Hizzoner: I do not placate the jail unions

Amid criticism that his new correction commissioner has caved to the department’s unions by firing the jails’ top investigator and loosening sick leave rules, Mayor Adams insisted Friday that he is not doing the unions’ bidding.

“Those who know me know I do not placate,” Adams said.

“So my partnership is not with the union. My partnership is with the people of the city of New York, even if they are incarcerated, and I’m going to continue to have that partnership. People must be saved, even if they committed a crime.”

Adams’ new jails boss, Louis Molina, fired the department’s top investigator, Sarena Townsend, shortly after he took office.

Adams did not directly address Molina’s Jan. 3 decision to dump Townsend, a highly regarded investigator whose work was lauded by the federal monitor overseeing the jails as recently as Dec. 22.

The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association relentlessly slammed Townsend over what it claimed was her pursuit of too many ‘minor’ disciplinary cases.

On Thursday, the Daily News reported that Molina pressured Townsend to close 2,000 disciplinary cases in his first 100 days in office. When she said that wasn’t possible, she was let go.

Townsend told The News she could not simply dismiss cases because there was strong underlying evidence. Molina has not said why he fired her.

Molina has also loosened rules requiring officers to get a medical evaluation within 24 hours of calling in sick. The union had bridled against suspensions of officers accused of abusing sick leave procedures.

Molina extended the deadline for officers to get a medical evaluation to two days. “Asking for two days is not asking for a Christmas bonus,” said a Correction Department source.

Staffing issues continue to be a problem at Rikers Island and other city lockups. On Wednesday, 2,081 uniformed officers were out sick, or 27% of the uniformed component of 7,708, numbers obtained by The News show.

By comparison, the average daily number of officers on sick leave in August was 1,416, Correction Department figures show.

“There is a COVID problem in the jails,” the correction source said. “There’s been a huge spike, we believe, from the visitors to the jails. Well over 85% of uniformed members are vaccinated at this point.”