NYPD Mayor's Helicopter Rides Are Sectets Because He Says So
NYPD Keeps Mayor's Helicopter Use a Secret and it 'Makes No Sense:' Experts(DNAINFO) The NYPD has formally declined to provide any information about Mayor Bill de Blasio's use of helicopters, including the time a department chopper nearly crashed with the mayor aboard when it landed on Rikers Island or when the police flew him and his wife to a presidential debate on Long Island. Brushing aside a Freedom of Information request by DNAinfo New York, the NYPD’s Legal Bureau claimed its FOIL Unit was “unable to locate responsive records" — although the department keeps meticulous logs on the NYPD Aviation Unit's daily use of its fleet of choppers. NYPD lawyers went even further, asserting that, even if they could find the applicable records on when the mayor was aboard an NYPD chopper, the department would not turn them over, anyway. “If such records existed, they would be exempt on the basis of Public Officers Law or Section 87(2)(e)(iv), as such information, if disclosed, would reveal non-routine techniques and procedures,” the NYPD claimed in a brief three-sentence response. City and state experts on FOIL, however, say the NYPD is completely wrong — and officials “obviously” know where flight records are located, and turning them over would not disclose anything unusual about “techniques and procedures.”
Public Relations Bill Jokes About Dressing Up As Helicopter Pilot . . . He May Has to Dress Up In the New Orange Soon?
De Blasio: ‘I should have come as a helicopter pilot for Halloween’ (NYP) Looks like Mayor de Blasio isn’t taking this helicopter controversy too seriously. Hizzoner joked about his recent chopper escapades during an interview on NY1’s “Inside City Hall” on Monday night...
The Real Question is How Near are We to A Mayoral Race . . . Will the Mayor Be Forced to Resign if He or Any of His Team Arrested?
Stringer Faults Mayor de Blasio Again as 2017 Race Nears (NYT) Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, issued a second straight D-plus for agencies citywide in his third annual report on procurement with minority-owned businesses.* New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s interest in running against de Blasio continues to become more evident, and was on full display when he delivered his annual report on city agencies, grading them a D-plus citywide,
the Times writes.
True News Was First Helicopter: Stop the Baseball
Cuomo Hits de Blasio On HelicopterGate - Gov Only Use On State Business
The
Siena Research Institute poll found that 56% of respondents still view
Cuomo favorably, down slightly from 57% in September. By contrast, 41%
have an unfavorable opinion of the governor, up 2 points from September.
Cuomo shames de Blasio over helicopter use (NYP) Cuomo tried to clip Mayor de Blasio’s wings as controversy mounted Tuesday over Hizzoner’s use of the NYPD helicopter fleet.
“The governor uses a state aircraft for state business and does not
charge taxpayers for personal or political air travel,” Cuomo’s office
said when asked about de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray getting
airlifted to last month’s presidential debate on Long Island. The mayor
also drew fire from the New York Public Interest Group, with
legislative director Blair Horner saying: “Why did he have to be flown
out there is a good question.” “The mayor should be asking the Conflicts
of Interest Board if it falls within one of those gray areas,” Horner
added. A former City Hall staffer also challenged de Blasio’s claim
that he has authority to fly in the choppers under a 2009 COIB advisory
opinion that says elected officials assigned a car and security
personnel can use them “for official or personal purposes or any
combination of the two.”“That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to sign out a
garbage truck for the weekend because you’re cleaning out your attic,”
the source said. “A mayor can use his regular SUV to drive to or from a
political event, but it doesn’t mean he gets to borrow a garbage truck —
or a helicopter.” Could Be A Crime Jim Callaghan
think about his response: he will not tell us if he was at a fund
raiser or meeting with contributors, which would be a crime... and
Police Commissioner O'Neill, the "reformer" is hiding records until
Wilhelm comes up with a clever cover story. fact check: we own the
helicopter and we pay to fuel it, fly it and maintain it. is there any
aspect of this that a mayor and a Police Commissioner don't understand?
