Declaring he was ready to bear his share of the "pain" in an era of budget cutting, Mayor David Dinkins Monday took a 5 percent pay cut and ordered nearly 700 top administration officials and bureaucrats to do the same.
Dinkins urged all top city officials to follow his lead for themselves and their staffs, including Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman, Council President Andrew Stein, Schools Chancellor Joseph Fernandez, the five borough presidents and the district attorneys."We have no choice but to make our local government fit the size of our local economy," the mayor said. "We must all bear our share of the pain."
Council Speaker Peter Vallone and Council President Andrew Stein quickly accepted the mayor's challenge.
Dinkins said he had been ready to order an even bigger pay cut - 10 percent - but decided against it at the last minute.