NYC pays out $154.1M in OT after Sandy

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NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- New York City public employees clocked in $154.1 million in overtime while dealing with the fallout from Superstorm Sandy, officials said.

The Independent Budget Office released a report Friday detailing how much the city paid workers in overtime during and after Sandy, the New York Post reported.

The New York Police Department spent the most on overtime -- paying out $70.9 million between Oct. 29 and Dec. 24, the report said.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said most officers had been put on 12-hour shifts to direct traffic at blacked-out intersections or help emergency telephone operators get call centers.

"We created our own bus system to get flood victims to shelters," Browne said. "We created a separate transportation plan so that 911 operators, most of whom rely on mass transit, could get to the 911 center in downtown Brooklyn. Sandy put a big hurt on overtime, but it's reimbursed by [the Federal Emergency Management Agency]."

The Sanitation Department paid the second-most, with $53.6 million going to employees who worked overtime. The Fire Department had the third-highest overtime total at $8.6 million.

"The departments that showed the most overtime were not surprising," said Maria Doulis, director of city studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-partisan, non-profit watchdog group that monitors New York City and New York State government finances.