NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are at odds over the idea of deploying the National Guard to New York City to help respond to protests that have devolved into mayhem on a nightly basis despite a newly-inposed curfew and increased police presence.
A day after President Donald Trump said that he was recommending governors deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to "dominate the streets" and end the violent protests, de Blasio said, "We do not need, nor do we think it's wise for the National Guard to be in New York City, nor any armed forces."
"When outside armed forces go into communities, no good comes of it. We have seen this for decades," de Blasio said. "They are not trained for the circumstance here."
Gov. Cuomo at his daily briefing Tuesday denounced the mayor and the city's police department as ineffective in the face of the nightly looting.
Cuomo said he has offered to send in the support of the state police and the 13,000 members of the National Guard, who are on standby.
"New York City has said they don't want or need the National Guard, which would be a large scale support network that we could bring to New York City," Cuomo said.
The governor was critical of the city's failure to stop people from smashing their way into businesses in Manhattan and the Bronx late Monday and early Tuesday.
"The NYPD and the Mayor did not do their job last night," Cuomo said.
“Look at the videos. It’s a disgrace... What happened in New York City was inexcusable," the governor said referring to videos showing looters bashing in windows and ransacking stores.
At the same time, he said he does believe in the capacity of the NYPD.
"You have 38,000 NYPD people, it is the largest police department in the United States of America. Use 38,000 people and protect protect property and people," Cuomo said, adding that he belive sthe mayor underestimates the scope and duration of the problem. "I don't think they've used enough police to address the situation."
The governor's senior advisor, Richard Azzopardi, later released a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying "The Governor has always said he has respect and confidence in the NYPD and he knows they can handle this situation because he has seen them do it in the past. It's not the men and women of the NYPD - he questions the management and deployment of the NYPD and believes the Mayor should put more NYPD officers on the streets to do their job. There are 36,000 police officers - why isn't at least half the force on the streets protecting public safety with looting going on across the city?"
New York City has extended a citywide curfew through Sunday, running from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., to help police deal with the looting and violence. The NYPD also doubled its police presence from 4,000 to 8,000, deploying additional personnel where needed.
NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan also said Monday that officers are working 12-hour shifts.
"It puts a ton of stress on us," he said. "It is taking resources to address this away from our communities that need our cops, there will be less cops to respond to 911 calls in the outerboroughs where things aren't happening because we need them to address these conditions. that's why we have to go for the 12-hour tours. It's going to be a lot of tired police officers, but we've done this before and there's no way we would ever allow this city to get into the hands of a few thousand people who are organized, who attack police officers and who create mayhem."
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed there were over 700 arrests made late Monday and early Tuesday for looting, attacks on officers and other offenses. He vowed the department will do everything it can to protect the citizens of the city.
"The New York City Police Department will be there to protect you and make sure that criminals do not run New York City. We will control this, we have this and you can have faith in that," he said.
In a statement, police union President Patrick Lynch said the "politcal tug of war" between the city and state governments for putting officers in danger.
“Rank-and-file New York City police officers were out on the street last night doing our job. Tonight, we’ll go out and do it again. It’s not our fault that our city and state governments can’t plan and work together, but we are suffering the consequences," Lynch said. "Police officers are being run down, knocked down and almost shot on a nightly basis. The political tug of war between Albany and City Hall needs to stop, because it is putting police officers in danger.”
Cuomo brought up the possibility of using his power as governor to displace the mayor, before shooting down the idea as legally impractical and unnecessary.
"My option is to displace the mayor of New York City and bring in the guard as the governor in a state of emergency and basically take over the mayor's job," Cuomo said. "A: I don't think we're at that point. B: That would be such a chaotic situation in the midst of an already chaotic situation. I don't think that makes any sense."
He stressed that he is not planning on displacing the mayor.
Cuomo says the civil unrest that has spread across the nation in the past week since George Floyd's death has split into two groups: protesters who are gathering peacefully and criminals that are taking advantage of the situation.
He denounced rioters and looters, saying they were “opportunists” who are exploiting Floyd’s death for their own selfish gains.
“People see this moment and they exploit it – and that is criminal activity and that is looting,” Cuomo said. “They have no right to wrap themselves in the flag of indignation of Mr. Floyd’s murder.”
He supports peaceful protesters, saying they are “rightfully outraged."
“They want reforms that should have been done, 30. 40, 50 years ago, they want America to be better,” he said.
Cuomo believes the “justice” agenda is the way to move forward. He believes there should be independent investigations of police forces, a publication of records regarding officers under investigation and a national standard of excessive force (including doing away with chokeholds nationwide). He notes that he would made education equity and ending child poverty apart of that.
Unfortunately, Cuomo said, in an environment filled with anger and rage, there are those who want to intentionally blur the lines between peaceful, legitimate protesters and looters
“We can’t blur the line between these problems, otherwise you’re going to end up solving nothing,” the governor said.