Retired NYPD officer fired from Yonkers movie theater for possessing firearm

A retired NYPD officer who was fired for carrying his gun to work at a Yonkers movie theater told News 12 that management always felt safer when he had his weapon with him.

John Mazarakes, of Yonkers, says he never leaves home without his gun. That includes when he was working as a bartender at Showcase Cinema de Lux Ridge Hill

He says an incident in August where his gun was exposed wound up costing him his job. Mazarakes says he helped an older man who was injured after falling on the theater’s escalator.

“His nose is broken…his daughter is hysterical screaming. I'm trying to calm the woman and call 911,” he told News 12. “As I was bending over, my gun was exposed.”

He says responding officers saw his gun and “had no problem with it.”

A week after the incident, his manager fired him. Mazarakes says his termination is unjustified because his managers knew he carried a legal firearm.

According to the theater’s workplace violence prevention policy, the possession of a weapon is always prohibited on the property, including in the parking lot. It says employees may not carry a weapon of any type.

The former officer says he has no plans to stop carrying his concealed firearm.