Northeasterners trudging through snow and slush on their way to work this morning, have hope: Staten Island Chuck did not see his shadow—or the (allegedly) deathly hands of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
It turns out the seething, misplaced rage of the NYPD that has been brewing since the murder of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu last month isn't directed solely at the citizens of New York City and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Today at a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association meeting in Queens led by union president and spoiled ham sandwich Patrick Lynch, members of New York's finest turned on each other, shouting and shoving each other over whether or not the department should be waiting around for an apology from de Blasio.
For the bulk of his tenure, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has been dogged by rumors that he and his wife consume marijuana with some frequency. Yesterday, at a press conference in Brooklyn, he told a Daily Caller reporter that “I haven’t smoked marijuana since I was at NYU” and denied he ever smoked weed at Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. We’ve asked about these rumors ourselves. It’s worth highlighting, however, who exactly is spreading them: The mayor’s security detail and their colleagues in the New York City Police Department.
On Friday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton appealed to the "tradition, honor, and decency" of his force, asking them to refrain from using the funeral of murdered officer Wenjian Liu as a venue for protest. On Sunday, thousands of cops rejected that request, turning their backs to Mayor Bill de Blasio as he spoke at the service.
Ahead of Sunday's services for murdered officer Wenjian Liu, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton sent a clear message to members of his department on Friday: "A hero's funeral is about grieving, not grievance."
According to reports in the New York Post and New York Daily News, the NYPD has basically stopped doing its job since the murder of two officers earlier this month. Arrests, the Post reports, were down 66% in the week following the deaths of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, compared to the same period in 2013.
As the outrage winds have swirled around the NYPD's decision to turn their backs to Bill De Blasio at the funeral of murdered officer Rafael Ramos, some in the police force's corner have been compelled to bend in the other direction. This weekend, both NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton and semi-professional police state spokesperson Rudy Giulinai distanced themselves from the police protest, with Bratton calling the demonstration "inappropriate." They are right, but for the wrong reasons.
Smoochy smoochy smooch. New Year's Eve is but two days away. Who you gonna kiss come midnight? For no discernible reason, Quinnipiac University conducted a poll: "Would you rather ring in 2015 on a date with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gov. Andrew Cuomo or NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio?"
According to multiple sources, hundreds of NYPD officers turned their backs to Mayor Bill de Blasio on Saturday when he spoke at the funeral of Rafael Ramos, one of two policeman murdered by Brooklyn shooter Ismaaiyl Brinsley.
Earlier this month, after a grand jury in Staten Island declined to prosecute the cop who placed an unarmed Staten Island father named Eric Garner in a chokehold, Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared on ABC’s This Week, where he mentioned having “the talk” with his 17-year-old son Dante when he was little.
Patrick Lynch is the 51-year-old president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the largest and most influential union of the New York City Police Department. You might recognize his name: Over the weekend, Lynch blamed Bill de Blasio for the Saturday deaths of two Brooklyn cops who were murdered by a lone gunman from Georgia. “That blood on the hands,” he said at a press conference, “starts on the steps of City Hall, in the office of the mayor.”
After shooting his girlfriend Saturday morning, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley of Union City, Georgia traveled from Baltimore to New York and gunned down two NYPD officers, apparently in retaliation for recent police-related homicides. According to some commentators, however, Brinsley was only partially responsible for the murders, aided by accomplices Bill de Blasio and Barack Obama.
Two police officers were shot "execution-style" in their car in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood at around 3 p.m. today. The New York Post reports that both officers have died, as has the shooter.
Patrick Lynch, chairman of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and head spokesbaby for the inconsolable id of the NYPD, gave a private speech to his union last week. Bill de Blasio "is not running the city of New York," he said in response to a series of perceived slights from City Hall. "He thinks he's running a fucking revolution." The raging toddlers in attendance howled and smacked their tiny palms together in approval.
Here is an interesting story: The New York Times points out today that the January 2015 issue of Vanity Fair contains a reference to a sex tape depicting New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. Let’s look. First, check out the cover:
During a speech about a Staten Island grand jury's failure to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, Bill de Blasio shared a crushing personal anecdote: Even the mayor of New York has to have "the talk" with his black son about the interactions he'll have with police.
"I don't feel that there's a law that's necessary to deal with that issue," NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said about police chokeholds last September. "I think there are more than sufficient protocols in place to address a problem."
In the wake of Michael Brown's death and a subsequent call for funding from President Obama, body cameras for cops have moved close to the center of the national conversation around police reform. According to a speech today from Bill de Blasio, they'll be coming to New York as soon as this week.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio says he hasn’t touched weed since college. We’re skeptical, to say the least. Have you—or someone you know—recently smoked pot with the Blaz? If so, send us an email or hop in below.
