Nov 7, 2008 8:51 am US/Eastern
Mayor: Citizens Must Ante Up To Pay NYC Employees
Bloomberg Grants Exclusive Interview With CBS 2 HD, Says He's Not Worried About Less Cops On The Streets
New Yorkers Largely Disagree With Hizzoner's Tax Reasoning
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat down for an exclusive interview with CBS 2 HD's Marcia Kramer and explained why the city has to raise taxes and eliminate rebates. He said the city's financial problems are worse than you think.
CBS
A day after announcing sweeping budget cuts, Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn't mincing words, saying it's only going to get worse before it gets better.
In a one-on-one interview with CBS 2 HD the mayor warned of deficits from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York State that will require increases for property, sales and income taxes.
Just two days after calling for painful service cuts -- 1,000 fewer cops among them -- Bloomberg told CBS 2 HD he's bracing for another round of deeper pain because of the state's problems in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown.
"The state has a problem. They may come and really do damage. They've been spending money like drunken sailors for years," Bloomberg said.
In an exclusive interview on "Eye on New York," Bloomberg said he wasn't worried that the city would suffer with fewer cops.
"I'm not worried about crime going up," the mayor said. "Ray Kelly is the best police commissioner we've ever had, maybe in the history of the world."
Asked if he thought it was fair to see property tax hikes, sales tax hikes and an increase in personal income taxes, Bloomberg said: "This is going to surprise you but our police officers want to get paid; our teachers want to get paid; our sanitation workers, our correction officers … all the people who work in our city want to get paid and if you want them there providing services … if you want them there, somebody's got to pay for it."
"If you talk to the people in the street they know we're in a fiscal crisis."
Well, here's what some New Yorkers had to say: "I think we're all going to have to pay somewhere down the line," said John Roney of Manhattan. "These days now, there's a lot going on."
"You feel bad, but you know you have to," said George Piniella of Queens. "It's part of life, you know? Once everything gets back to normal, the taxes will go down, too."
"I think he was raised by wolves," Ruth Washington of Queens said of Bloomberg. "You're going to pay some taxes, but you know, don't go overboard with it."
"We're paying enough right now and how the country and the way the economy is and all that, so I don't think it's right now," said Jose Batista of Brooklyn.
"I don't like it. I don't think it's good. I don't know. I just don't like this plan," added John Hatton of Brooklyn.
"I understand what he's trying to do to raise money, but there could be other ways that he could come about it," Batista add.
And off camera the mayor told CBS 2 HD he has another big headache -- the MTA. He said the agency will report huge deficits next week, won't have a way to pay for it and can't do it all at the fare box.
Stay tuned for that.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments