The Adams administration launched its program to give prepaid debit cards to New York City migrants this week — two months after inking a controversial no-bid $53 million contract for the deal.
Staffers with the New Jersey company, Mobility Capital Finance, handed out eight preloaded Mastercards at the Roosevelt Hotel on Monday as part of its pilot program that will expand to 115 cards by next week, according to a City Hall spokesperson.
The one-year deal came under fire after The Post first revealed the contract was inked without a typical bidding process.
The program could be a boon for the tech start-up, giving it the potential to net $1.8 million by taking a cut of the funds loaded onto each Mastercard, according to the contract.
The administration scaled back the original plan, which would have loaded up the cards with a month’s worth of money for food and baby supplies. Cash will now need to be replenished each week.
A family with two parents and kids under five will receive about $350 a week, the spokesperson said --->READ MORE HERE
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| FOX NEWS |
The first batch of debit cards were reportedly handed out Monday to a handful of migrants who recently arrived in the city
Officials in New York City have begun giving out prepaid debit cards to migrant families residing in the Big Apple.
The first batch of debit cards, which are reportedly meant to be used by the illegal immigrants to purchase food and baby supplies, were handed out Monday to a handful of migrant families in the city, New York City Mayor Eric Adams' office confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The effort is part of a reported $53 million pilot program to hand out prepaid credit cards to migrant families housed in hotels despite public outcry.
The program, which the mayor's office confirmed will provide migrant families of four with two children under 5 with up to $350 each week until the end of their stay, began with a limited number of families on Monday and will expand to about 115 families, or roughly 460 people, over the next week.
The prepaid cards may only be used at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores. Migrants eligible for the program must sign an affidavit stating they will only spend the funds on food and baby supplies, or else they could lose access to the funds, Adams' office said.
Additionally, the mayor's office confirmed that the pilot program was launched using a phased approach, starting with only a few hotels. City officials have noted that the cards will be loaded with one week's worth of funds at a time and that their use would be monitored.
The cards are reportedly being distributed at the city’s arrival center, the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, to the migrant families who are staying at hotels that are being used as emergency shelters.
New Jersey company Mobility Capital Finance has partnered with the city to run the program.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a city hall spokesperson noted that New York City was "excited" about launching the effort, describing it as a "cost-saving measure [that] will replace the city’s current system of providing non-perishable food boxes to migrant families staying in hotels, much of which is often discarded." --->READ MORE HERE
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