Mayor, City Council Miles Apart On Solving Fiscal Crisis; 22,000 Jobs At Risk, 'Literally Every Agency'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Calls to cut the NYPD budget come as the city faces a $10 billion budget gap, and Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council have just five days to solve the fiscal crisis.
The streets could get dirtier. There could be fewer firefighters on trucks and possible cuts in the classroom. None of those include de Blasio's threat to layoff 22,000 people.
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Facing the June 30 budget deadline, the mayor and City Council are far apart on how to solve the coronavirus fiscal crisis.
The council wants to cut the fat, slashing agency budgets by 5-7%. The mayor wants $1 billion in union givebacks, or he'll take an ax to the workforce.
"We're really in a jam," said de Blasio.
CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer asked him where the job cuts could come from.
"Literally every agency and I hate saying that. I'm not saying that with anything but pain," said de Blasio.
Council finance chair Daniel Dromm told CBS2 that cutting the NYPD budget is just one example of how far apart the two sides are.
"He wants a 0.4 percent cut for the NYPD and he wants a 32 percent cut to the Department of Youth and Community Development," said Dromm.
Dromm said the 0.4 percent cut amounts to just a few hundred million dollars - not anywhere near the $1 billion in cuts the police reformers and council are asking for.
"The mayor is stalling. The mayor needs to step up to the plate," said Dromm.
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Labor leaders, meanwhile, are fuming over de Blasio's call for union givebacks to forestall layoffs.
They called it a slap in the face in light of the sacrifices made by teachers, health care workers and others during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Maybe we should look at the mayor's own personal stuff and see who he's been hiring and what he's doing," said Michael Mulgrew, president of the teachers union. "I don't hear him talking about a four to eight percent cut from his own staff. Maybe you should look there first."
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The mayor said he wants Albany to give him the power to borrow money to avoid layoffs and painful service cuts - something Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been reluctant to approve.
