{"id":4658,"date":"2026-07-16T21:39:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4658"},"modified":"2026-07-16T21:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:39:25","slug":"shameless-nyc-council-members-give-themselves-a-big-fat-18-pay-hike-on-first-day-on-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4658","title":{"rendered":"Shameless NYC Council members give themselves a big fat 18% pay hike — on first day on the job"},"content":{"rendered":"
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They raised a stink.<\/p>\n

City Council members overwhelmingly voted Thursday to give themselves an 18% raise \u2014 a shamelessly self-serving move that comes after months of thwarted attempts to pass a fat pay hike.<\/p>\n

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A veto-proof 42-6 vote approved the measure to inflate council salaries to $175,500, as well as hike Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s pay to $305,800 a year, backdated to January \u2014 the start of new terms in office and the first day on the job for some lawmakers. <\/p>\n

The nay votes all came from Republicans and conservative Democrats, including Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens), who said he pushed for savings in the city\u2019s forever-bloated budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my district, there are so, so many constituents that are living paycheck to paycheck and having problems making ends meet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I cannot vote onto a bill to increase salaries for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The raises come not only after lawmakers approved a record-breaking $126 billion city budget, but also a bid to sneakily pass a smaller 16% hike as 2025 closed.<\/p>\n

The end-of-year pay ploy ultimately failed, leading the effort\u2019s champion Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D-Queens) to try again \u2014 this time with the support of a three-person \u201cQuadrennial Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission released a 127-page study in June recommending a 18.2% raise to restore the \u201clost purchasing power\u201d in elected officials\u2019 supposedly skimpy salaries because of inflation and cost of living increases.<\/p>\n

The study also recommended automatic pay hikes of at least 2% every year in the future.<\/p>\n

But council members ultimately jettisoned the automatic raises in the bill\u2019s final version, opting instead to reconvene the pay commission every three years.<\/p>\n

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The bill approved by council members set the following raises:<\/p>\n