Mayor Eric Adams is backing a Dem state pol who called for defunding cops, while two suburban police unions made a rare endorsement outside their counties to fight the candidate’s dangerous “leftist tactics.’’
The Suffolk and Nassau Police Benevolent Associations on Long Island have formally thrown their support behind Yi Andy Chen in the tight Democratic primary race for the state’s 40th Assembly District seat in Queens, joining the Big Apple’s largest police union in a campaign to oust longtime lawmaker Ron Kim.
“It’s long past due that we have a smart candidate that isn’t swayed by the harmful, leftist tactics to destroy public safety and portray police as subhumans,” Nassau police-union head Tommy Shevlin told The Post.
Kim, who has served in Albany for more than a decade, was one of the many lawmakers who called for the defunding of the police in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
But the progressive Flushing Dem has changed his tune as of late, pushing for a new Queens police precinct, stricter hate-crimes laws and stiffer protection against squatters.
His U-turn even won over the Big Apple’s pro-cop-mayor, a retired NYPD officer who joined a rally for the incumbent June 15 outside the Queens Library, where he told supporters the state needs lawmakers like Kim.
“This is why Mayor Adams, a former NYPD Captain whose top priority is public safety, has endorsed Assembly Member Kim,” said a spokesman for the Kim campaign, highlighting the candidate’s recent pro-policing agenda.
But Adams’ endorsement of Kim last weekend raised eyebrows among some Queens pols, who questioned why he’d back someone who had repeatedly called for defunding the police.
Adams has typically stood shoulder-to-shoulder with law-enforcement unions and pro-police groups and slammed any anti-cop politician — but in this primary, he stands opposite New York City’s Police Benevolent Association.
“We don’t know why the mayor endorsed Ron Kim, but from our perspective, Andy Chen is the best choice for public safety in this city,” PBA President Patrick Hendry told The Post.
The Long Island unions’ entry into the Queens’ race is expected to be the first of many by them as they vowed to become more vocal in state politics.
“I’d also like to send a message to our elected officials that going forward, our police force will be laser-focused on supporting candidates who stand up to the rhetoric of ‘Defund the Police,’ regardless of party affiliation,” said Suffolk County Police PBA President Louis Civello.
Chen called it an “honor of a lifetime” to have the backing of the police unions.
“I am sick and tired of the political agendas that extract common sense, law and order, public safety and safe neighborhoods from our communities,” Chen told The Post.
“New Yorkers deserve steadfast loyalty and commitment in results, values and leadership, which I am prepared to deliver in Albany for our communities across the City, the Island and greater New York.”
The Democratic pick for the 40th Assembly seat will be decided in Tuesday’s primary.
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