NYPD probes lack of arrest in ‘hate’ fight

THE NYPD has opened an internal probe into why no one was arrested after a boozy brawl between firefighters at a Bronx bar, even though video shows a firefighter pushing a police officer, the Daily News has learned.

The department’s Internal Affairs Bureau will speak to the officers responding to the Wednesday morning brawl at Billy’s Bar near Yankee Stadium, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The wild punchup started when someone yelled a racial slur at a black firefighter, according to sources, and it involved members of Bronx’s Rescue Co. 3 on one side, and firefighters from Ladder Co. 49 and Engine Co. 68, which share a stationhouse in Highbridge.

The firefighters, who were still in uniform, had been feted hours earlier at the FDNY’s Medal Day ceremony.

Officers interviewed the firefighter who was targeted with a racial slur at the scene. He confirmed a white firefighter called him the N-word.

“A lot of guys at the precinct didn’t know why no arrests were made,” the source said. “These guys get drunk at a bar and start fighting like savages, and nothing happens to them.”

The source also noted that some of the firefighters involved drove off, and if they were drunk, that would put the public at risk.

The city’s Department of Investigation is also looking into the melee.

An NYPD spokesman said the fight remains under investigation.

“There are no formal complaints on file and the NYPD is currently looking into the incident,” Sgt. Brendan Ryan, an NYPD spokesman, said.

FDNY and NYPD officials are reviewing video from inside the bar, sources said.

Video taken outside showed a group of disheveled, unsteady firefighters arguing with each other. One firefighter is seen pushing a cop trying to break up the fight.