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A Staten Island pol is amassing City Council support to formally demand Mayor Eric Adams rehire the 1,430 municipal employees canned for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli will be introducing a nonbinding resolution at Thursday’s meeting calling on Adams to rehire workers fired in February for failing to meet a vaccine-mandate deadline requiring proof of at least one shot. The resolution, which already has bipartisan backing from at least seven other Council members, also demands private businesses rehire employees who were fired for failing to get jabbed.
The Staten Island Republican told The Post he believes the Council must deliver an apolitical message that it believes Adams’ decision last month to exempt pro athletes and other performers from the mandate is unfair because rank-and-file workers remain unemployed for snubbing the same rules.
“There has to be equity,” Borelli said. “If we’re willing to tolerate risks for athletes and performers, we must tolerate the same risks for all members of our workforce – be it the private sector or public.”
Other Council members on board include Farah Louis (D-Brooklyn) and David Carr (R-Staten Island).
Adams granted the exemption only after fielding pressure from the Brooklyn Nets, Mets and Yankees. The teams lobbied for the change, saying it was unfair that rules Adams inherited from former Mayor Bill de Blasio allowed unvaccinated visiting athletes to play in city venues, but Nets star Kyrie Irving and other city-based unvaccinated athletes couldn’t play home games.
Paul DiGiacamo, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, said he hopes Borelli’s legislation convinces the mayor to rehire the union’s unvaccinated investigators.
“Any detective who left took years of experience with [them],” he said. “The city is in crisis. We need to bring back the detectives.”
More firings could be coming.
Thousands of city workers who applied for medical or religious accommodations or exemptions from the vaccination requirement have yet to get a decision.
Reps for Mayor Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) said their offices need to review the resolution before commenting.
However, the speaker issued a March 24 statement saying the mayor’s exemption “sends the wrong message that higher-paid workers and celebrities are being valued as more important than our devoted civil servants.”
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