NEW YORK, NY- He’s regularly blasted by the NYPD.  Now it’s the FDNY that’s calling out Mayor Bill de Blasio.

This after he suggested that there would potentially be cuts to frontline workers soon.  It’s arguably a political move as he pushes for Congress to send funding in the next round of coronavirus relief. 

And it’s exactly why they’re accusing him of using first responders as a “political pawn”.

FDNY Firefighter’s Association President Gerard Fitzgerald blasted him on Fox News on Wednesday:

“He’s using us a political pawn to get back at [Sen. Mitch] McConnell or [President] Trump and get them to include New York in the stimulus package which I have no problem with.  Obviously New York is in need like everywhere else, but I don’t think he needed to use the livelihoods of first responders as a political pawn.”

A number of Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, suggested they’d be willing to let the states dive into bankruptcy instead of making taxpayers bail out states that have been “making poor fiscal decisions”.

De Blasio – a Democrat who regularly slams the president – called Trump a “hypocrite” who “seems to enjoy stabbing his home town in the back”.

He also said frontline workers would be among the economic casualties if New York doesn’t get the money.

“How are we going to support these people who we need if we don’t have any money? I’ve lost $7.4 billion already and my economy can’t come back until I get that stimulus,” the mayor said.  His comments were made at a press conference on Wednesday.

Fitzgerald referred to it as a game that was “deplorable”.

He also said it’s an attempt for de Blasio to grab the attention of lawmakers.  This, as pressure grows to pass the next round of multibillion-dollar relief.

“In the middle of this pandemic, when we are the first link in the health care chain going out and putting ourselves in danger and putting our families in danger when we go home, the last thing we need is to be told that some of our members could lose their job somewhere down the line,” Fitzgerald said.

He’s disgusted by feeling like they’re being used.

“I think they’re frustrated that we’d be used in that way. Because we are the best at what we do. because we are world-renowned, FDNY being the bravest and NYPD being the finest — everybody recognizes us, so Washington’s no different,” he added.

The union president said more than 2,000 FDNY firefighters have been diagnosed with the virus, and that nearly 700 of them are still out.

Notably, De Blasio provided no details on the state’s proposed budget or immediate plans on cuts to frontline workers, which as we know include firefighters, police officers and medical personnel.

“One of the key missions of the New York City government is to keep New York City residents safe. We are part of that — the police and the fire department — that’s what we do. When it comes down to cutting that, you’re messing with people’s lives,” Fitzgerald added.

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President of NYPD sergeant’s union blasts de Blasio over tweet threatening to arrest Jewish funeral attendees

This editorial was written by a former Chief of Police, who is a staff writer for Law Enforcement Today.

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NEW YORK, N.Y.- It is pretty safe to say that there is no love lost between members of the New York City Police Department and the mayor of the city, Bill de Blasio.

From de Blasio’s constantly throwing down for criminals, advocating for the release of prisoners from Rikers Island to his initial support of bail reform laws that taxes the resources of the department, this is not a love-hate relationship…it is strictly hate-hate.

After de Blasio sent out a tweet threatening to sic the police on the Jewish community, the president of one of the police department’s unions referred to de Blasio as “an idiot.”

“The truth of the matter is the guy’s an idiot. He has no idea what he’s doing,” said Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association (SBA), which represents approximately 13,000 active and retired sergeants.

“He’s embarrassed and he thinks he’s taken a hardcore approach.”

On Tuesday, de Blasio sent out a tweet in which he threatened to arrest members of the Jewish and other communities who gather in large groups during the current coronavirus epidemic.

In his Tuesday night tweet, de Blasio was criticizing Orthodox Jews who were attending a funeral at a synagogue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

Pictures of the gathering showed that an overwhelming number of attendees were wearing face coverings or masks, with only a handful not doing so. That wasn’t good enough for de Blasio apparently.

In his tweet, de Blasio noted that while he understood the instinct to come together for the purposes of mourning the loss of a loved one, he said that “large gatherings will only lead to more deaths + more families in mourning,” then adding that he “instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period”

The portion of the tweet that garnered the most attention was the fact that it was specifically addressed to “the Jewish community,” which was called out by name.

The SBA sent out a tweet criticizing de Blasio’s threat:

“Mayor de Blasio, YOU cannot instruct they NYPD to violate people’s rights! This event was a funeral this community will NOT leave bodies in their homes for you.”

“The grand rabbi from Williamsburg passed away. The community followed all guidance & wore masks,” a second tweet said. “The Shomrim was there giving out masks if they saw somebody on the street without a mask. They did an excellent job. The only issue is you’re incompetent and targeted people of faith.”

