Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was kept in the dark when Mayor de Blasio made a late-night call to an NYPD honcho on behalf of a political ally who’d been busted, sources told The Post.
It was seven hours before the top cop was briefed by an aide about the mayor’s call to Deputy Chief Kim Royster to inquire about de Blasio’s pal, Bishop Orlando Findlayter, the sources said.
Hizzoner had phoned Royster — the second in command in the Office of Public Information — at about midnight last Tuesday; Bratton wasn’t notified until 6:30 a.m., sources said.
De Blasio had initially heard about Findlayter’s brush with the law from the pastor’s clergy pals.
Findlayter had been pulled over in East Flatbush for a traffic violation and arrested for failing to appear in court for prior busts.
The bishop, who was instrumental in delivering the black vote to De Blasio, was facing a night in jail because the arraignment court had closed for the night. He was freed after the precinct commander issued him a desk-appearance ticket.
Royster had called the 67th Precinct’s commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lehr, who personally went down to the station house and sprang Findlayter.