Game the Mayor Takes The Field With His Helicopter
De Blasio’s helicopter shut down a Little League game (NYP) Mayor de Blasio shut down a Little League baseball game in a Harlem park for more than an hour in August so police could ready a field for
his helicopter, The Post has learned. The chopper landing was then abruptly canceled after an angry dad started griping to cops about the intrusion, threatening to post pictures of the mayoral interruption on social media, a source said. The extended seventh-inning stretch got underway at Harlem River Park during an Aug. 9 Little League game when the NYPD cleared the diamond of two under-14 teams, one dad told The Post. The cops “basically told everybody to get off the field,” the dad said. “The mayor wants to land his helicopter here,” he recalled police telling him. And when he griped to the officers they sympathized. “They said it’s absolutely ridiculous and that I should file a complaint,” said the dad, who didn’t want his name printed for fear of retribution. Another angry dad confirmed the story.*
Helicopter ride for de Blasio interrupted Harlem Little League game weeks before infamous Brooklyn to Queens chopper trip (NYDN)
de Blasio Helicopter Cover-Up Continues
de Blasio Who At His 2013 Election Celebration Played "We Will Never Be Royals, in 2016 Takes Helicopter to . . .
Mayor
de Blasio Just Landed in Prospect Park in an NYPD Helicopter (Prospect
Patch) de Blasio, who billed himself during the election as a champion
for the poor and an absolute anti-Bloomberg, was escorted either to or
from Prospect Park early Friday evening by a helicopter belonging to the
New York City Police Department, the department confirmed to Patch.
Witnesses were confused to see a police helicopter landing in a
baseball field near the southwest end of the park, just after 5 p.m.
de Blasio used an NYPD helicopter for an 8-mile trek from Prospect Park to Long Island City
during Friday evening rush hour, a spokesman said Monday.Onlookers were
puzzled to see the police chopper blowing clouds of dust off a baseball
field in Prospect Park at 5:15 p.m. Friday,
Patch first reported.(DNAINFO) *
Helicopter Trip Becomes Another Stumble for Mayorde Blasio (NYT) City Hall officials would not describe the activities of the mayor in Brooklyn — where he regularly travels to go to the gym
and also goes for meetings at favorite restaurants in his old
neighborhood — before the flight besides saying he had a “series of
meetings.” His public schedule listed a morning speech and two call-in
radio appearances earlier in the day. “We don’t detail internal or
personal meetings,” Mr. Phillips said, raising the possibility that Mr.
de Blasio had been engaged in a personal errand that delayed him enough
to necessitate air travel over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. “He had a
series of meetings in Brooklyn.” Pressed as to whether the meetings
were personal or city business, Mr. Phillips repeated himself: “I’m
saying he had a series of meetings in Brooklyn, and I’m declining to
make public the details of nonpublic meetings.” As the mayor arrived at
City Hall on Monday afternoon — by police-driven sport utility vehicle —
Mr. de Blasio was asked about his helicopter trip. He declined to
comment.*
De Blasio was so late he needed an NYPD chopper to beat traffic (NYP) A
source with knowledge of de Blasio’s daily routine said he’s been
spending Fridays holding meetings and making fund-raising phone calls
related to his re-election campaign at the Bar Toto restaurant and
Colson Patisserie coffee shop near his old 11th Street home in Park
Slope. City Hall also said de Blasio wouldn’t reimburse taxpayers for
the Friday chopper ride — to the official opening of a training center
for union electricians — or the Sept. 26 trips he took to and from
Nassau Community College for the first debate between Republican Donald
Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. The mayor and First Lady Chirlane
McCray — who have both campaigned for Clinton — were met on the ground
by an NYPD security detail and chauffeured to nearby Hofstra University
for the showdown, sources said. The couple flew in one of the NYPD’s
flagship Bell 429 choppers, sources said. The twin-engine whirlybird has
a base price around $5.4 million and costs an estimated $463 to $667 an
hour to operate, based on maintenance and fuel.* * New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio took a police helicopter from Prospect Park in
Brooklyn to Queens to deliver a speech, an unusual decision that caused
criticism of the use for a non-emergency reason,
The Wall Street Journal writes.
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