Rapper and businessman 50 Cent says New York City Mayor Eric Adams has helped clear up some of his confusion about the city’s plan to launch a $53 million pilot program aimed at assisting its migrant population.
On Monday, 50 Cent posted on social media that he had connected with Adams on the topic, saying, “I talk(ed) to @NYCMayor Eric Adams he broke down why this pilot program was put in place. He appeared to be on point, and on top of things.”
The rapper first raised his concerns days ago in a since-deleted Instagram Story on Saturday in which he shared a screenshot of the New York Post’s report detailing Adams’ latest plan to address the migrant crisis.
More than 173,000 migrants have gone through New York City’s intake system asking for shelter since the spring of 2022, according to the city’s mayor’s office.
“WTF mayor Adams call my phone, I don’t understand how this works somebody explain,” 50 Cent wrote in the deleted post. “Can’t explain this I’m stuck maybe TRUMP is the answer.”
Along with his comments that he’d since spoken with Mayor Adams, the rapper shared a news conference video clip on social media showing Adams stating he had told 50 Cent to hit him up.
“I would love to explain it to him so that he can go out and do another tweet of 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 to be the mayor,” Adam said, adding, “He may even write a song about me.”
In that same clip, Adams describes the initial pilot program for 500 migrant families with children as a “smart policy shift” that the city will expand to include additional people if successful.
The program is expected to save the city more than $600,000 per month, or more than $7.2 million annually, the New York City Mayor’s Office told Atlanta Black Star in an email.
The mayor’s office says the pilot tech program was launched as a cost-saving measure, and they’re partnering with Mobility Capital Finance to distribute prepaid immediate response cards to asylum seekers.
The cards can be used to buy food and baby supplies “in lieu of the city’s current system of providing non-perishable food boxes to migrant families staying in hotels,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
“We’ve got to bring down the cost, 20 percent we want to bring down the cost, and their team [is] doing their job,” Adams said at the news conference on Monday.
The migrant families are able to use the prepaid debit cards “exclusively at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores to ensure the money is spent on food and baby supplies,” according to the mayor’s office.
“All families involved will be required to sign an affidavit affirming that they will be using these cards for the intended purposes, and anyone who violates the terms risk[s] being removed from the pilot program,” the office said in a statement.
While 50 Cent’s talk with Mayor Adams may have offered him some clarity on the pilot program, the rapper’s social media post showed that he still has questions for another New York politician — the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul.
“Now I want to talk to @govkathyhochul about the laws preventing [Mayor Adams] 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!” 50 Cent wrote.
Hochul announced in January that as part of a $233 billion budget proposal, she wants to spend the money on helping address the influx of migrants overwhelming New York City’s homeless shelters, The Associated Press reported.
Atlanta Black Star has reached out to the New York Governor’s Office for a comment on whether the governor has yet connected with 50 Cent.
