#Union head wants State Troopers out of NYC over anti-chokehold bill

The head of the New York State Troopers union wants to yank 200 members from the Big Apple over opposition to the city’s criminalizing chokeholds, he said in a letter Wednesday — the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio was expected to sign the legislation.

“I am demanding that New York State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett immediately remove all uniformed State Troopers currently stationed within New York City and cease any law enforcement activities within that jurisdiction,” Thomas Mungeer, the president of the troopers’ Police Benevolent Association, wrote in the scathing letter.

Mungeer blamed the “unfortunate decision” calling for the removal of troopers on the “hastily written so-called police reform legislation” passed by the New York City council last month.

He said the measure — which came amid national unrest following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis — will make it harder for troopers to do their jobs.

“This poorly conceived bill, which will be signed into law by Mayor de Blasio today, puts an undue burden upon our Troopers,” he said. “Furthermore, this legislation will prevent Troopers from safely and effectively arresting resistant subjects.”

“The state law does not allow a chokehold or pressure on the neck — and again we don’t teach that in the academy — but the local law goes beyond that and talks about any pressure on the back of the knee and chest,” he separately told The Post in a phone interview. “We aren’t trained on that — that’s a last line of defense — this local law goes above and beyond with the compression of the chest and the back.”

De Blasio is set to sign the anti-chokehold bill into law later Wednesday — after suffering blow back from NYPD brass who have voiced similar sentiments.

The bill has been in the spotlight since the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who died at the hands of NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo after he used a chokehold, which was banned at the time but not a potential source of criminal charges.

The state Legislature also passed similar statewide legislation during a special session in June, along with other police reform bills.

Mungeer floated the idea of petitioning State Attorney General Letitia James to intervene.

“One option would involve New York State Attorney General Letitia James indemnifying State Police members from this ill-conceived law,” he said. “As that is unlikely to happen, it is the position of the Troopers PBA that if we continue to allow our members to remain stationed and conduct police activity within the five boroughs of New York City, we may be opening them up to criminal and civil liabilities simply by doing the job they were trained to do.”

Gov. Cuomo’s office did not return an immediate request for comment.

The letter was delivered to Superintendent Keith Corlett this morning, but has not responded to the union, Mungeer said.