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“It is unacceptable that Human Resources Administration has such little capacity to handle its core functions that folks seeking their assistance must sit on the floor with their children while waiting for an appointment,” he said in a statement.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday tweeted, “This was a disturbing incident. Like anyone who’s watched this video, I have a lot of questions about how this was handled.”

Steve Bank, commissioner of the Department of Social Services, said he was “deeply troubled” by the incident and a “thorough” review had been launched. He said two HRA employees, whom he described as peace officers, are being placed on modified duty pending that investigation.

The New York Police Department is also reviewing the situation. Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said the video was “very disturbing.”

“We were called to a chaotic situation, & we’re looking at all available video to determine why certain decisions were made,” O’Neill said in a tweet.

It wasn’t clear from court charging documents or the video why security guards at the centre had ordered Headley to leave or why she refused to go.

Patrick Lynch, the head of the union that represents patrol officers, said the officers were “put in an impossible situation” and blamed shouting bystanders for making a tense situation worse.

“The event would have unfolded much differently if those at the scene had simply complied with the officers’ lawful orders,” he said. “The immediate rush to condemn these officers leaves their fellow cops wondering: when confronted with a similar impossible scenario, what do you want us to do? The answer cannot be ‘do nothing.”‘