When Eric Adams was campaigning for mayor in 2021, the veteran community saw promise with his background as the former chair of the State Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security, and Military Affairs Committee. This experience, combined with his tenure as Brooklyn Borough President – with the second largest veterans’ population in the five boroughs – suggested Adams had a good understanding of veteran-related issues.
This belief was reinforced when Adams presented a comprehensive veteran’s platform. The platform addressed issues such as expanding access to outreach and services, hiring veterans for peer-to-peer support, completing the Brooklyn War Memorial, providing free meditation and mindfulness resources, addressing the unfinished veteran homelessness issue, and offering contracting opportunities to veteran-owned small businesses.
Adams’ most notable pledge was to fully fund the city’s Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS) and veteran-serving non-profits. After several years marked by poor leadership, lawsuits, program inefficiencies and low morale at the agency, many believed this commitment was crucial, especially with the city emerging from the pandemic.
Unfortunately, despite these promises, a little over two years into the Adams administration, criticism has grown in the community over the administration’s failure to deliver. A notable disappointment was Adams’ decision to retain the current Commissioner, even after it became public he solicited donations from a company negotiating a contract with his agency.
This inauspicious beginning, coupled with reports seeping out of ethical lapses, harassment, along with the departure of multiple employees at the agency, has left it grappling to fulfill its programmatic obligations to veterans.
Consequently, while veterans and their families continue to struggle accessing city services, obtain information, or even receive a callback from the agency, the administration’s failure to fulfill the mayor’s campaign promises has further strained the system, with more and more veterans relying on word of mouth or support from non-profits, which have also seen a decrease in funding.
Furthermore, despite Mayor Adams’ campaign promise to fully fund the Department of Veterans’ Services, the agency, one of the lowest funded in the city, has instead received a number of reductions from the mayor’s budget office, contradicting his campaign commitment. Even the Council’s Veterans committee has acknowledged that these reductions are “cutting into the bone” with regards to how the agency operates.
While Mayor Adams has engaged the community, especially around Memorial and Veterans Day, veterans see similarities to the previous administration that are frustrating. Like Adams’ predecessor, there is a focus on a family member who served, emphasizing their service and sacrifice to the experiences veterans face when returning home. Sadly, this empathy hasn’t translated into increased funding or improved services.
As a result, contrary to Adams’ “get stuff done” mantra, there is a lack of clarity regarding any accomplishments for veterans and their families. Add in the mismanagement of disability claims and mental health programs by the agency, coupled with inadequate communication on policies, funding for programs and personnel changes, and this has further eroded confidence in the agency and by extension, the administration.
The challenges faced by the Adams administration, including the post-pandemic recovery, the lack of affordable housing, migrant issues, and a budget deficit, have pushed veteran issues to the back burner. This was underscored by the absence of any mention of veterans by the mayor in this year’s State of the City speech. Consequently, there is a growing question of who in the veterans’ community has the mayor’s ear? Who is our Shams de Barron?
A recent report from the Bob Woodruff Foundation highlighted that in many communities, the needs of military and veteran populations exceeded available services. Despite the availability of services here, there is a long backlog to access them, leading to the consensus that New York City is not as veteran friendly as it could be. Compounded by the high cost of living, this is contributing to an exodus of older veterans while simultaneously, younger veterans, especially those transitioning from the military, are choosing not to come, resulting in a decline of federal spending dollars to the city’s economy.
It is therefore imperative that the administration actively move to address the mayor’s agenda and issues of relevance to the community. The implementation of these efforts is crucial not only for the well-being of veterans and their families but for the mayor’s re-election as well.
Joe Bello served 11 years in the U.S. Navy/Naval Reserve and has been a veteran’s advocate and organizer in New York City for over two decades. He is a former member of the City’s Veterans Advisory Board and the founder of NYMetroVets. On X: @NYMetroVets
