Migrant Crisis Shows New York Is Becoming Ungovernable Again

The migrant crisis that began in spring 2022 has restored New York’s reputation as “the ungovernable city.” It has also revived the tradition of mendicant urbanism. Back during the “bad old days,” New York mayors such as David Dinkins reflexively blamed all the city’s problems on inadequate state and federal aid. Current mayor Eric Adams, and other local Democrats, have insisted that New York’s greatest need in responding to the migrants is more funding and other assistance from state and federal government.

That New York is the victim of federal malfeasance is, in crucial respects, indisputable. New York’s homeless-shelter system, which city government has been awkwardly trying to repurpose into a network of refugee centers, is now host to a record-high census. No way would that be so were the southern border less porous.