“We are dealing with the greatest economic crisis this city has known in almost 90 years and we’re dealing with the greatest fiscal crisis that we’ve seen in generations,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Looking to cut another $1 billion from the budget, Mr. de Blasio said the staff reductions would occur in the fall and affect every city agency, including his own office.
There are more than 326,000 city employees, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.
Mr. de Blasio has warned about the “bleak reality” of the city’s financial crisis since the coronavirus hit, but Wednesday was the first time he put a number to possible staff cuts in the fiscal year beginning July 1. To avoid layoffs, the mayor said he would first try to find the savings in discussions with the labor unions that represent city employees. The city could negotiate some concessions within the contracts, he said. “We are running out of options here,” he added, calling layoffs and furloughs a “last resort.”
Harry Nespoli, chairman of the Municipal Labor Committee, a group of public-sector unions that oversees health care, said his organizations already were in talks with the city on where to make cuts.
“We’ve been together a long time, and we’ve always reached some sort of agreement,” he said of the city and its unions.
Mr. Nespoli, who also is the president of the union that represents sanitation workers, said the city needs financial support from the federal government. Mr. de Blasio, however, hasn’t expressed much hope of receiving financial support from Washington.
The mayor also has sought authority from the state to borrow up to $7 billion to fill the revenue gaps, but the plan gained little support from state lawmakers and other city officials.
By law, the city has to set its budget for next year by the end of June, including an agreement with the City Council. Last week, Speaker Corey Johnson said the council wouldn’t agree to the mayor’s current budget, and would present a separate one if necessary. It sets up another roadblock to the city’s attempt to address budget issues.
“We are not putting up with the budget that was given to us by this mayor,” Mr. Johnson had said. The council has called for cutting $1 billion from the police department’s budget, among other reductions, and redirecting the money to youth and social services. “This council will not pass a budget that is not just, that is not fair, and that is not equitable.”
Mr. de Blasio already has cut about $2 billion from the city’s coming budget, but the revenue losses continue to increase, he said. “This is just the beginning of what will be a prolonged challenge in terms of both our economic situation and our budget situation,” he said Wednesday. He predicts it will take three or four years before finances improve.
