The Garner family called on Mr. O’Neill to dismiss the officer immediately. “This has been a long battle; five years too long,” Mr. Garner’s daughter, Emerald Snipes Garner, said at a news conference in Manhattan with the Rev. Al Sharpton. “And finally, somebody has said that there’s some information that this cop has done something wrong.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat running for president, has resisted pushing for the officer’s dismissal for years, saying he was respecting due process. He was heckled at a national debate on Wednesday night by protesters shouting “Fire Pantaleo,” and vowed that Mr. Garner’s family would soon receive justice.

The judge’s recommendation comes two weeks after Attorney General William P. Barr announced that the Justice Department would not seek a federal indictment against the officer on civil rights charges, ending five years of internal debate among federal prosecutors.

Officer Pantaleo was captured on video using a chokehold on Mr. Garner in 2014 as he and other officers subdued him. Mr. Garner was believed to be illegally selling loose cigarettes. A city medical examiner determined the chokehold set in motion a “lethal cascade” of events, including an asthma attack and a fatal heart attack.

Whether Officer Pantaleo will be dismissed and lose his pension is up to Mr. O’Neill, who has the final say over the disciplining of officers. Prosecutors and the defense typically have up to two weeks to respond to the findings of the judge, Rosemarie Maldonado, a deputy police commissioner who oversees disciplinary hearings.