AMERICA—On Wednesday, August 19, the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio and other city officials have warned that they would be making cuts to city services.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus, there was increased pressure on the financing of government within the city of New York. De Blasio, 49, announced that the City Hall is expected to lay off about 400 EMTs and paramedics, as well as 22,000 municipal workers to ease the pressure on the city’s budget. The mayor added on saying that the city is searching for another $1 billion from its savings.

De Blasio giving a speech (credits to Instagram)

The state-run transit agency of New York told the New York Times that it would freeze its $54 billion plan to improve the city’s transportation system. This decision was made after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority petitioned for $3.9 billion from the federal emergency fund in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.

De Blasio has warned that the cuts in city services will be put into action in October, if the city does not provide adequate amount of state and federal aid to compensate for the budget deficit linked to the coronavirus disease. Earlier in August, the mayor had already asked the city officials to come up with a list of cuts.