PBA seeks impasse declaration as new NYC police contract negotiations stall, union officials say

New York City’s largest police union said contract talks with City Hall have stalled, prompting its leadership to ask a state agency to intervene, union officials said.

Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York officials have asked the New York State Public Employment Relations Board — the agency which oversees labor for government workers — for a declaration of an impasse.

In a statement to Newsday, a PBA spokesperson said that negotiations with officials from Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration have been unproductive so far.

But City Hall said in a statement that an impasse finding would be premature, stating that the Mamdani administration has only had two bargaining sessions since   the mayor took over in January. There were two previous sessions during former Mayor Eric Adams' administration.

"The City is committed to supporting the men and women of the NYPD in their efforts to keep New Yorkers safe," a City Hall spokesperson said. “We believe that this declaration of impasse is premature given the scale of our inherited budget deficit and the delayed state budget and that the most effective way to reach a fair and sustainable agreement is through continued, direct dialogue at the bargaining table."

The PBA, which represents about 20,000 rank-and-file police officers, told Newsday that the last police contract expired in August last year and that the union is seeking unspecified raises in officers' starting salaries, currently pegged at $55,700, as well as increases that would put officers on par with state police officers.

Richard Aborn, president of the nonprofit Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, saw merit to both sides of the contract controversy.

"It is a very difficult situation," said Aborn, whose group serves as a think tank on crime policy in the city. "The cops are working under very difficult circumstances, but the city is short of funds."

In a statement to Newsday, the state Public Employment Relations Board said that the PBA filed a request for an impasse on June 15 and that the agency will be giving the city a chance to respond.

City spokespersons didn’t respond Thursday to requests for comment on the specifics of a possible administration response to the PBA's impasse request. A Public Employment Relations Board spokesperson said the agency would need a few days to respond to the request.

"After allowing the City of New York’s Office of Labor Relations an opportunity to respond to the declaration of impasse, the Director of Conciliation will determine whether an impasse currently exists," the board said. "If an impasse is deemed to exist a mediator will be assigned to assist the parties to reach a mutually agreeable successor collective bargaining agreement."

During the last round of police contract negotiations, mediation failed to secure an agreement, forcing the appointment of a binding arbitration panel. The panel was close to issuing a ruling when the Adams administration and the PBA reached an agreement on a contract in 2023.

Under its latest proposal, the PBA said it wants an increase in the basic maximum five-year pay rate of $109,352 to $121,522, an 11.13% bump, to be on par with what New York State troopers have as a basic maximum. Contract terms can vary from two to seven years depending on the negotiations, union officials said.

The police contract negotiations come at a time when the city’s fiscal situation is proving challenging. City Comptroller Mark Levine has said the city faces a budget gap of more than $8 billion in 2028, at a time when the contracts of other city unions will be coming up for renewal.