Li’l guys pay, Bill bigs don’t

THREE CITY WORKERS were hit with suspensions for misusing city-owned vehicles — similar violations to the ones Mayor de Blasio has defended when its comes to his correction commissioner and top department brass.

In settlements released by the Conflicts of Interest Board Tuesday, a NYCHA worker was suspended for 10 days — costing him $2,222 — for using an agency car to take his mom shopping at Pier 1.

It’s against the rules for city employees to use government vehicles, or any other public equipment, for personal purposes.

The employee, Joel LeMaitre, a community coordinator for NYCHA who was also in charge of maintaining a fleet of seven cars, admitted he took one of the cars to drive his mother to a Pier 1 Imports in Freeport, L.I., in 2015. His mom bought a chair, and he drove her home with the purchase.

Besides the suspension, he was put on probation for a year.

Two Sanitation Department workers were also suspended for 10 and seven days each for misusing their department truck.

Desmond Darmalingum admitted in Conflicts of Interest Board documents he drove his sanitation truck to a vacant lot next to his home and stayed there for 34 minutes while on duty, to meet contractors who were making a delivery. He was suspended for 10 days, costing him $2,970 in pay. His partner, Terry Hooks, was hit with a seven-day suspension for going along on the trip, at a value of $2,079.

The Department of Investigation revealed last week that Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte took his city car for personal trips out of the city 90 days last year, including 35 workdays.

De Blasio has resisted calls to can Ponte, defending his behavior on the grounds he was told by an unnamed staffer that it was OK. He told NY1 Monday night Ponte was “ill advised by colleagues” but has done a great job running city jails.

The mayor’s press secretary Eric Phillips chimed in on Twitter, “There’s a much stronger argument for a (Department of Correction) commissioner needing 24/7 car use for emergencies than these workers.”

Asked what the argument is that he needed the taxpayer-provided car in Maine, he said, “To respond to emergencies.”

“They’re punishing the union employees, but not punishing the commissioner, and that’s not leading by example,” said Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 27, which represents NYCHA employees. “The rules apply to everyone.”