De Blasio, NYPD Chief Slap Down Resignation Rumors: ‘Absolutely False’

New York - Addressing swirling rumors of his resignation for the first time, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Monday that there was no truth to it and he “absolutely” had Mayor Bill de Blasio’s support to stay on.

“I absolutely feel I have the support of the mayor,” Shea said in an interview with NY1.

De Blasio added in his own television interview that Shea, as well as Chief of Department Terence Monahan, the highest-ranking uniformed cop, was staying in the job they were appointed six months ago.

“I’m going to be blunt. This is idiocy,” the mayor said on PIX11. “First of all, these are two leaders I’ve been working with constantly for years. They are in their jobs because I put them there.” He added, “I think very highly of Dermot Shea and Terence Monahan.”

Speculation had been rampant on Sunday afternoon that both men would soon be out, or had already resigned. Respected journalists had already published detailed lists of the transition, including who was expected to take over the top positions in the nation’s largest police force.

The rumors claimed that de Blasio had lost confidence in the NYPD’s leadership team, how they handled the race protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Monahan took a knee in front of a large group of protesters last week, but de Blasio allegedly wanted both law enforcement leaders to also apologize for using force in putting down riots.

Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office