What you should know
- Two unmasked NYPD cops pushed and forcibly pulled an apparent subway passenger out of a New York City station Tuesday after he allegedly asked them why they weren’t wearing masks.
- It is the law to wear a mask when at a public transport station and also when traveling by public transport.
- Although the video captured the forcible removal of the alleged passenger, it does not show the confrontation that led to that incident.
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NEW YORK – Two unmasked NYPD cops pushed and forcibly pulled an apparent subway passenger out of a New York City station Tuesday after he allegedly asked them why they weren’t wearing masks, a rule that requires people to wear masks. cover your face at public transport stations and while using public transport.
A video posted on Twitter shows one of the officers pushing the apparent subway passenger toward a door while another officer pushes the door open to force the person off the platform.
Although the video captured the forcible removal of the alleged passenger, it does not show the confrontation that led to that incident.
According to the NYPD, the incident is under investigation.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also addressed the incident during his daily press conference Wednesday, saying he was “concerned about the video.”
“I did not like what I saw one bit. I did not see everything except the clip at the moment the person was removed. But I saw the agents without masks in the subway. That is evident. That is unacceptable,” said the Mayor.
De Blasio added that the police must also follow the law and expects officers to be disciplined.
“We have given this instruction thousands of times, if you are going to be part of law enforcement, you are actually going to participate in law enforcement. So, I would say, we know that in this case, the most recent video, there is an ongoing investigation. I hope there is discipline in that case because it is obvious that they weren’t wearing their masks, “he said. “The commissioner [del NYPD Dermot Shea] he has said many times publicly that given instructions, supervisors must now intervene. “
“We are telling everyone on the subway ‘you have to wear a mask’ which includes police officers. Period.”
De Blasio’s public comments to the video come on the same day the mayor extended the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate to all public employees with no testing option.
Effective immediately, city employees will receive $ 500 in their paychecks if they receive their first injection at a city-run vaccination site, according to the mayor’s office.
The new rules affect more than 160,000 workers (including police, firefighters and correctional officers), 70% of whom already had at least one dose. The largest New York City Police union (known by its acronym in English PBA) has already warned that it will take legal action to block the mandate, while the Uniformed Firefighters Association of the FDNY plans a press conference later on Wednesday. Wednesday.
Almost 45% of FDNY firefighters are not vaccinated, the union president said.
Under an executive order signed by the mayor last month, New York police officers must be vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test each week, but the new order that is expected to become official later Wednesday means Some 20,000 unvaccinated officers must receive at least one dose by Oct. 29 or receive an unpaid leave of absence, authorities said. The deadline is 5pm that day.
The NYPD has about 34,500 uniformed personnel and about 17,700 people in non-uniformed support positions. It had a 61% vaccination rate last month, but that number jumped to 68% in less than two weeks, according to New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
The mandate goes into effect Dec. 1 for uniformed members of the Department of Corrections.
The two commissioners who oversee America’s largest police and fire departments have already said earlier this month that they support the mandate of the members of their respective departments. Shea had even made passionate pleas to officers in a video message, urging them to get vaccinated.
During his press conference, when asked about the vaccine mandate impacting policy and the PBA’s legal threat to the board, the Mayor said: “When everyone is vaccinated, everything will be easier for everyone. I think it will. We saw it in schools, we saw it in hospitals, when everyone is vaccinated, it creates a sense of equality, justice, security that benefits everyone, benefits the whole atmosphere. We’ve all been through a lot in the last year and a half. We need start the healing process. I think everyone who gets vaccinated is part of that. So I feel good about that. “
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