"In order to provide police coverage for New Year's celebrations in Times Square and for precincts throughout the city, the NYPD has asked for all uniformed members of the service who would regularly be off to report for duty," a spokesperson for the NYPD said.
Regular days off for uniformed officers are over, and they "are to report to their respective commands for their assigned tour" on Friday and Saturday.
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The order comes as several officers have called out of work due to COVID-19, according to a report.
The report noted around 6,000 officers, 16% of the total force, called in sick, with roughly 1,300 testing positive for COVID-19.
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The surge in cases will also impact the city's New Year's Eve celebration, as only 15,000 are expected to attend the ball drop event. On average, 58,000 people attend the event annually, according to the report.
"New Yorkers have stepped up tremendously over the past year — we are leading the way on vaccinations, we have reopened safely, and every day we work toward building a recovery for all of us," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "There is a lot to celebrate, and these additional safety measures will keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year."
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Incoming City Comptroller Brad Lander is taking an NYPD security detail — even though he wants to cut funding for the police department.
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When the city enacted its annual spending bill in June, the outgoing Brooklyn Democratic Councilman said he was “disturbed that this agreement increases the NYPD budget by nearly $200 million and increases headcount at both NYPD and the DOC.”
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He continued, “All neighborhoods need and deserve to be safe, and we must confront rising levels of gun violence. But NYC already has more police officers per capita than nearly every large American city.”
He claimed the money should go to social services like housing and mental health care.
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In June 2020, after the protests surrounding George Floyd’s murder rocked the city and nation, Lander penned an open letter to his constituents titled, “My commitment to working to defund the NYPD.” It called for cutting the department’s budget by $1 billion.
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Lander held up Minneapolis as an instance, where the City Council promised to cancel its police department after Floyd’s death.
An NYPD source with more than two decades on the job slammed Lander as a hypocrite.
“He’s the guy who hates the cops,” the source said. “If you don’t like cops, don’t use them.”
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Public advocate Jumaane Williams, a Lander ally and fellow Brooklyn Democrat, has also led the local movement to defund the police yet enjoys an NYPD security detail — and lives on a U.S. military base.
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