Fmr. NYPD Lt. blasts De Blasio: Congrats to adding as your legacy as 'worst mayor ever in NY'
Joe Cardinale, former NYPD Lieutenant, reacts to the New York city council voting to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget
Retired NYPD Lt. Joe Cardinale sarcastically congratulated New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday “for adding to his legacy of being the worst mayor ever in New York.”
Cardinale told “America’s Newsroom” on Wednesday that de Blasio “single-handedly” dismantled “policing across the United States.”
Cardinale made the comments hours after New York City lawmakers voted on budget changes that shifted $1 billion from the New York Police Department to programs that assist in youth and community development, a number that actually fell short of what many protesters in the city have demanded.
An encampment of protesters have set up outside City Hall since last week to demand the city “defund the police” — a movement demonstrators have been calling for across the country following the police-involved death of George Floyd in late May.
“This is ridiculous,” Cardinale said on Wednesday.
AOC SAYS PROPOSED $1B BUDGET CUT TO NYPD ISN'T ENOUGH: 'DEFUNDING POLICE MEANS DEFUNDING POLICE’
New York City has experienced a rash of violence recently and an increase in officers retiring from the police department.
The NYPD told Fox News on Saturday that 272 officers had filed for retirement between Floyd's death on May 25 and June 23. That represents a 49 percent increase over the same period in 2019.
Cardinale said de Blasio is “taking credit for reducing numbers.”
“Most of these numbers right now are coming from guys who are putting in their retirement,” he continued. “They’ve had enough, they’re out.”
He went on to say that New York City lawmakers “single-handedly took out the police department overnight.”
Over the weekend police officers responding to a report of shots fired in Manhattan were met with a large crowd throwing bottles and debris at them.
The New York City Police Benevolent Association shared a video that showed the crowd shouting and throwing multiple glass bottles at a police cruiser and tweeted, "This is what a ‘light touch’ looks like,” referencing comments from de Blasio during Floyd protests in May.
“This is a very serious time for New York and it’s only going to get worse,” Cardinale said.
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He warned that “what you are looking at right now is just the beginning of what's going to happen across America, not just New York.”
Fox News’ Sam Dorman, David Aaro and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.