Planeload of Trouble
By itself, last week’s Post story on the NYPD officers who used that anti-terror plane for a bit of obscene skywriting would be bad enough. But it follows at least two other apparent abuses — with little if any recent legitimate use. Which means this apparent boondoggle is likely to put all the city’s federal anti-terror funding at risk.
After all, the plane’s last flight was July 5, to ferry Mayor de Blasio between his vacation in Canada and a ceremony in the city to honor a slain officer.
And it seems to be grounded for antiterror purposes by the dispute that prompted that raunchy aerial graffiti: a battle between the Aviation Unit boss, Inspector James Coan, and his unionized subordinates over whether the single-engine Cessna is safe to fly over open water — which (police sources say) is why the feds paid for it in the first place.
Since July 2017, officers have been resisting orders to fly at low altitudes over open water 25 miles offshore to scan ships for radiological weapons, claiming it’s unsafe. The resistance grew in March, after Coan ordered more frequent flights.
That prompted the off-color protest, which got two of the jokers transferred from the unit. By May, a formal union grievance had all anti-terror flights stopped — which is one reason the plane was free to shuttle de Blasio. (A meeting to resolve the dispute has yet to happen.)
Police Commissioner James O’Neill has also used the plane to fly to two work-related funerals, and defended those “off-brand” uses of it.
But the sad truth is that the city has to fight for every dollar it gets in federal anti-terror funding — and it’s a safe bet that some bohunk congressman will use these scandals in a bid to divert grants to Dallas, Denver or Dubuque. O’Neill, or perhaps anti-terror boss Jim Miller, needs to get on top of this issue, fast. If the plane keeps flying only as a shuttle for bigwigs, not for its stated purpose, the whole city could pay.