Cuomo’s NY Parole Board delays cop killer’s hearing until after Dem mayoral primary
The state’s far-left Parole Board has quietly delayed a decision on releasing one of New York City’s most notorious cop killers until after the June 24 primary — prompting critics to speculate the move was done to help former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NYC mayoral bid.
The 16-member board — 11 of whom were appointed or re-appointed by Cuomo — was scheduled last month to review whether David McClary, a gangbanger who ruthlessly assassinated Police Officer Edwa⛄rd Byrne in 1988, should be released.
Byrne was a 22-year-old rookie, si🤡ജtting in his patrol car in Queens, when he was shot five times in the head.
Now, the board won’t hear McClary’s bid for freedom until July, sources told The Post.
If the board ultimately releases McClary, 59, he’ll be the 44th New York cop killer set free the past eight years, The Post exclusively reported last month.
Republican mayoral candidate and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa said he has “no doubt” Cuomo pulled strings to delay the hearing to avoid the negative publicity of McClary’s potential release heading into a Democratic mayoral primary the ex-governor is favored to win.
“This makes sense since he still controls a majority of the [parole] board,” he said. “It behooves him to push this off as far as he can because it’s his Achilles heel.”
“He does not want this to be brought up. Every time it is, it’s like a dagger to his political heart because he’s now trying to run as a law-and-order candidate.”
Most New Yorkers are unaware how many cop killers Cuomo’s handpicked bo😼ard members have released, Sꦕliwa said, adding “many are stunned” to hear the number when he tells them while campaigning for his own mayoral run.
Councilma🌸n Robert Holden, a Queens Democrat who typically sides with Republicans, said “the fact that Cuomo’s parole board is delaying a vote on a cop ki🌜ller until after the June primaries reeks of political gamesmanship.”
“It’s a disgraceful insult to the memory of our fallenꦿ heroes and a reminder that Andrew Cuomo always puts his amb𓂃itions ahead of public safety,” he said.
The New York Parole Board did not re♛turn messages.
Referring to Sliwa, Cuomo spokesman Jason Elan said “we don’t comment on conspiracy theories, even ones peddled by a bereted clown.”