Waste of the Day: NYC Thermostat Repairers Made $325K, Thanks to OT

Topline: New York is the city where dreams come true — like making $325,000 to fix thermostats for the Department of Correction. That’s how much the city’s top-paid thermostat repairer made in 2025, mostly due to $200,000 in overtime.

How many six-figure earners does it take to repair a thermostat?

Payroll records obtained by Open the Books show the city spent $2.9 billion on overtime in 2025 for its full workforce, with 2,140 employees earning at least $100,000. 

Key facts: The New York Police Department spent $1.1 billion on overtime, and the Fire Department spent $568 million. But many of the city’s highest earners worked jobs that often receive less attention.

Supervisor Plumber Jakub Markowski made $331,814 worth of overtime. That was the most overtime in city history, aside from when Staten Island ferry employees received years of back pay as a lump sum in 2024.

Markowski and the next seven highest overtime earners all worked in Queens. All of them were plumbers, mechanics or prison guards.

Ten thermostat repairers made more than $100,000 in overtime. There were also nine tractor operators who made more than $100,000 in overtime, up to $220,874.

Correction Department employees made up to $302,091 worth of overtime. The health department paid up to $228,371 in overtime.

Total overtime spending was slightly lower than the $3 billion spent in 2024, but it was higher than any other year in history.

The total city payroll was $34.6 billion. Then-Mayor Eric Adams made $258,012 in salary, but there were 2,074 employees who outearned him. 

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.

And the mayor vowed to eliminate overtime in the NYPD

Background: Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed to eliminate the police department’s entire overtime budget while campaigning last year. After taking office, he ordered officers to reduce their overtime by 9 to 11 hours per month.

However, Mamdani also seems unwilling to hire new police employees to replace those overtime hours. He recently scrapped a plan to hire 5,000 new officers by 2029.

Summary: New York City is currently trying to implement new programs like free childcare and buses, but it will be difficult to fund those promises without getting the city’s overtime spending under control.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.