Updated 01/04/2013 10:03 PM
IBO Report Puts Sandy-Related OT Costs At $154 Million
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The long hours worked by city employees during and after Hurricane Sandy cost the city $154 million in overtime, according to figures released Friday by the Independent Budget Office.
The report, which looked at Hurricane Sandy-related overtime from October 29 to December 24, shows the city's police department spent nearly $71 million in overtime; Sanitation $53.6 million; Fire Department $8.6 million; and Parks Department $4.7 million.
After Hurricane Sandy, the NYPD was involved in directing traffic in areas without power, patrolling neighborhoods, and rescuing New Yorkers from trapped homes.
A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg says waiting for Washington to write a check to cover costs wasn't an option, and services needed to be delivered after the storm.
"As the mayor said, from the days before the storm hit, we were not going to sit around and wait for Washington to cut us a check," said Marc La Vorgna, Mayor Bloomberg's press secretary. "We were going to go out into the communities to provide the services immediately needed and worry about how to pay for it later. Those costs are astronomical, and the overtime costs are a slice of that."
In late November, Mayor Bloomberg estimated the storm cost city agencies alone four and a half billion dollars.