NYPD's Bratton says LI school district's decision to cancel field trips 'totally, totally uncalled for'

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton on Friday criticized a Suffolk County school district's decision to cancel field trips to Manhattan over terror fears, calling the action "totally, totally uncalled for."

"What they're doing is exactly what the terrorists want, so that is exactly what they should not be doing," Bratton said, alluding to spreading fear and people not going about their usual business.

Bratton made the comments to reporters at the Grand Central subway station one week to the day the Paris attacks killed 130 people, saying New York City is safe and faces no credible terror threat.

He also jokingly questioned the resiliency of Long Islanders, compared with city dwellers, in the face of adversity. "New Yorkers are a pretty resilient lot, I don't know about Long Island," said Bratton, drawing laughs from some aides and reporters.

In a statement Friday, the Connetquot district said, "We have great respect for Police Commissioner Bratton, however, it is our responsibility to make decisions in the best interests of our school children."

Superintendent Lynda Adams said the decision was made in accordance with a Connetquot school board policy that states "with the declaration of 'elevated alert' status, all plans for field trips will be reassessed based upon the most current domestic and international developments." The letter was posted on the district website on Thursday.

But Tony Felicio Jr., president of the Connetquot Teachers Association, said he agreed with Bratton. "I hate to say it [but] our kids have more of a chance having a fatal car accident," Felicio said. "I agree with him. I think it is feeding into what the terrorists want."

The school district canceled November and December field trips to Manhattan and to Washington, D.C., because of the "increasing threats against our country," school officials wrote in a letter to parents dated Thursday. Trips later in the year to either city will be re-evaluated closer to the date, it said.

One of the canceled trips involved eighth-grade students from Oakdale-Bohemia Middle School. They were scheduled to go Dec. 18 to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City, and to Rockefeller Center and the Sept. 11 memorial museum.

Bratton made his remarks after taking the Lexington Avenue subway line to Grand Central Station, where along the way he thanked cops who were working and also greeted a police dog named Apache, who was on duty with his handler at the station. Bratton reiterated that there was no known credible threat to the city and that the public shouldn't live in fear.

"We will go with the flow, we are in this together," Bratton said. "What we are in together is we live in the world's greatest city, let's enjoy, it is safe and secure. These six weeks, these next six weeks, it is what New York is all about: Thanksgiving Day parade, Christmas tree lighting, New Year's Eve."