It’s déjà vu all over again.

Just three months into the new fiscal year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is ordering a hiring freeze and asking all agency heads to figure out how they can cut spending by $500 million this year and 1.5 billion next year because of the looming budget gap.

The mayor wants those proposals by October 18th — just two weeks from Tuesday. Councilman Lewis Fidler is concerned.

“You know, we’re not going to be able to cut and slash and create jobs that way in the city. We can’t tax our way out of this either. Mike Bloomberg asked for a third term because of his acknowledged business acumen, we need to see it now. We need to see some of that creativity,” Fidler said, adding “we’ve already cut to the bone.”

The hiring freeze, however, will not apply to public health and safety positions.

Fidler said there has to be an alternative solution.

“I’m sure there’s some waste and there’s some re-prioritization we can do, but I think we’ve reached a point where we are going to be cutting into essential services and the safety net,” he said.

“Quite frankly, we need to put our heads together and do something different. Just cutting spending or just raising taxes are not going to be a sufficient answer,” said Fidler.

(Source: 1010WINS)