NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized the NYPD after video showed officers arresting a delivery man in Manhattan out past the city's 8 p.m. curfew Thursday.
De Blasio took to Twitter early Friday morning to say he'd just got off the phone with NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea after seeing "troubling video of a delivery worker arrested by police while doing his job."
The mayor called the arrest unacceptable, adding that food delivery workers are essential workers.
"This is NOT acceptable and must stop. Food delivery is essential work and is EXEMPTED from the curfew," the mayor tweeted.
Sources told 1010 WINS Friday that the man arrested was a deliveryman but that he had no deliveries scheduled that night and that he hadn't made any deliveries before his confrontation with police.
The sources said police officers were telling a group of protesters to disperse at curfew time when the deliveryman yelled at them while on his bike.
Police told the man to move along but he refused and was arrested, the sources said.
Police used their discretion to release him without issuing a summons, according to the sources.
In a separate tweet early Friday, de Blasio added that journalists are also allowed to be out past the curfew since they're considered essential.
"Same goes for journalists covering protests and out doing their jobs," de Blasio wrote. "They are essential workers, too. We WILL protect their rights. The public depends on the information they provide."
The mayor said he "will get NYPD to fix this immediately."
Food delivery company DoorDash released a statement in response to the deliveryman incident:
We are alarmed by reports that a courier appears to have been arrested this evening in New York City shortly after curfew. Under the City's curfew order, food delivery workers are deemed 'essential' and permitted to travel to and from work and to be in public while performing their work while the curfew is in effect. We are gathering information and are in contact with City officials to determine what transpired. Essential workers must be able to complete their work and feel safe and secure while doing so, and we are prepared to provide them with our support.
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