James O'Neill. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images Police union approves 'no confidence' resolutions against de Blasio, O'Neill

The city's rank-and-file police union, seething over the firing of a police officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner, passed a vote of no confidence Wednesday in Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill.

The resolutions approved by the Police Benevolent Association call for O’Neill to resign, and for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to use emergency powers to remove de Blasio from office. They were approved by a unanimous voice vote at a meeting of the PBA’s nearly 400 delegates, elected as union representatives from the city’s precincts and police commands.


“Today’s votes are an unequivocal indictment of our failed leaders in City Hall and 1 Police Plaza. For years, Mayor de Blasio has demonized police officers and undermined our efforts to protect our city. For years, Commissioner O’Neill has cravenly acquiesced to the Mayor and his anti-cop allies,” said PBA president Pat Lynch in a prepared statement.

“The unjust termination of P.O. Daniel Pantaleo was merely the final straw: both men have displayed an appalling pattern of malfeasance and nonfeasance that disqualifies them from continuing to serve in their current offices," Lynch said.

The NYPD last week fired Pantaleo , five years after Garner’s cries of “I can’t breathe” ignited widespread outrage. The department found that he used a chokehold, which is prohibited by NYPD rules, while attempting to arrest the Staten Island man for selling loose cigarettes.

The union assailed the decision, and called for police officers to slow down their handling of arrests in response.

“This is another attempt by the PBA to divide our city and we won’t stand for it," mayoral spokesperson Freddi Goldstein said Wednesday. "Under this mayor and Police Commissioner, our officers and the communities they serve are closer than ever and the city is the safest it’s ever been. That isn’t changing."

O’Neill, who spent more than three decades on the force, acknowledged that officers would be angry when he announced the decision.

“I’ve been a cop a long time. And if I was still a cop, I’d probably be mad at me,” he said last week. “I can’t remove myself from the fact that I was a uniformed cop for 34 years. And I think that’s what makes this so difficult, that every member of law enforcement in this country that works to keep this country safe and this city safe, looked at that [video] and said that could possibly be me.”

The mayor and police commissioner have taken flack from both sides for their handling of the controversial case. While the union rails against the decision to terminate Pantaleo, Garner’s family and police reform advocates have chastised de Blasio and O’Neill for not taking disciplinary action against more officers.

In the resolution condemning O’Neill, the union says that the commissioner has “abandoned the ideals and values of New York City police officers and betrayed the trust of every member of the NYPD.”

The resolutions also cite the nine suicides by police officers this year, saying the two leaders have failed to address grueling work conditions that have caused stress for members of the force.

“The dedicated women and men of the NYPD are out there each and every day, serving the public proudly and keeping the city safe. The Department stands with its officers, and will always support them and the brave work that they do,” NYPD spokesperson Phil Walzak said in an email. “As the Police Commissioner has said before, his heart and soul are with the NYPD, and he is honored to lead this Department as it continues to drive crime to historically low levels.”

The measure of no confidence in de Blasio charges that he “unlawfully interfered in the NYPD’s disciplinary process, through public statements and private conversations intended to coerce the Police Commissioner to render predetermined findings and penalties in the administrative trial of Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo.”

De Blasio declined to take a public stance on whether Pantaleo should be fired. But the union has accused him of interfering in the decision, citing his promises — including on the presidential debate stage — that the Garner family would soon get “justice” in the case.

The resolution also cites the mayor’s longshot presidential campaign as a reason he is unfit for office.

“Mayor de Blasio has abandoned his official duties to engage in national political activities, and has engaged in deceptive and legally questionable fundraising practices in order to fund such activities,” it says.

