From a legal standpoint (IANAL), I feel Google should not comply. Otherwise, it would be like telling everyone they are not allowed to notify others about the checkpoints, regardless of the channel used to communicate the information. Seems like a clear 1st Amendment issue to me.

From a personal standpoint (not exactly moral, but not sure how else to define it), I am generally against things that interfere with public safety and think Google should remove the feature voluntarily. I see frequent posts on Nextdoor about upcoming DUI checkpoints and really dislike the idea of telling drunk people how to avoid getting caught.

I often see the local news reporting on where checkpoints are going to be. The Waze situation is a little different however I don't think the NYPD is going to have any standing trying to enforce this.

There have been many instances of authorities attempting to stop the public from warning of police activities (speed traps), a few successful but only with charges of violating some obscure ordinance like having an unpermitted sign.

If g ... oh, wait, they no longer advertise "do no evil" as their credo ...

They took action against torrent sites no? They don't remove sites from the SERPS? There has to be some more PR outcry for anything to happen. Need somebody to save the day? Call the Google. Google has the power to make any site, any app do anything they want. It's called having the hammer.

The NYPD is demanding

Er, that's not how it works in the US or, for that matter, most of the Western world. If you have a demand, you go to a judge and get a court order.

Or, if that’s too complicated, just reposition all your “police checkpoints” as “border control stations”.