Irked NYPD union asks de Blasio not to attend officers' funerals

Marking a new low in Mayor Bill de Blasio's relationship with the NYPD, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association is asking the mayor not to "insult" the memory of officers killed in the line of duty by attending their funerals.

The PBA has posted a downloadable form on its website for officers to sign that blasts de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito for their "consistent refusal to show police officers the support and respect they deserve."

The form says "their attendance at the funeral of a fallen New York City police officer is an insult to that officer's memory and sacrifice."

PBA president Patrick Lynch has openly criticized de Blasio in the wake of the death of Eric Garner, who a police officer had placed in an apparent chokehold. Lynch said the mayor threw NYPD officers "under the bus" in comments made after a grand jury decided last week not to indict the officer.

De Blasio noted how he and his wife have spoken to their teenage son, Dante, who is biracial, about "how to take special care with any encounter he may have with police."

Spokesmen for de Blasio and Mark-Viverito criticized the PBA in a joint statement Friday.

"Incendiary rhetoric like this serves only to divide the city, and New Yorkers reject these tactics," they wrote. "The mayor and the speaker both know better than to think this inappropriate stunt represents the views of the majority of police officers and their families."