NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio will furlough himself and nearly 500 members of his City Hall staff.

De Blasio announced Wednesday morning that he and 495 staff members will forego pay for a week's furlough at some point after Oct. 1, saving, in combination with earlier cuts, about 12 percent from the Mayor's office budget. 

"We've already had to make some tough cuts," de Blasio said. "We're doing everything we can to stop those cuts from becoming worse."

The city faces a $9 billion shortage that could trigger layoffs for 22,000 city workers without help from Albany, in the form of permission to take $5 billion in long-term debt, or stimulus funds from the federal government. 

"I couldn't have imagined no action from Washington D.C. up to this point," de Blasio said. "I truly believed our colleagues in Albany would have acted on longterm bargaining."

New York's 2021 fiscal year budget was slashed by $7 billion this summer after the novel coronavirus shutdown brought the city's economy to a halt, but the mayor doubled down on his stance against property tax increases that would bring more cash into city funds.  

"I don't think property taxes are the right thing and I just won't do it," de Blasio. "It's off the table."