Cops Appeal for Raise In Times Square Pitch
Billboard touts officers, criticizes wage scale
By Sean Gardiner
Staff Writer
Billboards in Times Square have been used to pitch everything from soda to
perfume. Now, one is being used to push for a raise for the city's cops.
On New Year's Eve, an 80-by-25-foot billboard went up on 42nd Street just off
Eighth Avenue stating: "NYC Cops Ranked #1 in the Nation in Fighting Crime
... Ranked #145 In the Nation in Salary."
The billboard, which will be on display for a month at a $75,000 cost to the
union, also lists in descending order the 144 police departments nationwide that
pay their officers more than the NYPD. The starting salary for a New York City
patrol cop is $36,878 and just tops $54,000 after five years.
"This city sings our praises of how we do our job and how we keep this
city under control when many said it could not be done," Patrick Lynch, president
of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the union representing the city's 21,000
rank-and-file police officers, said at a news conference yesterday to draw attention
to the billboard.
"But nonetheless [the city] refuses to pay us a decent, livable wage,"
he said.
The NYPD has been working without a contract since July 31, 2002, according
to Al O'Leary, PBA spokesman.
"We are not going to discuss our contract negotiations with the PBA publicly,
through the press or billboards," said mayoral spokesman Ed Skyler.
The statistics the PBA relied on for the billboard were compiled by Policepay.net,
a compensation consultant company for unions and police associations.
Ronald York, the company's founder, said the index takes into consideration
the average of base pay, other types of compensation such as holiday pay or uniform
allotment, contributions to pensions and insurance by the city, cost of living
and the number of hours officers work. Overtime is not taken into consideration.
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