The NYPD held private parties for officers and guests during Macy's 4th of July fireworks show—and were spotted with dozens of chairs, amplified music, and coolers of food and drinks, all banned from official viewing areas, according to NYPD rules. More:
The Police Benevolent Association handed out food and drinks to members in one of the private viewing areas for friends and family of police. This photo has since been deleted from the PBA InstagramThe Police Benevolent Association handed out food and drinks to members in one of the private viewing areas for friends and family of police.
John Miller, a department spokesperson, defended the “informal practice,” which he said was meant to accommodate police family members “who are regularly called upon to make sacrifices for the city when their spouses miss major holidays because they are working.” At Long Island City’s Gantry Plaza State Park, onlookers said they were forced to compete for space on overcrowded piers. But one pier, directly in front of the Hunters Point Public Library, sat empty, save for a few dozen families sprawled out on picnic blankets, protected by a ring of NYPD officers, according to multiple people who spoke to Gothamist
John, a Manhattan resident who asked that his last name be withheld because his company is contracted with the NYPD, said he encountered one of the parties at Stuyvesant Cove on Manhattan's East Side Monday, but was quickly told to leave the area. “They’re very visibly positioning themselves as VIPs [who] can do what other people can't,” he said. “There’s not a lot of consideration for the people who live here.”
“I asked who can go up there and he said: ‘You can’t.’ I said, ‘Okay but who can?’ He said ‘special people,’” Bardhan recalled. “I asked if it was just friends and family of police officers and he smiled and said ‘maybe.’”FYI tonight at domino park, nypd blocked off an elevated walkway with a perfect view of the east river.
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