2017 mayoral election opponents Nicole Malliotakis and Bo Dietl joined forces to protest the release of the “Palm Sunday massacre” killer. Christopher Thomas was convicted on ten counts of manslaughter, but not murder, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. He was recently released, pursuant to state law, after serving 32 of those 50 years. Malliotakis, Dietl and NYS Senator Marty Golden appeared outside Governor Cuomo’s Manhattan office in protest.
Dietl was an NYPD detective and actually arrested Thomas in 1984. On the mayoral campaign trail Dietl often spoke of the case, both as one of his major accomplishments and as a searing personal experience.
Dietl and Malliotakis had a friction-filled 2017 campaign, as they each viewed the other as impeding their own rightful nomination as the Republican nominee and then as general election rivals. Golden, the informal leader of the Brooklyn GOP and one the few New York City Republicans in elective office, played a significant role in the race. Dietl described the fellow former NYPD officer as a friend and expected his support, but Golden supported Malliotakis. All seemed forgiven, and perhaps forgotten, as Malliotakis and Dietl expressed support for each other and their shared cause, revealing that they recently had dinner at Rao’s.
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