New York City Mayor Eric Adams shot down an attempt by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to blame the Trump administration for the deadly incident when a Mexican Navy ship collided with the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend.
Schumer suggested that the DOGE cuts to the U.S. Coast Guard played a role in the Saturday tragedy when the Mexican tall ship Cuauhtémoc’s mast didn’t clear the bridge, leaving two crew members dead. In a post to X, the senator proclaimed, “I’m fighting for answers about whether Trump and DOGE have impacted water traffic control.”
With the Brooklyn Bridge strike last night:
I’m fighting for answers about whether Trump and DOGE have impacted water traffic control.
We know they’ve been meddling with U.S. Coast Guard staffing.
Trump relieved Admiral Linda Fagan as Commandant of the USCG, and that position…
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 18, 2025
But Gotham’s top Democrat undercut Schumer’s bogus claim, citing the Coast Guard’s “full response” to the ship’s collision with the East River bridge and said that the city “handles crises well” during a Monday appearance on FOX 5’s “Good Day New York.”
Hizzoner recalled a conversation that he had with a Coast Guard member at the scene, and that in some parts of the country, the USCG is forced to assume more responsibility due to a lack of support from local agencies.
“He said, ‘When you go to other regions to deal with Coast Guard-related issues, the Coast Guard is filling a lot of manpower. Not in New York City,’” Adams said, according to the New York Post.
“I’m not clear on where the senator got that information from, but I know we had a full response on both sides of the river, and we normally do that; we manage crises extremely well in this city,” the mayor stated.
“So, cutbacks were not an issue?” Asked the host.
“Unless the senator knows something that I don’t know, but I don’t know what other role the Coast Guard would have played,” Adams responded.
“We have the boats that were needed, we have the manpower that was needed, and we responded accordingly to get those 19 injured off the ship,” Hizzoner added.
“After being fully briefed on last night’s Brooklyn Bridge accident, one thing is predominantly clear: there are more questions than answers as it relates to exactly how this accident occurred,” Schumer said in a press release, accusing President Trump and his administration of “jeopardizing our national and economic security – as well as American lives.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called B.S. on Schumer.
Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE. The US Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes. Additionally, this incident had nothing to do… https://t.co/BR4iJX2oX9
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 18, 2025
“Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE. The US Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes,” the agency said in a post to X. “Additionally, this incident had nothing to do with Vessel Traffic Services— when a ship loses propulsion in a high current area, the vessel needs to engage all capabilities to stop and ideally tugs are nearby to support.”
“We encourage Minority Leader Schumer to get his facts straight before he misleads the American people,” the DHS added.
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