NYC Employees Ordered to Give Up City-Owned Cars
In an effort to save money, New York City employees have been ordered to give up city owned cars and take public transportation. Giving up the 700 cars will save the city more than $20 million over the next two years.
The decision to sell off scores of Toyota Prius cars and Ford Escape sport utility vehicles is very likely to irritate many city workers, who use the them to travel around the city inspecting sites or rushing to meetings. But it would help blunt criticism that City Hall practices a form of vehicular hypocrisy, telling ordinary New Yorkers to use mass transportation while at times clogging the streets with its own city-issued cars.
City agencies must relinquish at least 10 percent, or about 685, of their 6,800 nonemergency vehicles by the end of March, according to the memo from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, which was sent on Wednesday and obtained by The New York Times.
And they must cut their overall vehicle expenses by roughly another 5 percent, either by relinquishing more cars or cutting down on fuel or maintenance costs, the memo said.
Many city workers are expected to throw hissy-fits when they are forced to use public transportation for their jobs.
