For months, de Blasio has set his hopes on a federal bailout to help the city plug a multi-billion dollar budget hole brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.
What We Know:
- New York City is suffering a devastating budget shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic. To give essential aids, Mayor Bill De Blasio instructs the city’s agencies to lay off 22,000 public workers on October 1st, on the condition that the city can obtain another source of funding at the eleventh hour.
- De Blasio stated that such an overwhelming cost of local government is the personnel. The money is put to the people who render services to New Yorkers, whether first responders, healthcare workers, sanitation workers, or educators.
- De Blasio is urging companies to hire while also calling the emerging layoffs a reality, but a fact that should not come as a surprise. De Blasio says that the city notified labor unions about the crisis months ago, resulting in the coronavirus pandemic overwhelming the city and unplanned money from the annual fiscal budget.
- De Blasio said he is also advising city agencies to come up with their plans to save money. The New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials conducted a virtual conference on Thursday regarding the economic effects of COVID-19 across the state. They are hoping to secure money from the federal government. De Blasio said cuts would be across the board but avoided answering if the NYPD would be spared.
The mayor has endured protests from his employees in the past few months over the handling of policing. His comments did not sit well with some city workers, especially with the threat of layoffs emerging. The mayor is requesting labor unions come up with savings. Unions say workers have kept the city running during the crisis and layoffs should not be an option.
