) would close the “moped loophole” by requiring registration and licensing at the point of sale for these vehicles, helping stem the tide of new unlicensed mopeds on the street and holding sellers accountable.

“There are too many unlicensed mopeds on our streets, and even worse, on our sidewalks,” said New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal. “I’m grateful that Mayor Adams and the NYPD are taking action to keep pedestrians safe by removing as many of these illegal motorized vehicles as possible. In Albany, I am also working to address this problem with legislation, along with Assemblymember Bores, which would require moped registration at the point of sale (S.7703). This will hold dealers responsible for registering mopeds and motorcycles, which in turn will help reduce the number of unlicensed and unregistered vehicles on our streets, and lead to less traffic related incidents and more accountability for the operators of these vehicles.”

“Mopeds always required registration, but because of confusion or deceit very rarely were,” said New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores. “With this bill, we closed a loophole and will now require mopeds to be registered before they leave the store, stopping the flow of illegal mopeds onto our streets, and making moped riders and pedestrians much safer. This is a true win-win.”

“Seemingly ubiquitous, illegal and unlicensed scooters and mopeds fly flagrantly in the face of our traffic laws, making our roadways and commercial corridors less safe, and worsening the quality of life for all New Yorkers,” said Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon. “Worse yet, these illicit vehicles have become increasingly involved in criminal activity, posing a direct threat to the public safety of both pedestrians and law-abiding motorists. In fact, just two days ago, a violent assailant in Queens used an illegal moped to commit a brazen act of gun violence which sent two brave members of New York’s finest to the hospital. These unregistered and dangerous vehicles have no place on our streets, and while the men and women of my office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold these literal drivers of crime accountable, I commend Mayor Adams and the NYPD for their proactive efforts and look forward to working alongside them in the weeks ahead to rid our communities of these traffic and public safety hazards and better protect all Staten Islanders.”

01/30/2024

COMMUNITY NEWS UPDATE; NEW YORK
Mayor Adams’ State of the City – Small Business Services Supporting Entrepreneurs Citywide

On Wednesday, in his third State of the City address, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled an ambitious blueprint for the future of working-class New Yorkers, envisioning a city that is safer, more livable, and more prosperous. “Crime down, jobs up. Finally, something 8.3 million New Yorkers can agree on,”
said Mayor Adams. SBS is proud to do its part with programs that help thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners across the city.

“One in six New York City businesses has opened since the start of this administration,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “Our city is determined to support our entrepreneurs, and with our record setting $75 million Small Business Opportunity Fund, we have been able to do just that. Great job, [Commissioner Kevin D. Kim].

“Chef Jae Lee is the owner of Nowon, a popular Korean American bar and restaurant in the East Village. When Chef Jae Lee wanted to open a new location in Brooklyn, regular banks wouldn't give him a fair shake.

“Through the SBS Opportunity Fund, Chef Lee was able to get the small business loan he needed at an affordable interest rate, and now he is employing over 50 New Yorkers and serving up his legendary kimchi cheeseburgers in the East Village and Bushwick.”

As you continue your coverage of this year's State of the City, we'd love to arrange a conversation with Commissioner Kevin D. Kim, who can provide deeper insight into our programs and plans for 2024, and connect you with New Yorkers like Chef Lee, who have used SBS programs to start or expand their small businesses.

Please reach out to: [email protected]

01/26/2024

COMMUNITY NEWS UPDATE; NEW YORK
Mayor Eric Adams Community Op-Ed!

Balancing Our City’s Budget While Delivering for Working-Class New Yorkers

Our administration came into office with a clear mission: to protect public safety, revitalize our economy, and make all five boroughs more livable for the 8.3 million people who call New York City their home. For the last two years, we have worked every day to make our vision a reality. And the recently released Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget keeps us on track.

I am proud to report that jobs are up, crime is down, tourists are back, our streets are cleaner, and our children’s test scores are better. We have accomplished all this and delivered a balanced budget for New Yorkers.

