Major dudes get big bucks
Blaz: Top jobs push gender gap
Mayor de Blasio said Wednesday that some of the highest-paid men in his administration should have been left out of a Daily News analysis of City Hall’s gender pay gap because they “deserve to be well-compensated” for working tough jobs regardless of their gender.
Women at the highest levels of the administration made $227,509 on average, which is 10.2% less than the $253,235 average for men, according to a News analysis of salaries for 69 commissioners, agency heads and directors.
“I’m glad your paper did the analysis; I think there was an element of that that really gave the wrong impression,” de Blasio told The News on Wednesday. “The accurate truth is there’s a handful of jobs — and they happen to be jobs that are paid more than the mayor — that it doesn’t matter what gender the person is, that’s the pay level that those jobs are set at.”
But de Blasio specifically said the head of the public Housing Authority, the city’s public hospital system and the schools chancellor — all men — shouldn’t haven’t been part of the analysis.
Health and Hospital’s Mitchell Katz makes $669,227 a year, a salary set by the system’s board, of which de Blasio appoints a majority of members. Gregory Russ, the chairman of the New York City Housing Authority, now makes $414,707 a year, part of which comes from federal funding.
And Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza makes $363,346 a year. His initial salary was $110,431 higher than his female predecessor, Carmen Fariña, who made $234,569 annually before she left the gig in 2018. De Blasio, who makes $258,750 a year, said high salaries help the city stay competitive in bringing in the best talent. “These are some of the toughest public service jobs in America, and they deserve to be well compensated,” he said.
Still, less prominent women working for the mayor’s office who don’t lead departments and agencies also get paid less than men.
Women working full-time for the mayor’s office had an average base salary of $104,204 in fiscal year 2019, which is 4.5% less than the average pay for men of $109,142, The News’ analysis of payroll records found.