NYC Health Commissioner RESIGNS  ‘in protest over Mayor de Blasio’s handling of the coronavirus’

NYC Health Commissioner RESIGNS ‘in protest over Mayor de Blasio’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic’ months after it was revealed she ‘didn’t give two rats a**es’ about giving cops face masks

  • Dr. Oxiris Barbot announced she was standing down on Tuesday
  • A copy of her resignation letter revealed her ‘deep disappointment’ at de Blasio’s handling of COVID-19 and the way he ‘sidelined disease control experts’
  • Barbot penned a separate letter to colleagues saying she was standing down to avoid ‘distractions’ 
  • She became a divisive figure after it was revealed she brutally dismissed NYPD Chief’s request for 500,000 face masks at the start of the outbreak
  • De Blasio has announced Dr Dave A. Chokshi as Barbot’s replacement; Chokshi served as a White House Fellow during the Obama administration

New York City’s health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot has resigned in protest over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.  

The city’s top doctor announced the news Tuesday morning – two months after it was revealed she disparaged an NYPD official who asked for her help with providing officers with face masks. 

A copy of her resignation latter, obtained by the New York Times, reveals Barbot was incensed by the fact that the city’s disease control experts were not given center stage amid the pandemic. 

‘I leave my post today with deep disappointment that during the most critical public health crisis in our lifetime the Health Department’s incomparable disease control expertise was not used to the degree it could have been,’ she wrote. 

‘Our experts are world renowned for their epidemiology, surveillance and response work. The city would be well served by having them at the strategic center of the response not in the background.’

For months, New York City was the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, clocking more than 220,00 infections and 23,021 deaths. 

New York City’s health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot has resigned in protest over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic 

Meanwhile, in a separate letter penned to her Department of Health and Mental Hygiene ‘family’, Barbot stated that she was also leaving her post because the Big Apple would be better served without ‘distractions’ as it braces for an ‘inevitable second wave’ . 

Barbot has become somewhat of a controversial figure in recent months,  after the New York Post published a report detailing an alleged phone conversation she had with Police Chief Terence Monahan. 

During the exchange – which is purported to have occurred in mid-March as coronavirus cases surged across the city – Barbot brutally rejected Monahan’s plea for 500,000 masks to protect police officers.  

‘I don’t give two rats’ a**es about your cops,’ Barbot is alleged to have responded.    

‘I need them [masks] for others.’

She allegedly agreed to provide just 50,000 masks.  

The NYPD was hit hard by the coroanvirus pandemic, with thousands of officers becoming infected. 

More than 40 employees have died from the disease and, at the peak of the pandemic in the city, 20 percent of officers were out sick. 

Barbot has become somewhat of a controversial figure in recent months, after the New York Post published a report detailing an alleged phone conversation she had with Police Chief Terence Monahan. Cops are pictured patrolling the streets last month

Barbot has become somewhat of a controversial figure in recent months, after the New York Post published a report detailing an alleged phone conversation she had with Police Chief Terence Monahan. Cops are pictured patrolling the streets last month 

Barbot allegedly quit in protest over Bill de Blasio's handing of the coronavirus pandemic. She is said to be incensed that the city's disease control experts were not given center stage amid the pandemic

Barbot allegedly quit in protest over Bill de Blasio’s handing of the coronavirus pandemic. She is said to be incensed that the city’s disease control experts were not given center stage amid the pandemic

Cases have dramatically decreased in the Big Apple, but Barbot says experts are now bracing for an 'inevitable second wave'

Cases have dramatically decreased in the Big Apple, but Barbot says experts are now bracing for an ‘inevitable second wave’

Meanwhile, Barbot says she will continue to  serve the city in a different capacity, claiming her commitment to public health is ‘unwavering’.  

‘I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved as an agency over the past several years including using a racial equity lens to center communities at the heart of what we do… and action in addressing structural inequities,’ she wrote in her letter to colleagues. 

‘I am proud that as a woman of color raised in public housing in this city, I always put public health, racial equity and the well-being of the city I love first.’

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, de Blasio played down rumors of a feud with Barbot, thanking her for her ‘good work in addressing the crisis’.

He announced Dr Dave A. Chokshi as Barbot’s replacement. 

Chokshi, who is a  Bellevue Hospital physician and associate professor at NYU, served as a White House Fellow during the Obama administration. 

Dr Dave A. Chokshi has been announced as Barbot's replacement

Dr Dave A. Chokshi has been announced as Barbot’s replacement 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk