Sep 16, 2020 - Politics & Policy

NYC mayor to furlough employees for a week, including himself

Orion Rummler

Mayor Bill de Blasio wears a face mask that reads "stand by hope" — Bill de Blasio attends the 9/11 Memorial & Museum on Sept. 11. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that all employees in his office, including himself, will be subject to a one-week furlough sometime between October and March.

The big picture: The pandemic is on pace to hit cities' finances even harder than the Great Recession. Many face no choice but to cut services, layoff or furlough workers and freeze capital projects.

Nearly 90% of 485 cities surveyed by the National League of Cities in August said they expect to be less able to meet their financial needs this year than they were last year.
City Hall's budget will shrink by 12% with furloughs affecting roughly 500 people, de Blasio said, and the office has already entered a hiring freeze.

What he's saying: "The folks who work here throughout this crisis, they have not been working 35 or 40 hour weeks. They've been working 80 hour weeks, 90 hour weeks, 100 hour weeks," De Blasio said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"So it is with pain that I say they and their families will lose a week's pay."

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NYC mayor to furlough employees for a week, including himself

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