PBA protests for market wages outside Park Slope YMCA Mayor de Blasio frequents

Members of the NYPD's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association gathered outside the YMCA in Park Slope again Wednesday hoping to catch Mayor Bill de Blasio in an effort to protest for better wages for police officers. 
The union says it has been negotiating market wages for two years.

 

This is the second day this week the PBA has targeted the mayor; first appearing outside Gracie Mansion yesterday then following him to the YMCA where the mayor works out every morning.
Mayor de Blasio's office released a statement earlier this week saying, "Under this mayor, crime has fallen to record lows, 1,300 more cops are on the street, and we've invested $320 million more in officer safety and equipment. We are willing to talk about this every day--at the gym or anywhere else."
However, PBA President Pat Lynch says that police officers in New York City are paid 34 percent less than police officers in surrounding areas like Nassau and Suffolk counties.
He says it has come to the point that many of the officers that serve and protect the city can't afford to live in the city.
"We want to be out in the streets. We need more of us. We need to be treated and paid as professionals so we can get this job done," says Lynch.