City seeks $20M to fight bug

The city has spent about $3.8 million of its own funds so far on its response to the coronavirus and is seeking at least $20 million from the state, according to a top de Blasio official.

“This is a top priority. To the extent that we need to spend, [agencies] need to have the authority to spend,” Melanie Hartzog, director of the mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, said at a Monday hearing in City Hall.

She pointed to the 2014 Ebola outbreak — in which a person was diagnosed with the disease in New York City following a trip to the epicenter in West Africa — as a point of comparison for spending on the coronavirus response.

Hartzog said the city spent about $20 million on that response, adding, “That’s a good proxy for us here at OMB for planning across the agencies.”

She also said the city is taking a look at how the coronavirus could impact tourism and other sectors of the economy.

“Any changes we see will be reflected in the budget forecast,” Hartzog said. “We are most certainly concerned about that given the volatility in the market, as well as the impact on tourism.

“It is too soon in the preliminary budget for us to reflect any changes in our forecast,” she added, “but it could very well affect our forecast for April.”

Last month, Gov. Cuomo announced $40 million in emergency funds for the state’s response to the coronavirus. Hartzog wants the city to tap into that source.

The virus, which has infected more than 85,000 people around the world, has disrupted global supply chains and caused stock markets to seesaw.

Albany’s official forecast for the economy in the fiscal year 2021, released Sunday, notes the coronavirus poses a major risk to state revenues, though it does not put a number on the potential impact.