In compliance with Democratic Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s vaccine mandate, New York City put thousands of police officers, firefighters and other municipal workers on unpaid \u2026<\/b>
\nIn compliance with Democratic Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s vaccine mandate, New York City put thousands of police officers, firefighters and other municipal workers on unpaid leave Monday. The mayor’s office said last night that 22,800 municipal workers remained unvaccinated after the deadline of 5 p.m. last Friday. Among them are 5,500 NYPD police officer 3,300 firefighters and more than 1,500 sanitation workers. DeBlasio spokesman Mitch Schwartz told Fox News Monday morning that 9,000 were placed on leave without pay today.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0The rest are in various stages of having their accommodation requests reviewed. They can be at work,\u00a0\u00bb he said. One of the many results is that \u00ab\u00a0dozens\u00a0\u00bb of fire companies were expected to be shut down Monday, according to Andy Ansbro, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association union. FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro later Monday acknowledged there are many \u00ab\u00a0understaffed units,\u00a0\u00bb with about 18 units down, blaming it on members who are \u00ab\u00a0using medical leave improperly.\u00a0\u00bb Over the weekend,26 fire stations were closed, about 10% of the city’s total, due to understaffing, according to the unions. Ansbro said all New York City employees were \u00ab\u00a0given nine days to make a life-changing decision on their career.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0And we’re going to live with the aftermath of this right now,\u00a0\u00bb he said. But de Blasio on Monday accused firefighters and police unions of lying about police and EMT shortages to \u00ab\u00a0make people worried.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0In the last 48 hours there’s been a lot of misinformation out there, a lot of reports fire houses closed when they weren’t, a lot of hearsay honestly. The factual answer is going to come from City Hall. There’s a lot of rumor mill and in fact it’s being done by certain unions to try and make people worried,\u00a0\u00bb the mayor said at a news conference. Last Thursday, a massive crowd of firefighters opposed to the mandate assembled outside de Blasio’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, with signs that read \u00ab\u00a0Essential Workers aren’t Disposable Heros (sic),\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0My Body My Choice\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0#Natural Immunity.\u00a0\u00bb Last week, New York City school unions warned of chaos as the deadline drew near. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the nation, another Democratic mayor is admitting for the first time after imposing a vaccine mandate on municipal workers that there is a policing crisis in her city. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan acknowledged in a news release that was quietly dumped at 6:30 p.m. Friday that there are \u00ab\u00a0critical ongoing staffing challenges in 911 Dispatch and the Seattle Police Department,\u00a0\u00bb reported KTTH Seattle talk-radio host Jason Rantz \u00ab\u00a0Seattle cannot keep waiting to address the real public safety officer hiring and retention crisis we are experiencing in Seattle right now,\u00a0\u00bb the mayor said. Rantz says flatly that the police department staffing is a \u00ab\u00a0catastrophe,\u00a0\u00bb and the department \u00ab\u00a0does not have enough staff to keep this city safe.\u00a0\u00bb SPD must borrow non-patrol units every day to meet minimum staffing needs. Resident who call 911 are not getting an immediate response. A source told Rantz it can take up to an hour for non-emergency calls to be addressed. Durkan is using her executive authority to offer a $25,000 signing bonus to lateral officers and $10,000 for new hires. She said \u00ab\u00a0more than 250 officers have left the department, but Rantz pointed out that the exodus is much higher. Since last year, at least 335 officers have left amid the City Council’s attacks on policing, embracing far-left activists pushing \u00ab\u00a0defund police\u00a0\u00bb rather than public safety. \u00ab\u00a0But vaccine mandate made the staffing issue much worse,\u00a0\u00bb Rantz wrote. \u00ab\u00a0The press release completely ignores the mandate-caused catastrophe.\u00a0\u00bb SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!<\/p>\n