The NYPD and New York Daily News Union publicly clashed on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday over an altercation between a veteran crime reporter and a member of the department’s top brass outside the hospital where two sergeants wounded in a shooting were being treated.
The union demanded an apology from police brass after the paper’s bureau chief, Rocco Parascandola, was allegedly accosted by Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry last week; however, the NYPD rebuffed that request and condemned Parascandola over his reporting, which they alleged had been biased against them.
It marked the latest tension between the press and the NYPD, which this year has seen its top brass be more vocal in reacting to reporting on its operations. In the spring, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and other brass traded barbs on X with a Daily News columnist over a critical piece that they believed had been inaccurate; some, including the City Council, condemned the brass for their actions and launched an investigation into alleged intimidation.
According to the union’s open letter addressed to Daughtry, Police Commissioner Edward Caban and Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard, Daughtry allegedly confronted Parascandola outside of Bellevue Hospital on Thursday night after two police officers had been shot in Lower Manhattan earlier that day.
The press had flocked to Bellevue to report on the health of the injured cops when reporters at the scene said Daughtry confronted Parascandola over his recent reporting and criticism of the department.
While amNewYork Metro was at the scene and observed a brief commotion, it was not immediately clear what had taken place due to officers immediately gathering in the area.
“I can confirm with 100% certainty after this press conference, @NYPDDaughtry threatened @rparascandola & had to be restrained by @NYPDnews. Why wasn’t he suspended & charged for this? Kaz is a disgrace, & so is everyone pictured with Kaz who stood by & did nothing,” former NYPD Officer Sal Greco wrote on X.
Sources familiar with the incident told amNewYork Metro that while Daughtry did not threaten Parascandola, however, they did say he made some remarks that they deemed to be underhanded and unprofessional.
The Daily News Union is asking police honchos to make a public apology and to ensure that an innocent such as that is not repeated in the future.
“The incident – described by multiple people as Deputy Commissioner Daughtry getting into our bureau chief’s face and twice having to be physically removed by other officers – demonstrates a fundamental lack of respect for working reporters and a brazen contempt for decorum. We trust that, in addition to making a public apology, the NYPD will ensure that Deputy Commissioner Daughtry’s conduct is formally reviewed and take steps to ensure no such incidents happen again,” part of the open letter read.
But the NYPD responded to the Daily News Union’s letter with a fiery rebuttal posted on its own X account, alleging that Parascandola “has been committed to writing ‘hit’ pieces about the New York City Police Department as a whole.” They further questioned the journalist’s integrity.
“Surely, Rocco can understand how much of an intrusion it is for members of the media to call NYPD executives on their personal cell phones at night, forcing them to field unwarranted inquiries while they’re at home with their families. And openly insulting and mocking those same executives inside the halls of police headquarters, for others to hear, is equally galling,” part of the statement read.
amNewYork Metro reached out to New York Daily News for comment and is awaiting a response.
Mayor Eric Adams, when asked about the allegation on Tuesday, claimed that he had not heard of the incident, but would investigate. He also said that the NYPD was under a lot of “stress.”
“This is the first time I’m hearing about it from this morning, and we all have to respond appropriately and if he responded inappropriately he will have to be communicated with about that. I expect the highest standard from all of us,” Mayor Adams said. “This is a stressful job and I’m sure he was under a lot of stress having two cops being shot. Sometimes we forget the human part of responding to these scenes over and over again.”
The Daily News responded by calling Parascandola a “respected veteran” and the attack on his character an “unwarranted broadside.”
“NYDN reporter Rocco Parascandola is a respected veteran and this unwarranted broadside by the NYPD only underscores his professionalism,” Daily News executive editor Andrew Julien said. ” I have reached out directly to senior department officials to discuss the proper treatment of our staff in wake of the inappropriate confrontation at issue here and appreciate the Daily News’ union’s support of that goal. We do find it distressing, however, that the department has responded to the situation by issuing a personal attack against our police bureau chief.”
Additional reporting by Ethan Stark-Miller
