New York City’s health commissioner blew off an urgent NYPD request for 500,000 surgical masks as the coronavirus crisis mounted — telling a high-ranking police official that “I don’t give two rats’ asses about your cops,” the New York Post reports.
Dr. Oxiris Barbot made the remark during a brief phone conversation in late March with NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, sources familiar with the matter told the Post Wednesday.
Monahan asked Barbot for 500,000 masks but she said she could only provide 50,000, the sources said.
The department appealed to City Hall, which arranged for the NYPD to get 250,000 surgical masks, sources said.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, called for Barbot to be fired over her “Despicable and unforgivable” comments.
