New York Times pick for mayor said NYPD officers who didn't wear masks during protests should have lost pay

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Media top headlines May 11

Martha MacCallum pressing a teachers union president over critical race theory and more round out today's top media headlines

The New York Times endorsed Democrat Kathryn Garcia for mayor on Tuesday, praising her call for "culture change" in the city's police department and belief that cops who didn't wear masks during protests last year should have lost pay.

The pick comes a day after the New York Post endorsed former police captain Eric Adams in the crowded field to replace term-limited Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"She is also committed to reforming the New York Police Department," the Times wrote of Garcia, a former commissioner of the city's sanitation department. "That begins with speeding up and strengthening the disciplinary process, reforming the promotion process, raising the age for recruits to 25 from 21 and requiring them to live in the five boroughs. In picking a commissioner, she said, too many mayors have looked for 'a cop’s cop.'' She said she would look for one who is "prepared for culture change, which means that you’re going to have to take some tough stances." As an example, she said, officers who did not wear masks during last year’s protests "should have been docked pay."

NEW YORK POST ENDORSES FORMER POLICE OFFICER ERIC ADAMS FOR MAYOR: 'DEPTH OF EXPERIENCE'

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D., and de Blasio scolded police officers for ignoring instructions to wear masks during racially charged protests last year that engulfed the city. The Times ran multiple stories on the subject, although studies have repeatedly shown since then that outdoor transmission of the coronavirus is negligible.

Garcia is one of the more moderate members of the field on police matters, though. Some candidates, such as far-left hopeful Maya Wiley, have outright called for defunding police.

The Times lauded Adams' stance against police brutality but expressed "concerns about his record as a politician" in the New York State Senate.

The city's crime wave amid calls from the left to defund police has been a dominant theme of the mayoral race, which will likely be decided by who wins the June 22 Democratic primary. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang currently leads polling in the fluid race.

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The Times will hope for a better result than it got in its endorsement in another crowded Democratic primary: the 2020 White House field. The liberal paper supported two candidates: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, but neither of them won a single primary.