On-duty NYC firefighters harass state senator over NYC COVID vaccine mandate

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Daily News

A half-dozen on-duty city firefighters, answering their own unhinged 911 call inside an FDNY truck, stormed a Brooklyn state senator’s office Friday over City Hall’s looming deadline for vaccines.

The six smoke-eaters were instantly suspended for four weeks after commandeering the vehicle, with its emergency lights flashing, before four of the fuming firefighters headed inside to declare the city mandate meant “blood would be on (the) hands” of State Sen. Zellnor Myrie — who had nothing to do with the order for city workers to get vaccinated or get sent home without pay.

Other vaccine-protesting firefighters called in sick Friday, putting some firehouses temporarily out of service, a Fire Department official said.

The exact number of firefighters claiming sick leave was not known — but there were enough of them that Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro blasted them in a statement.

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-nyc-firefighters-harass-brooklyn-pol-20211029-3a2scuepbnhr5ivxvqvaes3fcm-story.html

---

Meanwhile 26 Fire Stations have been closed due to staff shortages.

[George II]

1. If they used, or misused, the 911 system for that, they should be fired on the spot.

[brooklynite]

3. You can't fire Union members "on the spot".

[George II]

5. They can for misconduct on duty.

[SouthernDem4ever]

2. What is wrong with these morons?

Is there some mental defect they all share?

[oasis]

11. "Trumpism". nt

[Traildogbob]

4. Unbelievable

They fought for years to get medical help from damaged lungs from 9-11. They face lung damaging smoke from every call. Many may have existing lung damage. Yet they refuse to get a vaccine to protect from a lung ravaging virus. If they get the virus and survive, long term lung damage could destroy their careers with lung damage that will never allow them to do the physical work of being a fire fighter. Fox and Tucker do not care if they ruin their lives, but the FF’s suck in every word. Tucker will keep his job and millions in salary as they slowly die from sick lungs. With the smirk on his face.

[LymphocyteLover]

10. Yeah, it's truly a form of insanity

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I don't get it.

NYFD will run into burning buildings without a thought for their safety, but refuse a vaccine that will save their lives. (I'll bet some of them have already received a flu shot for the winter.)

[cstanleytech]

7. Suspended? They should have been terminated.

[Sherman A1]

8. And charged with intimidation and harassment

These clowns need to find another line of work outside of the public safety category as they appear to be both uninterested and unsuited for their current positions.

[PoliticAverse]

9. Very hard to terminate NYC uniformed employees due to union contract. n/t

[cstanleytech]

14. So no clause in the contract for something flagrant like this?

[PoliticAverse]

16. Absent conviction of a crime (and immediate termination) severe disciplinary action...

would involve hearings (and possible appeals) and so can take time. It is also more likely to involve suspensions without pay than termination.

For another recent incident involving inappropriate activity see what happened in the case of the NYC firefighters spreading racist messages:

Nine New York City Firefighters Suspended In the ‘Most Severe’ Punishment Department’s History for Their Role In Sharing Racist Memes About George Floyd

Nine New York City firefighters have been suspended without pay for their involvement in a series of racist messages and memes shared by cellphone in what many officials are calling the “most severe discipline ever handed down in the history of the department.”

The organization is rarely known to terminate or suspend its employees for long periods of time. However, nine firefighters, who were not identified, were quietly relieved of their duties for periods ranging from a few days to six months, The New York Times reported last week.

From: https://atlantablackstar.com/2021/10/07/nine-new-york-city-firefighters-suspended-in-the-most-severe-punishment-departments-history-for-their-role-in-sharing-racist-memes-about-george-floyd/

[cstanleytech]

18. Sounds like the city should look to address the issue when it negotiates the next contract.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

12. Union contract does not excuse them from criminal prosecution.

For.....
* Calling in a false alarm on the 911 system.
* Reckless misuse of critical system (fire apparatus) needed at all times for public protection, therefore public endangerment.
* Misuse of emergency lights and/or siren and licensed emergency radio system for non-emergency purposes.
* Threat made against a public official under false pretenses.

Refusing to be vaccinated is in itself a danger to people they serve.

If the FDNY union contract does not allow firing of personnel for this behavior, the City needs a new contract.

KY.......

[dlk]

13. These are lawless thugs and and should be referred to as such

Just like the lawless, murderous thugs from the January 6th insurrection. Accurate descriptions matter.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Maybe the vaccine is just an excuse for the oppositional and defiant to act out?

They get public approval to display their underlying pathology.

[jcmaine72]

17. I know no one here wants to hear this, but...

This is why cheering on the yahoos that followed and harassed Kyrsten Sinema into the toilet was such a bad idea. It set a bad precedent and helps to normalize this kind of incivility and outright boorishness. Sadly, I fear shit like this will increasingly become a part of whatever it is that still passes for political discourse in this nation. It's so un-American.

Stalking, physical intimidation and office-storming should have NO part in American political discourse. These assholes need to be fired immediately.