It is important for New Yorkers to understand how we achieved this balanced budget that invests in working-class families, despite a perfect storm of COVID-19 stimulus funding drying up, tax revenue growth slowing, labor contracts that went years overdue, and an ongoing national humanitarian crisis that has brought more than 170,000 asylum seekers to our city in less than two years.

Despite a record $7.1 billion gap, we were able to balance and stabilize our budget without laying off a single city worker, raising taxes, and with minimal disruption to services that New Yorkers rely on. This is the result of careful fiscal planning and management.

We made tough but necessary decisions like implementing a hiring freeze and a Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) savings program. These steps, along with an unexpectedly strong economy, and lowering asylum seeker costs helped balance the budget.

And to properly manage the asylum seeker crisis, we helped file over 27,000 applications for asylum, work authorization, and temporary protected status. We also helped more than 60 percent of migrants take the next steps in their journeys.

Our strong fiscal management also helped to make restorations that put dollars back towards public safety, public space, and young people.

We restored funding for the April Police Academy Class, which means 600 additional officers out on our streets this fall. Additionally, we restored the fifth firefighter at 20 of the city’s engine companies because more firefighters on the job always helps.

We will maintain 23,000 litter baskets across the five boroughs, and continue to install the award-winning “Litter Basket of the Future,” so we can keep can winning the war against rats. And we will continue to fund our Parks Opportunity Program, which keeps our public spaces clean and green while helping our neighbors find job opportunities.

And to support one of our young people, our administration restored funding for 170 community schools so that students and families can continue to get the support they need, both in and out of the classroom. In addition, for the first time ever, our city will invest new funds into and entirely pay for Summer Rising, a program that impacts 110,000 children, and had originally been funded with temporary federal stimulus dollars.

Finally, libraries across all five boroughs will maintain their current level of funding so they do not have to further reduce the library programs and services that New Yorkers of all ages love.

All of these wins are possible because of our fiscal planning and discipline that keep our city safe and clean and open the doors of opportunity for everyone.

But we must continue to be cautious.

Experts expect the economy and job markets to slow this year, and asylum seekers will continue to arrive, so we must be vigilant and remain focused on making government more efficient and spending taxpayer dollars carefully. That is why we are proud that our preliminary budget includes a near-record Rainy-Day Fund of $8.2 billion.

Running a city of any size is never easy. And balancing the many competing needs of a city like New York requires us to think ahead and make the best decisions we can for today and tomorrow. Everything we do is about making this city safer and making it work better for working-class New Yorkers. That is what this budget delivers.

01/26/2024

A High Court in Lagos, Nigeria has sentenced Bishop Feyiropo Daniels, popularly known as Feyi Daniel, to life imprisonment for the offence of r**e and 3 years imprisonment for sexual assault of a female worshipper.

Both sentences are to run concurrently and his name will be registered in the Sexual Offenders Register as maintained by Lagos State.

The acclaimed 'man of God' was remanded in prison custody in April 2023, by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for allegedly ra**ng two of his church members.

According to one of the victims, she knew the bishop on May 28, 2018, when her friend invited her to a church programme at Akungba-Akoko in Ondo State, where the cleric ministered.

She said after the programme she became a member of the church and rose to the position of an assistant pastor, and that the bishop, whom she regarded as her spiritual father, r**ed her at his residence in Ikota Villa Estate, Lekki, Lagos State, on June 21, 2020.

In reaching his judgment, the court found that “the cleric used his dominant character and position to sexually violate two members of his church.

Delivering judgment, today, Justice Oshodi said he believed the testimony of the complainant as well as other witnesses who gave direct evidence which weren’t contradicted at any point during the trial, despite the denials of the defendant.

