NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Police Benevolent Association of New York City on Monday filed a lawsuit against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s latest vaccine mandate requiring all city employees to get vaccinated or go on unpaid leave.
In a letter to members, President Patrick J. Lynch called the lawsuit a "rapidly developing issue."
"I am writing with an important update on our legal challenge to Mayor de Blasio's vaccine mandate," Lynch said. "This morning, the PBA filed our lawsuit in Staten Island state Supreme Court seeking to overturn the vaccine mandate announced last week."
De Blasio's order last Wednesday will require all of its municipal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including police officers and firefighters, by Nov. 1.
Lynch released an Oct. 6 statement pushing back against any such order from taking place.
“We have pushed to make the vaccine available to all members who seek it, and we will continue to protect the rights of members who are not vaccinated,” Lynch said.
On Monday, Lynch said the PBA will also request a temporary restraining order to ask a court "to bar the City and the NYPD from implementing the mandate while our suit is pending."
A spokesperson for the NYC Law Department said they believe the PBA's lawsuit, like other challenges against city-implemented vaccine mandates, will fail.
"Every effort to stop the City’s vaccine mandates has failed in court, and we believe this suit by the PBA will meet the same fate," they said. "The City’s vaccine mandates are lawful and keep New Yorkers safe. We’ll review the case."