There is no money for regular trash cans or for city park maintenance, but Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife has enjoyed a 14-member staff – including a $ 70,000 videographer who captured her cakes during the pandemic .
Some of the Chirlane McCray employees, who combine city taxpayers nearly $ 2 million a year, work for the first lady’s $ 1.25 billion mental health initiative ThriveNYC, which came under fire for its lack of metrics.
“What happened to ThriveNYC’s money?” asked City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens).
“How much taxpayer’s money will the mayor’s wife pilfer before leaving office? How can she sleep at night and catch up on these heels, knowing that so many other city workers are here this fall? This is a shame! Ulrich fumed.
McCray has provided a core team of eight staff members, according to a recent list submitted to The Post following a request for Freedom of Information law filed in October 2019. This is despite the city’s layoffs for 22,000 municipal workers over the budget crisis caused by budget cuts. .
There is a $ 117,000-a-year speechwriter, though McCray held the same position under former mayor David Dinkins, and a $ 150,000-a-year senior adviser, who was recruited in April after Blasio announced he had hired a license to helping to close a $ 7 billion deficit caused by the coronavirus.
But she has at least six other city staff deputies to her office from other public agencies, as first reported by The City. That makes for a robust roster of 14 employees – double the amount they had in 2018.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 14: Chirlane McCray and New York City Mayor and presidential candidate Bill de Blasio will be seen on August 14, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by MediaPunch / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images)
They include the $ 70,000 videographer McCray brought in February. The shooter, who is listed as an employee of the health department in city records, filmed the first lady make ginger snaps on April 2 during the lockon of coronavirus.
Other members of the shadow staff who attended a “Team Lunch” at The Bronx in January 2019, according to McCray’s public schedule, are a director of PR $ 143,000 a year, also from the Department of Health, and a special assistant of the mayor’s office making $ 115,000.
Then there is the $ 130,000 “Executive Program Specialist” from the Dept of Social Services and $ 65,000 “Associate Director Upfront” to the first lady.
Still, City Hall spokesman Chanel Caraway defended the McCray team, even though the mayor said there was no money to pick up overflowing bins or maintain the city’s parks.
Indeed, Caraway said, New Yorkers should thank McCray’s staff for their contributions.
“The First Lady manages a robust portfolio and her team works tirelessly to pursue goals and priorities on issues such as mental health and domestic violence that will improve the lives of New Yorkers,” she said.
“While the City is navigating unusual challenges, driven by the COVID-19 crisis, these officials remain available every day to deliver solutions that reach every neighborhood and family, and we are indebted to them for their gratitude,” Caraway said
Despite his ranks and generous salaries, the team has not posted an update to McCray’s public schedule since last year.
She is considering a run for president of Brooklyn borough during the mayor’s last year in office.
Fellow candidate, City Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), slammed the ascent.
“With more than 22,000 layoffs of city workers in the battle, the mayor can not seriously expect them to hold full-time, high-paying speakers and professional videographers for his wife’s political ambitions. It’s wrong, and it needs to stop, ”Reynoso said.