Mullins, who has been a member of the NYPD for over 38 years, noted that the Jewish community regularly holds large gatherings and “what occurred last night is not new. This happens all the time. What occurred last night was different because the community was giving out masks. They were trying to keep things organized.”

Mullins said he was shocked and angered by de Blasio’s response, especially his hardline stand, especially given the fact that the Jews in attendance were mourning the loss of a religious leader.

“Whatever treated him to go out and take a stance, he did it at a funeral for people of faith and I question what he’s doing by doing that, “Mullins said.

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Mullins also questioned the apparent contrast in how de Blasio treated the Jewish gathering in comparison to when the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels conducted a fly-over of the city to honor and show solidarity with essential workers.

He noted that there hadn’t been any type of enforcement order issued in dealing with crowds gathered for that event.

“So why did you target people of faith at a funeral? Ironically, there’s a video of a woman. She had her husband’s body, I believe it was, in an apartment for several days. So, what do you expect people to do? The city’s not responding.

“We have people who are sick, go to hospitals, they have no family members, they’re dying alone, some of them are doctors and nurses, and they’re being buried with really no funerals,” Mullins said.

Mullins continued:

“So you have a community that’s doing what they always do. They’re in their own community. They didn’t have a problem with it. I wasn’t at the funeral. I wasn’t infected myself with anything, but I just looked at photos and they’re wearing masks.

“So, this is what your biggest complaint is that you felt it necessary to get out of bed and go yell at people from a funeral? You took away Easter Sunday church from us. I’m Catholic, I didn’t get to go to mass on Easter Sunday. How much ore of this can you expect people to take?”

Mullins was not done there either. He slammed de Blasio for his earlier response to the coronavirus where he encouraged people to “visit Chinatown, and go for walks, go out to dinner.”

In a news conference on Wednesday, de Blasio attempted to justify his comments, saying that he was “trying to protect police and those gathering. I spoke last night out of passion. I could not believe my eyes, it was deeply distressing.” However Mullins was not convinced.

“We’ve had cops killed under him, cops injured under him, cops abused under him,” Mullins said. “So don’t tell me you’re trying to keep police safe and it puts us in harm’s way.”

As Law Enforcement Today reported back in January, New York City, as well as its suburbs has been the scene of a substantial increase in anti-Semitic crimes, including a machete attack in Monsey, located in Rockland County north of the city. One of the victims of the attack, Josef Neumann, 72, died of his injuries last month.

The attack was part of a spike in such attacks, with anti-Semitic hate crimes increasing by 26 percent in 2019, which in turn led to an increase of police presence in Brooklyn neighborhoods with reported incidents.

“Let’s eliminate the virus, let’s just eliminate that. Look at the hate crimes that have occurred in the last two years in the Jewish community. I mean it’s been nonstop.

“And the truth is, it’s always been an issue, but it’s been nonstop the last two years. And you’re the Mayor of this city, you’re keeping out all these things, this isn’t gonna happen on your watch.

Well, it’s happening. So what do you expect people to do? They’re not following your direction,” Mullins said.

“It’s just amazing that he even went out and took a position on this. I mean just him taking a position is significant, but at a funeral for people of faith?

“And it’s no secret, the Jewish community is a faithful community, so to sit there and be like ‘this is it.’ You’re making provisions for everything else, maybe you should make provisions of look, if this is gonna happen, this is how we should do it. And at least accommodate people to that degree.”

You’ve got to give de Blasio credit…he has an impeccable sense of timing. This incident occurred only days after de Blasio was seen walking through Prospect Park in Brooklyn with his wife Chirlane McCray, in apparent disregard of his admonitions for New Yorkers to remain at home. Not only that, but the park is 11 miles away from his home in Manhattan.

Finally, contrast de Blasio’s threat to the Jewish community with a tweet he sent exactly one week ago. On April 23, in a tweet to the Muslim community, de Blasio said:

“To the Muslim New Yorkers beginning their celebrations tonight who heed halal meals, we have them across 400+ grab and go meal sites, and are bringing hundreds of thousands more to the 32 (emphasis added) sites most frequented by our Muslim communities. Go to nyc.gov/getfood for more.”

So let’s see, quick math here they are bringing “hundreds of thousands of meals” of halal meals to “32 sites.” Hmmm, Mr. Mayor…seems like that would be a little bit of excessive social gathering at those 32 locations, no?

God forbid de Blasio single out the Muslim community. The Jewish community? Not so much apparently.

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