VIDEO: Cops Force Man From Station After He Asks Them To Mask Up

West Village NY

19 October, 2021

4:03 PM

Description

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — A pair of maskless New York City Police Department officers pushed a man out of a Manhattan train platform Tuesday morning after he confronted them about not wearing face coverings. A video captured by a commuter also standing on the platform within the 8th Street station in Greenwich Village just before 9 a.m. shows the interaction. #NYC #NYPD harassing this subway rider for having the nerve to ask them to put on masks! #notabovethelaw@NYCMayor pic.twitter.com/iEK8qKh0MF— ekki spyrja mig að því (@toriahall) October 19, 2021 "The male officer was playing dumb and claimed he couldn't hear me. I kept asking him over and over, 'Do you know it's illegal not to wear a mask?'" the man in the video ,Andrew Gilbert, told amNewYork. "I kept asking him the same thing and then he said, 'You're being disruptive,' which I guess is their key word for doing whatever they want if they declare you disruptive." The police officers ejected Gilbert moments later. The NYPD did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment about the video Tuesday. In September, the acting Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairperson Janno Lieber said that he wants police officers to be "better" at wearing masks on public transit. Mayor Bill de Blasio has also admonished cops for not wearing masks. "I think there has been some real progress, I think there has to be more, and I think there has to be consequences for anyone who doesn't wear a mask," de Blasio said in 2020 when asked about the many NYPD officers who simply don't wear masks. As of Oct. 8, around 68 percent of NYPD workers have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the mayor's office data. The figure is noticeably below the 83 percent of all adults who have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the same date. You can read more about Tuesday's confrontation between unmasked NYPD officers and Gilbert on amNewYork's website.