Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday said for the first time that he would block the City Council from enacting a law making it a crime for cops to use chokeholds.
The controversial practice is already barred by NYPD regulations.
But police critics, outraged at the death of Eric Garner during an arrest on Staten Island last summer, are pushing for stricter measures.
A bill introduced in the council two months ago would make cops who employ chokeholds subject to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
De Blasio expressed reservations about the bill when it first came up.
On Tuesday, he went a step further. “The mayor would veto the chokehold bill as it is currently drafted were it to reach his desk,” said spokesman Phil Walzak.
The announcement comes amid a bitter feud between City Hall and police unions, who accuse the mayor of not supporting rank-and-file cops in the face of mass protests over Garner’s death and the execution of two officers in Brooklyn.
By opposing the council bill, de Blasio got a chance to demonstrate he was on the side of cops.
A City Hall source said the mayor feels the council is going too far. “He believes NYPD internal policy remains the best way to monitor and regulate,” the source said.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has criticized the chokehold bill as well as a council measure that would require cops to get permission from suspects they want to search.
The source said the mayor also continues to have reservations about the search bill.
Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens), who introduced the chokehold legislation, pointed out that de Blasio did not rule out a revised version.
“We are at the start of the legislative process, not the end of it. I’m not concerned in the least,” Lancman said.
“If anything, I take comfort in that the mayor’s language was not categorical. He has said he wants to make sure that this technique is available to cops in a life-and-death situation.”