NEW YORK CITY—With just a handful of members objecting, New York City Council voted to raise its members’ own pay by 18.2 percent on July 16.
The measure, introduced by deputy speaker Nantasha Williams, passed with a veto-proof majority of 42–6. Council member Phil Wong, of Queens, spoke out against the pay raise.
“I spent many months advocating savings in the city budget, identifying savings, so I cannot [conscientiously] vote for a bill increasing the salary for myself,” Wong said.
In March, Mayor Zohran Mamdani released his savings plan, in which city agencies and departments would each make sacrifices in order for the city to close its budget gap….