(CNSNews.com) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told “Sunday Morning Futures” his city is looking to recover lost revenue from the federal government due to the coronavirus pandemic and to address “vast health care disparities” that COVID-19 dredged up.
When asked how he plans to rebuild from the coronavirus, de Blasio said, “There's no question in my mind, we must have the support of the federal government to do this, because, right now, to be able to have a strong economy again and really restart, we have to be able to provide the basic services that have made this place work, police, fire, sanitation, health care, education.
“The things that have made New York City strong and allowed us to get through this crisis are now in the crosshairs, because we have lost $7.4 billion -- that's our projection from our budget -- $7.4 billion in lost revenue, $3.5 billion in new expenses to pay for the coronavirus and the fight to save lives, over $10 billion combined,” the mayor said.
“The federal government must make us whole for us to be able to be in a position to restart. If we're not whole, if New York City is not whole, it will drag down the entire region, and it will hold up the entire national economic restart,” he said.
Asked to how much money he needs from the federal government, de Blasio said, “All the money that's been lost and will be lost, lost revenue, and this is true for New York and cities and states around the country. We need $7.4 billion. That's how much we have lost. That's how much we need to get back.
“Just like the federal government bailed out the airline industry to the tune of $58 billion, bail out the largest city in the country, so we can restart and be able to be strong leaders in an economic revitalization in this country. We get that, I have no doubt we can move forward,” the mayor said.
“Are you using this crisis to take us into socialism? I just saw you on the press conference, and you said this: ‘The bigger picture, a fair recovery for all, confront structural, economic and racial inequalities.’ Are you looking to change things that have nothing to do with the coronavirus and were not impacted by that, Mr. Mayor?” host Maria Bartiromo asked.
“Maria, I'm looking to go at the very things that the coronavirus has dredged up and have we seen it all over the country. There are vast health care disparities that have come up that must be addressed for the good of all us of us. It's the right thing to do, but also to have a strong, healthy society,” de Blasio said.
“But, Maria, what I'm talking about in the first instance, when we talk about just getting on our feet again, I think we all can count here. If we're missing $7.4 billion -- and now we heard today there may be additional state budget cuts looming on top of that that will hit New York City and the whole rest of the state -- we won't be able to provide the basic services and have the personnel we need who do that amazing work,” he said.
“We're talking about the heroes, the first responders, the health care workers, the essential workers. These are the folks who need to keep their jobs going forward if we're going to have a healthy recovery,” the mayor added.