CIVIC CENTER — Mayor Michael Bloomberg boasted at the end of his term in office that he'd cut the city's workforce by the thousands — but most of the public service positions gutted during his tenure were also some of the most essential, according to a new study.
From June 2002 through June 2013, Bloomberg oversaw the loss of more jobs from the ranks of the city’s uniformed services than from any other sector — including police officers, firefighters and Department of Education workers, according to a report released Tuesday by the city’s Independent Budget Office.
NYPD, FDNY, the Department of Corrections and other uniformed services lost more than 4,600 positions from among their ranks under Bloomberg's watch, a reduction that represented the single biggest share of the overall drop among positions for city employees, the IBO found.
Following closely behind was the Department of Education, with almost 4,500 positions disappearing from the department during that time frame, including 2,528 teachers and professional staff.
According to the IBO’s Doug Turetsky, the staff reductions came primarily through attrition, rather than firings.
“There weren’t a huge numbers of layoffs in most places,” Turetsky said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio did not respond to requests for comment.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has previously called the current NYPD staffing levels "adequate at this time to deal with the issues as I understand them."
But insiders have warned that the shrinking police force could have a negative outcome for the city.
The IBO’s report also found that Bloomberg overestimated his office's personnel reduction.
Bloomberg said in November that the city had shed 15,368 positions since the end of December 2001. According to the IBO report, Bloomberg’s administration accounted for an actual decrease of slightly more than 9,000 positions.
