Metro

NYC won’t enforce COVID vax mandate for NYPD officers while it appeals ruling

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Social Links for Craig McCarthy
Published Sep. 27, 2022
Updated Sep. 27, 2022, 4:36 p.m. ET

New York City will not enforce the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the NYPD following a judge’s surprise ruling late last week that the requirement was unlawful, The Post has learned.

The about-face means unvaccinated NYPD cops who have been denied a religious or health exemption will remain on the job as the city appeals the latest court ruling, according to the Police Benevolent Association.

Lawyers for the Big Apple had told the PBA on Friday that the city would continue to enforce the mandate despite the ruling from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank.

The change of plan from the city came Tuesday morning after the PBA threatened to try to get the court to hold the city’s Corporation Counsel in contempt.

The ruling was one of two recent blows to the city’s mandate after numerous legal challenges since it was enacted in October 2021 and is expected to spark additional challenges.

The city has appealed the ruling.

Police officers are shown protesting against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate
A judge has ruled the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for police is unlawful. Sipa USA via AP
A gloved hand is shown loading up a COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe
Police officers who were denied COVID-19 vaccine exemptions can come back to work. AP

Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the Law Department, said the NYPD was barred from firing or placing unvaxxed on leave until the city’s appeal is ruled on due to “technical legal reasons.”

The reinstatement of fired cops, which the ruling also ordered, was paused until the appeal is determined, Paolucci added.

Neither the city nor the NYPD will say how many NYPD cops were affected by last week’s ruling.