NEW YORK - Mayor Bill de Blasio said he needed more information before deciding how to proceed on the uproar over comments made by the city's health commissioner to the NYPD's chief of department over masks for police officers.

What You Need To Know


  • Mayor De Blasio says if the report is accurate Dr. Barbot needs to apologize to the NYPD "unquestionably" 

  • Police union officials are calling for the commissioner to resign or be fired

  • A Health Department statement confirms there was a "heated exchange"

  • The NYPD's request for 500,000 masks occurred at the height of the outbreak 

He made the remarks Thursday during his daily briefing at City Hall which did not include Dr. Oxiris Barbot, whose relationship with the mayor was already said to be shaky.

Reaction has been pouring in after a report in the New York Post, which claims Dr. Barbot said, "I don’t give two rats’ a--es about your cops" while speaking with NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan back in March over the department's request for 500,000 surgical masks at the height of the outbreak.

Sources told NY1 that health department officials were shocked when NYPD officers showed up — unannounced — to a federally controlled warehouse to demand medical-grade protective gear. Hospitals were counting equipment by the day, so when Barbot was notified, tempers flared on the phone. The department has confirmed her comments, and said she has apologized.

Barbot said she was focused on other things and used a dismissive term to make it clear that she didn't care whether the NYPD was able to find enough masks.

The Health Department put out a statement saying, "There was a heated exchange between the two where things were said out of frustration but no harm was wished on anyone. The Commissioner apologized for her contribution to the exchange."

De Blasio said if the report is true, the commissioner would need to issue a formal apology.

"I need to understand what happened here, I am concerned about it. It does need to be addressed. If what is being reported is accurate, the commissioner needs to apologize to the men and women of the NYPD, unquestionably. But again, I need to hear her perspective, I need to hear Chief Monahan's perspective, and we have a job to do here," de Blasio said.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer is now investigating the city’s response to the pandemic — specifically about the mayor’s recent decision to have the city’s contact tracing program run by the public hospital system, not the department of health, another sign of the mayor’s ongoing fight with the commissioner.

Late Thursday, there was more evidence of the ongoing strife: a New York Times report indicated the leader of the city’s public hospital system informed the mayor’s reluctance to shut down the city, despite warnings from health department officials.

That relationship is expected to come under more scrutiny very soon. Department of Health officials, except Barbot, are set to testify before the City Council on Friday.

Police union officials are calling for Barbot to resign or be fired.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association used a vulgar term in its reponse to Barbot's remarks, tweeting, "Truth is this *blank* has blood on her hands but why should anyone be surprised the NYPD has suffered from de Blasio since he became mayor."

Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch called Barbot's comments "despicable and unforgivable," adding, "She should have been fired the moment she uttered those words."

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea was critical of the union.

“There is no place for that foul language, it’s completely inappropriate,” Shea said during a City Council hearing on Thursday.