New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is denying that he approved giving gift cards to criminal suspects who took a survey about their experiences in the courtroom.

“It may shock you that I was not in the meeting determining whether there should be Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards,” he said Tuesday, according to the New York Post. “I know you know I micromanage a lot, but not that much.”

The Democratic mayor had reportedly approved of a program offering $15 Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to criminal suspects who would fill out a 144-question survey being conducted by the Center for Court Innovation. The initiative was funded with $800,000 in taxpayer money by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the NY Post reported.

The initiative was aimed at making “accused criminals happier in court,” the NY Post reported Sunday, as “low-level defendants in Manhattan are being paid to rate the courtesy of judges and prosecutors — and even the temperature of the courtroom.”

With violence on Rikers sky rocketing the De Blasio Administration is giving them $15 Dunkin’ Donuts Gift Cards https://t.co/vF4nQHKU6w

— Curtis Sliwa (@curtiswabc) December 11, 2017

While the center needed to offer “compensation” for people’s time,  the Dunkin’ cards seemed to be an illogical choice, Adam Mansky, the center’s operations director, said.

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Democratic City Councilman Paul Vallone was no fan of the idea as well, sarcastically blasting the survey on Monday, citing the bombing that occurred at a city bus station that morning.

“Let’s make sure today’s subway pipe bomber is greeted with a hello, given a proper greeting and gets his gift card,” Vallone said, according to the NY Post.

“Once again, the mayor wants to appease the criminals at taxpayers’ expense,” a New York Police Department source told the NY Post. “Next thing they’ll be giving out Macy’s cards so these perps could do their holiday shopping.”

De Blasio had previously started allowing pizza parties for prison inmates following good behavior. The mayor has come under fire before as the city’s police have been pretty clear about their dislike for the liberal mayor.

“There’s a longstanding statement that crime doesn’t pay. We’ve now proved it does,” Sergeants union president Ed Mullins said.

“It now pays for a $15 Dunkin’ Donuts card. Maybe we can give them confiscated firearms, too,” he added. “Where is this coming from? We’re all singing ‘Kumbaya’ together? Maybe it’s time we process criminals over tea and biscuits.”

One man who was  fighting what he called a “bullcrap misdemeanor charge,” told the NY Post he was happy to take the survey.

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“I told them I’ve been here too many times to not understand the process,” Juan Cruz said. “But hey, got me a doughnut and cup of coffee when I get out of here.”

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Frieda Powers

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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