De Blasio Downplays Worker Shortfalls As COVID Vax Mandate Nears

NEW YORK CITY — A looming coronavirus vaccination deadline for New York City municipal workers won't cause dangerous mass disruptions in public safety agencies, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

But as de Blasio struck this note of reassurance, throngs of FDNY firefighters and other city workers amassed outside Gracie Mansion to protest the vaccine mandate poised to take effect Friday at 5 p.m.

Police union leaders likewise warned of a "real crisis" if unvaccinated cops — who were roughly 25 percent of NYPD officers — are taken off the streets and placed on unpaid leave.

And trash already started to pile up in some neighborhoods as sanitation workers — who are only 67 percent vaccinated — protested against the mandate.

De Blasio largely brushed off concerns of shortfalls during his daily briefing. He said top city officials will fill vacancies through overtime and expressed confidence there will be a last-minute rush of vaccinations by city workers who want to avert losing paychecks.

“No, I am not having second thoughts,” he said. “We expected that a lot of the vaccinations would happen toward the end of the deadline. We also know a lot of people make the decision once they really realize that they’re not going to get paid.”

About 76 percent of municipal workers who fall under the upcoming vaccine-or-no pay mandate are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to city data.

Data shows many departments' workers did indeed rush to get doses of vaccine in the past week. FDNY, for example, went from 60 percent of workers with at least one dose to 68 percent in roughly a week, according to data.

But within the FDNY there are still disparities. Firefighters are only 64 percent vaccinated compared to 74 percent of EMS, data shows.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro recently said up to 20 percent of firehouses could be shuttered next week once the mandate takes effect. Mandatory overtime and "mutual aid from other EMS providers" could be used to cover the missing shifts, Nigro said.

NYPD workers are roughly 74 percent vaccinated and its largest union, the Police Benevolent Association, is fighting the mandate.

A state Supreme court judge on Wednesday shot down the PBA's attempt to halt the mandate. Patrick Lynch, the union's president, said the ruling "sets the city up for a real crisis."

The mandate will "inevitably result in fewer cops" available to work and protect the city, Lynch said.

"The PBA will continue to fight the fight and will immediately appeal this ruling, but New Yorkers should know who to blame for any shortfall in city services: Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Shea and the other bureaucrats who are putting politics before public health and public safety," Lynch said in a statement.

De Blasio said covering for shortfalls in uniformed agencies such as the NYPD and FDNY is easier than other departments. Teachers who didn't comply with their own vaccination mandate, for example, needed to be covered by qualified substitute teachers, he said.

With police and firefighters, the shortfalls can be covered by shift changes and overtime, he maintained.

“The bottom line is when you’re dealing with uniform service you have a whole set of tools that you wouldn’t have, for example, with the Department of Education,” he said.

De Blasio said he anticipates large numbers of city workers to get vaccinated Thursday and Friday, and even after the mandate takes effect.

“Again, we expect plenty more in the coming days,” he said.