NYC Council Speaker Condemns Talk of 71% Pay Hike

New York Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito on Thursday condemned the suggestion that she and her colleagues receive a 71 percent raise.

“It definitely is a ridiculous amount,” Mark-Viverito told reporters, referring to a Daily News report that more than a half-dozen councilmembers are in talks to get a pay hike from $112,500 to $192,500 a year.

The city’s independent Quadrennial Commission is mulling raises for all lawmakers, who last received a raise in 2006. It is expected to make a recommendation by year’s end.

Mark-Viverito declined to say whether she would support any sort of raise, but said “not at that amount. Not at all. I think it’s ridiculous.”

The lawmakers have offered ethics reforms in exchange. They would give up on “lulus,” or extra pay for leadership posts, as well as outside income.

The report comes as the rank-and-file police union has protested a potential one-percent raise for cops. Union chief Patrick Lynch called it an “outrage” and “the height of hypocrisy.”

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the November 13th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.