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A federal judge on Friday gave New York City the green light to fire as many as 4,000 municipal workers for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as Mayor Eric Adams said officials would be working over the weekend to determine who gets the ax.
During an evening teleconference, Brooklyn federal Judge Diane Gujurati rejected a last-ditch, emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the vaccine mandate imposed last year by former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The decision, shortly before 7 p.m., involved a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday by New Yorkers for Religious Liberty and 13 named plaintiffs, including members of the NYPD, FDNY and various other city agencies, who claim the order discriminates against people who “refuse experimental vaccines that conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
It followed about a dozen similar rulings in other cases involving vaccine mandates on city workers since September, including one handed down by a different Brooklyn federal judge on Friday afternoon, according to court papers.
Earlier in the day, Adams said officials hadn’t yet determined exactly how many of the city’s 370,000 municipal workers would be let go.
“This morning we had a call to do the analysis. We are going to come out with the full numbers over the weekend,” he said during an unrelated news conference in Brooklyn.
Adams said the total remained unclear in part because “some people had their vaccine, took both their shots, yet they did not turn in their information.”
Hizzoner — who spoke as about 100 people protested the vaccine mandate outside City Hall — also vowed to not rescind his predecessor’s rule, saying he feared sending the wrong message “to all of the New Yorkers who understood we were at a very dangerous place and they complied.”
“So, if we get another variant that is dangerous and we say to New Yorkers, ‘This is what we must do to keep the city open and save lives,’ people are not going to take us seriously,” he said.
“That can’t happen.”
An estimated number of the anticipated firings wasn’t available Friday evening, but City Hall spokesperson Fabien Levy said, “The number will be considerably lower than 4,000.”
That number comprised about 3,000 veteran employees who had taken unpaid leave rather than get the shots and were required to get their first dose by Friday and another 1,000 workers hired after Aug. 2 who were given 45 days to get fully vaccinated as a condition of employment.
During his news conference, Adams said the mandate was “not about termination, it’s about vaccination” but added, “Those areas that we need to replace, we’re going to replace.”
It was unclear if any civil servants who break down and get jabbed over the weekend will be able to present proof on Monday morning without penalty.
In October, de Blasio extended an earlier deadline from Friday evening to Monday morning.
Those expected to be fired include about 700 teachers, paraprofessionals and social workers, according to the United Teachers Federation.
The NYPD’s Police Benevolent Association and Detectives’ Endowment Association put their total at around 50 and the Uniformed Firefighters Association said 12 of its members could lose their jobs.
“It’s very disheartening. The pandemic is winding down,” UFA President Andrew Ansbro said.
The veteran workers on the firing line went on leave rather than get vaccinated, but thousands more — including about 5,000 cops and 500 firefighters — have applications pending that seek exemptions from the jabs for religious or medical reasons.
Ansbro said there’s a huge backlog to decide those cases, adding, “This is just the beginning.
”Late Friday afternoon, City Hall issued a press release in which Adams announced a $100 per person “incentive push” for New Yorkers who get either a first dose or a booster shot of vaccine at a site run by the city or the SOMOS health care network through Feb. 28.
The city workers who’ve been holding out on getting jabbed — and faced a 5 p.m. deadline Friday to present proof — aren’t eligible for the payments, City Hall said.
More than 800,000 electronic gift cards have been distributed since the program began in July, costing taxpayers in excess of $80 million.
Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts
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