Metro

Muslim community honors Ray Kelly

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Social Links for Jamie Schram
Published Dec. 10, 2013, 3:31 p.m. ET
Ray Kelly Muslim community
Ray Kelly gets a hold of a cricket bat after he helped kick off the NYPD’s youth cricket league. Paul Martinka

The Muslim community appears to be softening its stance toward Ray Kelly as he walks out the door.

The city’s top cop, who will be replaced by incoming Police Commissioner Bill Bratton on Jan. 1, was awarded a plaque Monday by the Muslim Advisory Council.

The group gave Kelly kudos for keeping the Arab community up to speed on a range of issues over the past 12 years, including the NYPD’s counterterrorism efforts.

Tensions had boiled over between Kelly and the Muslim community several years ago because of the NYPD’s controversial spying program in which undercover officers infiltrated mosques in the aftermath of 9/11.

From left to right: Chief of Department Philip Banks III, Mr. Syed Messam Razvi, Mr. Khwaja Hassan, Imam Ahmed Dewidar, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Ms. Daisy Khan, Imam Tahir Kukiqi, Mr. Moustafa El-Shiek, Mr. Rafeek Mohamed, Imam Emir Salihou Djbay, Chief Thomas Chan.Handout

The council was formed nearly two years ago to improve relations between them.

In honoring Kelly, the council said the department’s outreach program should be a “model” for other cities. It specifically cited the NYPD’s youth cricket and soccer leagues and the fact that the department actively sought out Muslim recruits.