NYC to file stop-and-frisk appeal Friday

City lawyers will file papers Friday challenging a federal judge's ruling this week that the NYPD unconstitutionally enforced its stop-and-frisk policy against minorities.

The notice of appeal filing against Judge Shira Scheindlin's decision Monday is expected to be followed later with more extensive legal briefs from both sides, officials said.

"We strongly disagree with Judge Scheindlin's order," Michael Cardozo, the city's top lawyer, said in a statement Thursday. "We said we'd take immediate steps to appeal, and we plan to do so . . . by filing our notice of appeal."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed the start of the appeal process during a stop in Queens Thursday.

In response, Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio said he would drop any appeal "on day one" if he is elected mayor. But the appeal process could move swiftly and be completed even before a new mayor is elected, according to Judd Burstein, a Manhattan attorney who has handled numerous federal appeals.

"When they are faced with major public policy issues, my experience is" the appeals court moves quickly, Burstein said.

To get a speedy decision, either the city or the lawyers for the various plaintiffs who sued the NYPD would have to ask for an expedited handling of the case, Burstein said.

"The court has granted expedited" handling of appeals cases in the past, with decisions within two weeks of filing, Burstein said.

Another possibility would be for the city to ask for a stay of Scheindlin's order, which among other things appointed a special monitor to oversee stop-and-frisk policy reform, Burstein said.