The NYPD, FDNY, and sanitation workers said Mayor de Blasio's vaccine mandate will lead to a personnel shortage and chaotic effects on the departments' ability to provide city services.
The departments' leaders have warned New Yorkers of the dire consequences the measure will likely bring: emergency response times going through the roof, nearly 40percent of the city's firehouses having to close down, and mountains of garbage piling up on sidewalks.
A last legal bid by the NYPD's largest union to prevent de Blasio's vaccine mandate was shot down by Staten Island's Richmond County Supreme Court Judge Lizette Colon on Wednesday.
Seventy-three percent of the NYPD's 56,000 staff have already received the vaccine, but sanitation workers reported a vaccination rate of just 63percent.
Well behind is the FDNY, with 45percent of its employees yet to be inoculated.
A last legal bid by the NYPD's largest union to prevent de Blasio's vaccine mandate for city employees was shot down by a Staten Island judge on Wednesday
The departments' leaders have warned New Yorkers of the dire consequences the measure will likely bring. 'The response times are going to go through the roof. We're just not going to be able to get to the emergencies in time,' said FDNY Firefighter Association President Andrew Ansbro
City employees have until 5pm on Friday to receive their first vaccination - and will be given a $500 bonus following Mayor Bill de Blasio's mandate
Municipal workers of the city march across Brooklyn bridge and rally at City Hall Park against vaccination mandate in New York on October 25
City employees have until 5pm on Friday to receive their first vaccination - and will be given a $500 bonus.
Those who refuse taking the vaccine will be placed on leave without pay.
The Police Benevolent Association has said it will appeal the ruling once again on Thursday, as the mayor's mandate is set to take place on November 1.
However, it will be enforced next Monday, allowing employees to report to work during the weekend.
The president of the Police Benevolent Association blamed city officials for the possible egregious outcome of the ruling on Wednesday.
'The PBA will continue to fight the fight and will immediately appeal this ruling, but New Yorkers should know who to blame for any shortfall in city services: Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Shea and the other bureaucrats who are putting politics before public health and public safety.'
'Today's ruling sets the city up for a real crisis. The haphazard rollout of this mandate has created chaos in the NYPD,' the statement read.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea encouraged officers to receive the vaccine before the time is up
'We need you out there. Please take advantage of the next few days and get vaccinated,' Shea told officers
