De Blasio calls for NYC health commissioner to 'apologize' after rejecting NYPD coronavirus mask plea

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday said the city’s Department of Health commissioner should “apologize” to New York Police Department officers amid reports that she made derogatory comments while receiving requests for masks to protect the police force from COVID-19.

During his daily press conference Thursday, de Blasio was asked about reports that the city’s Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot blew off a request from the NYPD for hundreds of thousands of surgical masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, and reportedly told a high-ranking police official that: “I don’t give two rats’ a—es about your cops.”

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"I need to understand what happened here, it does need to be addressed," de Blasio said. "If it is accurate, the commissioner needs to apologize to the men and women of the NYPD."

The New York Post first reported the back-and-forth this week. The Post reported that Barbot made the remark during a brief phone conversation in March with NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, after he requested 500,000 masks.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, file photo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, with Dr. Oxiris Barbot, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, reports on the city's preparedness for the potential spread of the coronavirus in New York. De Blasio implored the federal government Thursday, March 5, to send more coronavirus test kits as the city confirmed two more COVID-19 cases, both in hospitalized patients with no known travel history or personal connections linking them to the virus. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Barbot reportedly told Monahan that she could only provide 50,000 masks.

“I don’t give two rats’ a—es about your cops,” Barbot reportedly said. “I need them for others.”

The Post reported that the conversation took place as officers in the NYPD were calling out sick with symptoms of COVID-19, but before the force lost officers to the virus.

The New York City Department of Health released a statement defending Barbot.

"Dr. Barbot and Chief Monahan have a good working relationship. During the height of COVID, while our hospitals were battling to keep patients alive, there was a heated exchange between the two where things were said out of frustration but no harm was wished on anyone,” the department said in a statement obtained by ABC 7 New York. “The Commissioner apologized for her contribution to the exchange, the apology was accepted and agreement was arrived between the two to ensure that respirators were delivered to members of the force.”

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The department added: “This has always been about saving the lives of our healthcare workers, police officers and every New Yorker who is fighting through this pandemic."

But the Sergeants Benevolent Association, which is comprised of more than 13,000 active and retired sergeants of the NYPD, said that if Barbot’s reported comments were true, that she should be “immediately fired.”

“I am not surprised y such vile words coming from an appointee of Mayor de Blasio, whose disdain for law enforcement is legendary,” Ed Mullins, the president of SBA, said in a statement. “But Dr. Barbot’s comments make it clear she has no personal or professional regard for the police.”

Mullins added: “The primary concern of a medical professional in such an important position should be the safety of all people, and her attitude places police officers in great jeopardy and makes her unfit for the job.”

As of mid-April, more than 4,000 NYPD officers had tested positive for COVID-19.