By Emily Ngo

Mayor Eric Adams said 15,000 Venezuelans have arrived in the city since July 31, but some officials point to different numbers. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is still doing the math, quite literally, on how it’ll get migrants newly eligible for temporary protected status enrolled, processed and out of its care.

Hundreds of staff are conducting “in-depth, in-person surveys” of working-age adult migrants in city shelters, a census that launched just three weeks ago to supplement basic intake data.

Perhaps illustrative of how the preparations are going, there was brief confusion Wednesday over how many migrants in the city’s care will be TPS-eligible under the expansion announced last week by President Joe Biden’s administration.

How many Venezuelan nationals here arrived in the United States on or before July 31?

Is it about 15,000 as Adams noted on a whiteboard last Thursday?

Or 22,000 as Ted Long, senior vice president at NYC Health + Hospitals, repeatedly cited Wednesday at the administration’s weekly update on the crisis?

Closer to 15,000, press officials eventually clarified, saying that Long misspoke but also issuing the caveat that the number could grow once the census is done. (It’s about 70 percent complete now.)

With the expansion of TPS and work authorization, Adams finally has one important tool he said he needed to begin turning the tide in the migrant crisis.

Whether he’ll be ready to use it remains to be seen.

“We have a strong infrastructure in place to help us identify and figure out who the eligible asylum seekers are and help them to fill out the proper paperwork once the federal government finalizes a rule,” Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said.

That paperwork can include three forms — TPS, work authorization and waiver applications — that are dozens of pages long and require photocopies, supporting documents and translation, she said. There’s also a fee.

“We’re going to have teams ready to leap into action,” Long vowed.

Some were dubious.

“I don’t have any faith because they haven’t proven they have the apparatus to run the system as it is now,” City Council member Diana Ayala, a fellow Democrat and the deputy speaker, told Playbook, calling the administration’s overall migrant response “reactionary.”

The New York Immigration Coalition said it has been asking for coordinated case management from the beginning.

“We believe the city has the systems to do this appropriately,” the group’s executive director, Murad Awawdeh, told Playbook. “We don’t know if they have the staff, partners or contractors to do this at scale since they’re playing catch up.”

IT’S THURSDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.

WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City and Albany with no public schedule.

WHERE’S ERIC? Appearing live on La Mega 97.9 FM and 77 WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning, going to the NYC Department for the Aging’s talent show, attending the NYPD Influential Women of New York City Luncheon, touring the New York City Department of Records and Information Services’ city archives, speaking at the opening ceremony for a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial and celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in Gracie Mansion.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Republicans have no solutions for immigration.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, posting on social media with a video of her exchange with state Assemblymember Jaime Williams, who is actually a fellow Democrat.

GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.

A New York City Housing Authority building in Brooklyn. Some Upstate counties are worried Mayor Eric Adams' plan to provide NYC housing vouchers for homes outside the city will make finding affordable housing more difficult. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images

VOUCHER VEXATION: Upstate officials are not thrilled with Adams’ offer of housing vouchers for communities outside of New York City in order to free up shelter space for the migrant crisis.

But even as some officials weigh a lawsuit to block it, they acknowledge their legal options may be limited.

“Certainly, if there’s a legal way I can block it, I will,” said Broome County Executive Jason Garnar, a Democrat, in an interview with Playbook.

Garnar is worried the voucher program will add to the housing woes in the Southern Tier county and place further strain on costs for people who already live there amid a housing crunch.

Broome County was among the municipalities that approved emergency orders to block migrants from being placed in motels by New York City.

But while motels and shelters can be regulated by the county government, preventing Adams’ from simply giving people money to leave New York City is different, Garner said.

“We’re reviewing what our legal options are moving forward with this new program,” he said. “But I think it’s going to be more difficult to do that.”

Adams has called for a statewide “decompression” strategy that would move more migrants out of New York City — a proposal that both Gov. Kathy Hochul and many local governments have not supported.

Still, the voucher program has the backing of Hochul, who reiterated her support on Wednesday.

“There will not be a mass shipping of people to counties directed by the city,” she told reporters in Queens. “This is a very different dynamic. Those who are trying to create hysteria around what (Adams) is doing misrepresent the facts.”

