NYC Health Commissioner And Police Trade Curses Over Mask Demands

NEW YORK CITY — Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot reportedly refused the NYPD’s demands for 500,000 surgical masks by telling top brass, “I don’t give two rats’ asses about your cops.”

The New York Post’s report of the heated exchange has triggered outrage from police unions, one of which took to Twitter to curse out Barbot and call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to fire her.

“Truth is this b---- has blood on her hands,” tweeted the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, led by president Ed Mullins. “But why should anyone be surprised the NYPD has suffered under DeBlasio since he became Mayor.”

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Neither Barbot nor NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea appeared at de Blasio’s press conference Thursday morning and the mayor said he did not know enough about the exchange to confirm the Post’s reporting.

“I need to understand what happened here, I am concerned about it,” de Blasio said. “If what they said happened is accurate, the commissioner needs to apologize to the men and women of the NYPD.”

De Blasio also condemned the SBA’s response, noting, “So much of what comes out of the SBA is divisive. That’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Barbot reportedly snapped at NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan during a phone call in late March when he demanded 500,000 N-95 masks for his 55,000-member department.

The call occurred after the NYPD attempted to commandeer the gear, slated to head toward city hospitals and health care workers, by showing up at an out-of-state FEMA warehouse, the Daily News reports.

At the time, New York City hospitals were reporting a shortage of personal protective equipment so severe, one health care worker told the New York Times, “we’re at war with no ammo.”

The NYPD then took its pleas to City Hall, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and received 250,000 surgical masks, Tyvek suits and hand sanitizer, sources told the Post.

De Blasio touted his own role in providing PPE to New York City's police department Thursday.

“When I didn’t see it happening quickly enough, I intervened to make sure it happened,” de Blasio said. “They protect us we need to protect them.”

As of Wednesday, 41 NYPD members had died from COVID-19 and 5,490 members tested positive, police data show.

The NYPD has among the city’s lowest rate of infection at 10.5 percent, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

Barbot’s comments were leaked as tensions mount over violent social distance policing, which Attorney General Letitia James said showed evidence of racial bias.

The same day Shea delivered his impassioned defense of the NYPD — saying, “I will also not have my police department called a racist police department” — new video surfaced of another violent arrest, this time a woman in front of her child.

The video and reports of Barbot’s remarks forced de Blasio to walk a fine line Thursday defending both police and health departments.

"I don’t have the full details yet," de Blasio repeated. "And I want the full details for sure."

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