The costs of treating COVID patients and the impact of the economic shutdown could reach $9 billion and have strained New York City’s finances to the point that the city is likely to slash infrastructure spending and lay off masses of the its’ 326,000 employees, mayor Bill DeBlasio said on 24 June.
The mayor’s office has been negotiating with more than 100 unions to find savings but, so far, no major spending reductions have resulted.
The city’s own transportation agency has called for $3.9 billion in federal support, calling the situation “a four-alarm fire” and “the most acute financial crisis in the history” of the agency.
The agency received $4 billion in federal help in March but has calculated that it faces a $10-billion shortfall by 2022.
The state’s transportation agency has suspended its $54-billion plan to upgrade the city’s public transportation system.
The city cannot borrow to fund operating expenses unless the state legislature permits it to, something state lawmakers have not yet done.
Observers say that deBlasio’s warning of the crises ahead is a bargaining tactic meant to sway legislators and unions to intensify negotiations because “it’s quite clear” that federal aid “is not happening,” the mayor said.
TREND FORECAST: From food, fuel, alcohol, cannabis to property and school taxes… and any other ways or means politicians can invent, get ready to pay more as you earn less.
The “Greatest Depression” has begun. The implications of the collapse will be felt from coast to coast… from sea to shining sea.