Council speaker condemns officer assassinations, asks for unity

Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito appeared to be caught in a cease-fire between City Hall and the police unions that have been critical of elected officials since NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were gunned down in Brooklyn on Saturday.

Mark-Viverito echoed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s call to unite as a city and for protesters to stop demonstrating until Liu and Ramos are buried. But she did not blast the media, as de Blasio did Monday, blaming them for dividing the police and City Hall over recent protests.

“Now is not the time for divisiveness. Now is not a time for animosity,” Mark-Viverito said. “Now is the time to mourn.”

Just days before the officers were killed, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association circulated a petition for officers to sign banning de Blasio and Mark-Viverito from their funerals. The mayor said Monday he’d attend the services, while Mark-Viverito said Tuesday she would “respect the family’s wishes” with regard to her attendance.

Ramos’s wake is scheduled for Friday, and his funeral is Saturday. Liu’s family is coming from China, and arrangements have not been finalized.

The police unions have been silent since Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Monday he spoke with local leaders and asked them to “stand down” until after the funerals.