But Adams had not booked time with Biden and was not expected to do so.
Adams has been invited but likely will not attend presidential campaign fundraisers or a reception Tuesday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that are part of Biden’s schedule, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Biden and Adams’ decision to avoid each other is a concession to the reality that their relationship is deeply broken, according to several people familiar with the dynamic. Cooking up a meeting could have been uncomfortable for both men, with no obvious benefit.
“It just means they are both trying to avoid exacerbating an already tense situation,” said a city councilor, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about their relationship.
White House aides, meanwhile, said no meetings between Biden and Adams were on the agenda in New York this week.
They acknowledged that some residents in the West Wing were unhappy with the mayor’s criticism, but promised to continue working with Adams in the future.
The fallout is almost entirely the result of Adams’ strong rhetoric on immigration, including his calls for Biden to provide funds and work permits to support the estimated 60,000 migrants in the city’s care.
“It’s certainly unfortunate,” Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a fellow Democrat, said in an interview Monday about the two leaders not meeting. “The longer we wait for all levels of government to come to the table, the more we continue to cause collateral damage to migrants. »
Adams once billed himself as the “Biden of Brooklyn,” emphasizing the working-class roots they have in common. But the mayor of the nation’s largest city recently confirmed that he and Biden — once close allies who couldn’t get enough of each other’s company — had not spoken since the start of the ‘year.
Last May, Adams was removed from a list of high-profile Biden surrogates. And the last time they were seen together was in late January, when the president visited to tout his bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Hudson Tunnel train project.
Since then, Adams’ criticism of the Biden administration has become increasingly pointed.
He said Biden had “failed” by providing too little federal aid as New York City takes on what local leaders have called a national problem.
Earlier this month, Adams said the cost and consequences of the migrant crisis would “destroy” New York City.
The Democratic mayor’s remarks were echoed by Republicans who criticize the president over what they see as a porous southern border.
Asked Monday about any attempt to meet with Biden while he is in town, Adams tried to laugh off the questions.
“You know I don’t do these private conversations,” the mayor said of disclosing such communications.
A spokesperson for Adams declined to detail the mayor’s thinking, but said: “We always look forward to any conversations that can help provide the essential support and assistance that asylum seekers, New -Lifelong Yorkers and all Americans. »
Around 110,000 migrants have flocked to the city since spring 2022.
Thousands of adult migrants sleep in barracks-style housing that the city set up with limited state and federal assistance, and thousands of migrant families occupy New York City’s conventional shelters.
“If we don’t get help from the federal government and additional help from the state government, then it’s going to come from somewhere and it’s going to hurt low-income New Yorkers,” Adams said Sunday night during an appearance on MSNBC.
The mayor’s public schedule Monday was filled with meetings with dignitaries from around the world who were in town for the General Assembly. That did not include the two campaign receptions Biden was scheduled to attend Monday night, one with black business leaders and the second with Broadway headliners.
The president is in town until Wednesday.
Biden’s public schedule includes several high-level bilateral meetings with other world leaders as well as Tuesday evening’s “leaders’ reception” at the Met Museum for heads of state.
Although Adams attended the event at the United Nations General Assembly last September, his name was not on Tuesday’s list.
Previously, Biden had publicly mentioned Adams with some frequency and praised his leadership.
He hasn’t mentioned the mayor much lately.
Adams bristled at criticism from New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s lawyer and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who used official letters to point out areas where City Hall can better handle the influx of migrants.
The mayor’s senior adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, said Sunday she would stand with him as others try to make him the “fall guy” in the crisis.
Even if Adams and Biden don’t speak, the city and federal governments are coordinating through other channels.
The mayor met with Mayorkas and spoke with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients.
Last Thursday, Tom Perez, Biden’s senior adviser, was in New York to meet with several parties facing the migrant crisis, including business leaders who are urging the White House to expand labor authority so migrants can help to fill vacant positions.
“To some extent, the governor and the mayor have played the role of good cop and bad cop with the White House, and I don’t think they had a choice,” said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, in a press release. interview.
“It’s starting to work because I think the White House has recognized that there are going to be real political consequences if this continues to be an open wound in 2024.”
Jonathan Lemire and Jason Beeferman contributed to this report.
