Bloomberg Orders Hiring Freeze Because of Senate Gridlock

NEW YORK (AP)  -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered an immediate citywide hiring freeze on Monday to help bridge financial gaps he said are caused by the gridlocked state Senate's failure to act on city budget matters.


Stan Brooks reports

The freeze delays indefinitely more than 1,000 planned hires, including a class of 250 police recruits who were to be sworn in Wednesday. It postpones the hires of firefighters, traffic agents, school crossing guards, school safety agents, 911 operators and emergency medical technicians planned for this summer and fall.

The city has about 300,000 municipal employees. The police department, the nation's largest, has about 35,000 officers.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said it was ``painfully obvious that gridlock in Albany has real-life consequences.''

``We hope the problem is addressed soon so we can start training the police officers we need,'' he said in a statement.

The Senate has been in a standoff for a month, unable to take legislative action because of disagreements about who is in control. Two Senate factions continue to refuse to recognize each other's leaders. The conflict began with a coup June 8 by a Republican-dominated coalition versus the Democratic majority.

The city has been in a holding pattern because the state must approve new tax measures that were included in the city budget for fiscal year 2010, which began July 1. Without them, the city is losing $60 million a month, said Bloomberg, an independent.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democrat, said in a statement that the Senate ``needs to put aside their power struggle'' and pass the revenue package.