New York Mayor Furloughs Himself, Staff for Week to Ease Pandemic Budget Gap

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaks during a news conference, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Coney Island neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City, Sept. 15, 2020. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

NEW YORK—Everyone in the New York City mayor’s office, including the mayor himself, will be furloughed for one week without pay beginning Oct. 1 to close a budget shortfall created by the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.

The coronavirus outbreak had caused the city to lose $9 billion in revenue and forced a $7 billion cut to the city’s annual budget, de Blasio told reporters.