Hochul this week also pointed to the need for additional housing across the state — a problem that has compounded since an influx of migrants to New York.— Nick Reisman 

Reynoso may have slayed the lion — he’s canceling future heritage celebrations. | Brooklyn Borough President's office

MARTY MARKOWITZ WOULD NEVER: No more parties at Borough Hall.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced he's stopping “the fluff stuff” of heritage events and diverting his office’s spending to more direct aid to New Yorkers.

“Instead of throwing a party for Hispanic heritage, let's go to Sunset Park, where there's a large Hispanic population, and see if we could help them fill out forms for SNAP benefits,” he gave as an example.

Reynoso admits it’s more about priorities than fiscal impact. The office really only has like $1.5 million in discretionary funds each year. But “if I'm going to be critical of the mayor related to how he's handling things then I should put my money where my mouth is,” he said.

The progressive Reynoso has been considered by some as a possible challenger to Adams — and some insiders met the announcement with eyerolls, as an overreaction to the city’s fiscal situation amid an increase in migration. — Jeff Coltin

FOR THE BIRDS: Ever dream of releasing doves at your perfect New York City wedding? That may not fly for much longer.

City Council member Carlina Rivera is planning to introduce a bill today that would ban the release of birds for commercial purposes.

The activist group Voters for Animal Rights floated the idea, inspired in part by “Flamingo,” the dyed-pink pigeon who died shortly after being rescued in Madison Square Park last February — a possible case of bird homicide from a gender reveal party. — Jeff Coltin

More from the city:

— Texas Gov. Greg Abbott looked for a point of agreement with Adams: blaming the president. (POLITICO)

— Will a judge’s fraud ruling dismantle Donald Trump’s New York empire? (The New York Times)

— City Council criticizes mayor’s office on “inadequate job” aiding food stamp applicants. (Gothamist)

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a series of bills into law Wednesday aimed at stopping human trafficking in New York. | Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

HUMAN TRAFFICKING LAWS: A package of new bills signed into law Wednesday by Hochul to address human trafficking in New York were cheered by Democratic lawmakers.

Now the governor is being urged to do more.

Hochul approved requirements for boosting communication to aid victims of human trafficking at airports, rest areas and Port Authority terminals. She also expanded and extended a task force studying the issue.

Sen. Lea Webb, a Democrat who represents the Binghamton area, called the new laws an important step. She's also urging the governor to approve the creation of a separate task force to address Black, indigenous and women of color who are murdered or go missing.

Webb sponsored the legislation with Assemblymember Karines Reyes (D-Bronx).

“As someone who represents an urban, rural and suburban area, this is an issue that impacts us across the state,” Webb told Playbook in an interview. — Nick Reisman

More from Albany:

— The top official at New York’s Cannabis Advisory Board acknowledged officials haven’t been able to do their jobs and needs staff to function. (Syracuse.com)

— New York will block the use of facial recognition technology in schools. (POLITICO Pro)

— The state’s ethics commission met after a judge declared its existence unconstitutional. (Times Union)

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here.

— An upstate judge is now facing removal from his bench for pulling a gun on a defendant in his courtroom eight years ago. (Democrat & Chronicle)

— Shuck yeah! Check out the 24 best corn mazes in the Albany area. (Times Union)

— A Long Island mom was acquitted of attempted murder after she allegedly ran over her teenage son’s bully in a Dunkin’ parking lot. (Newsday)

— More trial court judges are desperately needed around the state. (Queens Daily Eagle)

— Piping plovers in the Rockaways are struggling to recover, in large part due to human activity. (Hell Gate NYC)

MAKING MOVES:  Douglas W. Dimitroff has been named managing partner of Phillips Lytle.

WEEKEND WEDDING: Elana Leopold, senior vice president for government relations at Moonshot Strategies, and Kicy Motley, project manager at Charter Oak Advisory, got married Saturday in Hudson. The couple met as staffers on Bill de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Del Quentin Wilber …  Chris Geidner … William Thompson of Sidley Austin … Dan Crawford of SKDK … Puck’s Abby Livingston … Marty Machowsky … Stephanie Blumenthal

WAS WEDNESDAY: Jeffrey M. Lacker ... Rebecca Blumenstein

— The sunshine state has surpassed New York as the second most valuable housing market in the country, a Zillow study says. (New York Post)

— Germantown is an Upstate haven that’s seen a recent influx of artists, writers and soaring property values. (The New York Times)

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