Fire unions call for Yonkers commissioner's dismissal

Members of both Yonkers fire unions want Yonkers Fire Commissioner John Darcy ousted after a violent altercation with a fire lieutenant.
"We have no confidence in him to lead the Yonkers Fire Department," says Assistant Fire Chief John Flynn.
As president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Union, Flynn represents over 100 of Yonkers' bravest. That includes Lt. Michael O'Connor, who is now suspended after a physical altercation with Darcy last month.
The incident happened at the Fairways at Dunwoodie during the annual Christmas party after O'Connor threw a cloth napkin, intended as a joke, toward a female civilian employee.
"The commissioner was hit in the eye, not seeing it going toward him, and fell to the ground and he was disoriented," says city spokesperson Christina Gilmartin. "The lieutenant came towards him to say I'm sorry, to apologize. The commissioner didn't realize what was going on because he was disoriented and felt he was being attacked."
Darcy reacted physically by punching at O'Connor, who went down.
The lieutenant was treated and released from Northern Westchester Hospital.
The intelligence unit of the Yonkers Police Department found no criminal wrongdoing, but the city's Human Resources Department did an investigation of their own and determined the two men should be suspended.
News 12 has learned Darcy has been suspended for a week and O'Connor for two days.
The union plans to appeal O'Connor's punishment and is calling for Darcy's dismissal.
A city spokesperson says Darcy, who took office last March, is staying put despite the disciplinary measures.
The union says it wants the state attorney general to look into how the internal investigation was handled.