New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the $2 million that his wife, Chirlane McCray, spends on her 14-person staff, saying “this work is about the needs of the people of this city,” The Daily Mail reported.
McCray has this well-paid staff, despite not holding a position in New York City’s government.
Meanwhile, the city is bleeding money due to poor management, tax reform, and the lockdown orders, and de Blasio said the city plans to fire 22,000 public employees.
Eight people are officially listed as members of McCray’s staff, and they earn a combined $1.1 million a year.
Another six people are “shadow” staffers, who are not listed, and they earn a combined $900,000 a year.
“It is exactly what it is — people from different agencies working in common cause to address this crisis,” de Blasio vaguely explained at a news conference, New York Daily News reported. “Everybody in this government needs to understand that this is the priority and that’s where we’re going to put our energy.”
One of the people that de Blasio said is addressing the “needs” of New York City’s residents during the coronavirus lockdowns is a videographer who makes $70,000 a year.
As average New Yorkers lost their jobs due to de Blasio’s house arrest orders, this staffer stayed on the job to film a video of McCray baking ginger snaps.
De Blasio somehow connected this to the “mental health crisis” in New York City, which “is much deeper deeper because of the coronavirus.”
Staffer Dabash Negash earns $150,000 a year as a senior adviser.
She was hired a week after de Blasio declared a hiring freeze for public employees in April.
The mayor did not rule out cuts for his and McCray’s staffers.
“Unquestionably, there will be lay-offs at City Hall for my staff, her staff. Our job is to work together to try to avert it,” he said.
