The furloughs are significant, impacting nearly half of the city's staff across multiple departments, including public works and the police and fire departments.
"It's a disappointment," Harvey resident Destiny Martin said. "I mean just look at the city of Harvey. We need every piece of work that we can get."
Days after Harvey city leaders said they were facing a financial emergency, dozens of city employees and first responders got notices they were out of the job, for now.
"It's a real big public safety issue," Martin said. "Especially when you have children and everything else, it's ridiculous."
RELATED: More than 40% of city of Harvey staff placed on unpaid leave amid budget crisis
The temporary cuts were felt deeply within the fire department, which lost 17 firefighters.
The city says 69 people have been temporarily furloughed, without pay or benefits. Ninety eight essential personnel will report to work, however, to maintain core city operations. But overall, 41 percent of city staff are not working Tuesday.
That includes 18 people at Public Works, 24 at the police department and 29 at the fire department.
"It's something that was a hard decision for us to make, but it's something that we needed to do in order to keep our city stable," Mayor Christopher J. Clark said. "It's been difficult giving out notices to people you have seen as family. You know some of them; you know some of their family members."
Faced with over a $100 million debt, Harvey's City Council voted last week to apply for "Financially Distressed City" status with the state, which temporarily shut the city down.
The mayor is blaming previous administrations for the current financial crisis; he's been in office for six years.
"This has been many years of mismanagement, of overextended finances," Mayor Clark said.
On Tuesday, the chiefs of the fire department and police department sat with the mayor. They shared the details of operation are still being worked out.
At least for now, all vacations at the fire department are on hold.
Harvey City Hall has also cut its hours.
Now, services are only available until noon.
"Just admit that this is poor leadership and you messed up and how can we fix it?" Alderman Tracy Key said.
Since taking office, 4th Ward Alderman Tracy Key said Mayor Clark has only made the situation worse.
"If you come in and you already owe millions of dollars and you know it, why do we have excessive spending?" Alderman Key said. "That doesn't make any sense. You're supposed to be tight on everything until we can find our way to dig ourselves out of this hole."
The spokesperson for a union representing public works employees said they are considering options and said, "The city of Harvey is mismanaged-NOT broke. This mayor has been in office for more than six years, so blaming his predecessor is baseless."
"I'm just feeling a little left out because that means that we won't be getting the services that we normally get, but it's something that we inherited and just trying to deal with it as best we can," city volunteer Sue Haney said.
Haney is a volunteer with the city. She encourages her fellow furloughed employees to stay strong.
"Just keep the faith. Keep praying, and let's work together and get the job done," Haney said.
"Need them to come in here, start making some changes, bring business back, get these abandoned building torn down and start rebuilding these houses," resident Nathaniel Fields said. "They has been mismanagement throughout Harvey, including this one, who's been in for six years. He's part of the problem; he can't exclude himself."
The city says furloughed employees will be paid until the end of the month. The mayor is hoping the state will provide some relief money.
"If it would go through the General Assembly and pass, I think the governor would then appoint a board that would oversee the finances and operations of the city," said state Rep. Will Davis, who grew up in Harvey.
The mayor said they tried to be thorough with this round of cuts so they wont have to do more.
The Cook County Sheriff's Police are providing additional patrols in Harvey, Sheriff Tom Dart said Tuesday.