Mayor and speaker undecided on police pension bill

Sally Goldenberg

Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito have yet to take a position on a bill in Albany that would increase disability pensions for newer police officers, including one who was critically injured in a fire earlier this year.

The mayor, whose administration is engaged in contract talks with Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said he was unfamiliar with the union's push for the bill, which would offer higher pensions for city police officers injured in the line of duty.

"I have not seen the bill. So, again, we'll get you an answer but I have not seen the bill so I can't comment," de Blasio said when asked about the issue at an unrelated press conference in Upper Manhattan this morning.

But late this afternoon, his aides still had not provided an update on the mayor's position on the matter. A push for the legislation has intensified since NYPD officer Rosa Rodriguez was severely injured responding to a Brooklyn fire in April that killed another offier, Dennis Guerra.



http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/06/8546814/mayor-and-speaker-undecided-police-pension-bill