City Hall – City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that in the employee pay period that begins this Sunday morning, January 17, employees of the City of New York will be able to set aside part of their paychecks directly to aid in the Haitian disaster relief efforts. The Speaker, the Mayor, and Council Members Mathieu Eugene and Jumaane Williams unveiled the new program on the Mayor’s weekly radio show on WOR Radio early this morning.

“This is an opportunity for those of us who are lucky enough to live and work in the most diverse and culturally rich City in the world to reach out our hands in support of those suffering in neighboring Haiti,” said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “This automatic payroll deduction program is a simple and efficient way to help our neighbors in Haiti at their hour of need.”

“The scale of the devastation in Haiti is, as we all know, so enormous that it is almost beyond comprehension,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But at the same time, every single gift of money, no matter how small, makes a difference, and today we’re making it easier than ever for City employees to give.”

“I want to thank Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg for making this happen. It’s just another way that this City continues to show how it is working to do its part in coordinating relief for the people of Haiti,” said Council Member Mathieu Eugene. “I look forward in continuing to work with the Speaker and the Mayor in coordinating additional relief efforts in my district and throughout the city for the people of Haiti.”

“I applaud New York City for creating a simple way for City employees to give to the Haitian Relief effort,” said Council Member Jumaane Williams. “This is exactly the type of coordinated, effective and efficient response needed and expected from New York City government.”

Working with the City’s Office of Payroll Administration, the Council and the Mayor new citywide payroll deduction program will begin on the paychecks and direct deposits on February 5, 2010. All City employees who wish to participate to elect to donate a specified amount of money from each paycheck earmarked to further Haitian Relief Efforts in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. These tax-deductible deductions will run for two months spread over four pay periods.

There are 300,000 City employees. If each one of them earmarked just $1 per paycheck for the four pay periods for Haiti, we would raise $1.2 million for the relief effort just from this simple program alone.

City Employees can participate by visiting the action center on the City Council home page at http://council.nyc.gov and find a link for the NYC Payroll Deduction Program for Haitian Relief Effort.