Pols to mayor: Don’t put kids’ safety at risk

U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis joined fellow lawmakers at a press conference outside I.S. 2 in Staten Island Nov. 13 to protest Mayor Eric Adams’ cancellation of a class of 250 school safety agents due to budget cuts.

Adams said the cuts are necessary to offset the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to provide shelter and services to tens of thousands of migrants, according to the Daily News.

Malliotakis said the city is already down 1,200 agents, a 25 percent cut from pre-pandemic levels.

“We need Mayor Adams to put schoolchildren first and stop canceling new hires,” she said.

“These agents are trained and then deployed to various public schools around New York City for the sole purpose of protecting our children,” said Assemblyman Michael Tannousis. “While the city may be facing unprecedented budget cuts as a result of the migrant crisis, our children’s safety cannot be left vulnerable.”

Adams suggested at a City Hall conference the next day that parents could be part of the solution.

“We’re going to be leaning into parents and parent groups to do some volunteerism,” Adams said. “We are going to be straining at a very high level to get this done correctly.”

Malliotakis, Tannousis, State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton and other lawmakers sent Adams a letter asking him to reinstate the agents immediately.

“The Mayor has #NYPD and private security stationed at hundreds of migrant shelters in the city, but when it comes to protecting the children of taxpaying families, all of a sudden there are no resources,” Malliotakis said on X.