Mayor Bloomberg ratcheted up the pressure today on the state Senate to break its deadlock by imposing a hiring freeze that will prevent 250 police recruits from joining the NYPD on Wednesday.
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The future employment of 770 firefighters, EMTs, traffic agents, school safety officers, 911 operators,school crossing guards and 311 operators as also in jeopardy, the mayor warned.
In addition, Bloomberg said the administration would be reviewing all city contracts with an eye towards blocking any new ones considered “non-essential obligations,” which would include those with non-profit agencies.
“We have a legal mandate to produce a balanced budget — something we’ve done for seven consecutive years — so we have to act responsibly,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
The stalemate in the state Senate has prevented it from authorizing a tax package requested by the city that includes a half-point increase in the sales tax that was supposed to take effect July 1.
Every month’s delay costs the city $60 million.
At a press conference in Brooklyn earlier today, the mayor indicated he was prepared to pull back the hit list if the state Senate finally acted.
“I thought they’d solve their problems two, three weeks ago,” said the mayor. “I don’t think anybody expected this to go on, yet it does. Does that mean it’s going to go on forever? Common sense says they have to at some point come up with a resolution.”