New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has claimed that the federal government must step in to make up a projected shortfall of more than $7.5 billion brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported by Fox News, “President Trump and other Republican leaders have resisted handing out too much aid out of concern state and local leaders are hoping to be bailed out of economic trouble that began well before COVID-19 ravaged the nation. De Blasio insisted on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that this is not the case for his city, which needs the money to recoup losses needed to pay city workers.”
“That’s revenue that’s gone that pays for cops, firefighters, teachers, sanitation workers, it’s gone,” de Blasio said. “And there’s no way I’m going to get it back.” De Blasio said he expects even greater losses, and that the city’s economy “won’t come back without a stimulus.”
However Fox News reported on the $2 million Mayor Bill de Blasio just spent on new hires and pay hikes and at the same time de Blasio has threatened layoffs and furloughs. De Blasio brought in or promoted at least 10 people, many with six-figure salaries, boosting payroll costs by $2 million.
The mayor’s “unfettered spending” never stops, rails City Councilman Robert Holden, D-Queens. The city claims it’s in a hiring freeze, yet “we see nothing but high-paying hirings and promotions” — even as the mayor threatens layoffs. As Councilman Eric Ulrich, R-Queens, notes, many of the hires and raises surely could have waited.
The mayor claimed that the money would not be going to fix past financial errors, insisting that before the pandemic, the city was doing better than ever.
“You’ve seen what has happened in the city in recent years. Right before this pandemic, the highest level of employment in our history, booming economy, lowest crime since the 1950s, more and more kids graduating on time in our public schools than ever in our history, you name it, this city was moving forward.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken heat for state policies that resulted in patients who tested positive for coronavirus returning to their nursing homes and spreading the virus. The virus has killed 20,316 people in the city, by far the highest toll in the country, and there are 185,206 confirmed cases of the virus.
“We all have to do better, there’s no question,” de Blasio said about the nursing home situation. “We’ve been providing protective equipment to those nursing homes. We’re going to do everything we can, this is a horrible human crisis.”
The mayor state not the city “has the regulatory role” in that situation, but said, “we’re all going to work together to fix this problem because we owe it to the people in those nursing homes and their families.”