01/24/2024

Beautiful faces from the ongoing AFCON 2024

01/15/2024

COMMUNITY NEWS UPDATE; NEW YORK
MAYOR ADAMS RESTORES FUNDING FOR APRIL 2024 NYPD RECRUIT CLASS,

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that thanks to measures the city has implemented to responsibly manage the city’s budget and strategically navigate significant fiscal challenges, funding will be restored for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to add another police academy class of 600 new recruits set to join the ranks in April. This class of recruits will graduate in October and will join the three additional police classes scheduled to graduate this year. Additionally, Mayor Adams announced that funding will be restored to return a fifth firefighter at 20 Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) engine companies and maintain 190 firefighters on payroll who are not expected to be able to return to full-duty status.

The funding restorations build on successful efforts by the Adams administration to drive down overall crime, with murders down 12 percent and shootings down 25 percent in 2023. They also follow targeted and effective steps taken by the Adams administration in the face of a $7 billion budget gap in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 due to federal COVID-19 stimulus funding drying up, expenses from labor contracts this administration inherited after being unresolved for years, , and the growing costs of the asylum seeker crisis — steps that have included helping put migrants on the path to self-sufficiency and reducing per-diem costs for migrants. The restorations will be reflected in the FY25 Preliminary Budget, which will be presented next Tuesday, at the City Charter deadline.

“Public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity, and so everything we do is to ensure New York City remains the safest big city in America,” said Mayor Adams. “I am proud to announce that we are not only adding hundreds of additional NYPD officers to our police force this year but also bolstering the Fire Department’s ranks. Today’s measured and reasonable restorations to the NYPD and FDNY are due, in large part, to this administration’s ability to make the right financial decisions for our city and implement creative policies as we continue to see an influx of asylum seekers. But we are not out of the woods and have fiscal challenges in the year ahead, and that’s why we still need help from our federal and state partners to offset the costs of COVID-19 funding sunsetting and the continuous influx of asylum seekers. Our administration will continue to make the right fiscal decisions for our city, while keeping New Yorkers safe.”

“Mayor Adams has made public safety this administration’s top priority, and I am proud that, through the use of sound fiscal management and innovative ideas, we have identified solutions to sure up our ranks at both the NYPD and the FDNY,” said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III. “While our commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe is unwavering, New York City cannot continue to shoulder the burden of this massive humanitarian crisis on its own without significant financial aid from our state and federal partners.”

“The restoration of the April police academy recruit class is great news for the NYPD and all New Yorkers,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “There is no better investment in public safety than that of an NYPD officer — and these 600 additional recruits will help bolster our efforts to drive down crime even further in 2024.”

“We are grateful to the mayor for reinstating the fifth firefighter, providing us additional resources as we tackle emerging challenges like lithium-ion batteries,” said FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. “We know controlling costs is crucial during these tough fiscal times. The department will continue to take every measure necessary to ensure we are spending taxpayer dollars wisely while fulfilling our mission of protecting life and property.”

In August 2023, Mayor Adams laid out projections estimating the cost of the asylum seeker crisis to grow to more than $12 billion over three fiscal years — between FY23 and FY25 — if circumstances did not change. From April 2022 through December 2023, the city has already spent an estimated $3.5 billion on shelter and services for over 168,500 individuals who came through the city’s intake center during that timeframe. With sunsetting COVID-19 stimulus funding, slowing tax revenue growth, expenses from labor contracts this administration inherited after being unresolved for years, and a lack of significant state or federal government action on the asylum seeker crisis, Mayor Adams took action — announcing a 5 percent Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) on city-funded spending for all city agencies with plans for additional rounds of PEGs in the Preliminary and Executive Budgets. And, through strong fiscal management that included implementing measures to reduce household per-diem costs and helping put migrants on the path to self-sufficiency, the city is projected to achieve a 20 percent reduction in city-funded spending on the migrant crisis by the end of FY24, which will be detailed in the FY25 Preliminary Budget.

As a result of the administration’s policies, nearly 60 percent of the asylum seekers who came through the city’s intake center have left the city’s care and taken the next steps in their journeys. Through the Asylum Application Help Center and the city’s satellite sites, the city has helped submit more than 25,000 work authorization, temporary protected status, and asylum applications, moving asylum seekers that much closer to being able to legally work and be self-sufficient.