NYC Mayor Eric Adams is calling on New York rapper 50 Cent after being slammed for using $53 million in taxpayer dollars to help migrants with a new program.
In a since-deleted post made on Saturday (February 3), Fifty took to his Instagram account with a screenshot of an article mentioning New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ $53 million program to distribute prepaid credit cards to migrant families being put up in hotels around the city.
Captioning the post, the rapper called out Mayor Adams and joked about voting for Donald Trump over Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential elections. Fifty wrote, “WTF Mayor Adams call my phone, I don’t understand how this works somebody explain. @arimelber can’t explain this. l’m stuck maybe TRUMP is the answer.”
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It’s reported that via Mayor Adams’ administration, migrants arriving at the Roosevelt Hotel will be provided with money for food and other necessities through this pilot program, in partnership with Mobility Capital Finance. The amount of money that each family will receive is based on their size and potential income amounts.
According to the New York Post, a family of four could nearly be given $1,000 every month, or about $35 per day for food. To start, the prepaid cards will be distributed to 500 families staying in short-term hotels, and the cards, which will be refilled every 28 days, can only be used at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.
Additionally, migrants are also reportedly required to sign affidavits promising to only spend their allotted funds on food and baby supplies, or they risk being kicked off of the program entirely. If the pilot program turns out to be successful, Mayor Adams’ administration will look to expand it to all migrant families staying in hotels in New York City, which is estimated at 15,000.
It’s also reported that this new pilot program is expected to save the city some money. Reportedly, NYC has been spending about $11 per meal on migrant families living in hotels. Mayor Adams’ spokesperson Kayla Mamelak believes the program will “save New York City more than $600,000 per month, or more than $7.2 million annually.”
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After 50 Cent’s comments went viral, Mayor Eric Adams caught wind and responded to the rapper about his taxpayer dollars concerns. During a press conference on Monday (February 5), Adams said, “I told 50 Cent to hit me up. I would love to explain it to him so that he can go out and do another tweet saying, ‘You know what, Eric is just a smart manager and now we understand why he was elected by the people of this city of New York.”
On Monday evening, 50 Cent hopped back on his Instagram and also his X account (formerly Twitter), to update fans that he did indeed speak with Mayor Eric Adams about his concerns and that he had additional questions about his taxpayer dollars.
50 said, “I talk[ed] to @NYCMayor Eric Adams [and] he broke down why this pilot program was put in place. He appeared to be on point, and on top of things. Now I want to talk to @GovKathyHochul about the laws preventing him from doing things to make the situation better in New York, and where the proposed 2.4 billion she’s planning on spending on migrants is coming from…NOT MY TAXES.”
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