The Brooklyn pastor who avoided a night in jail after Mayor de Blasio called top cops ditched a Saturday press conference where he was scheduled to address the firestorm.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter — a de Blasio cheerleader and member of his transition team — ducked the event in Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who shrugged off the no-show.
“If Rudy Giuliani said it ain’t no big deal, and if Rudy and Al Sharpton can agree on something, you know we can go onto the next thing,” Sharpton said. “If Rudy and I can agree on something, y’all should go onto the next story, cause it ain’t no big thing.”
Sharpton joins an chorus of evasive pols, including Public Advocate Letitia James and cITY Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who has told reporters to “move on.”
Findlayter — an immigration- reform activist who heads New Hope Christian Church — was advised not to make a statement, his wife, Yvette, told The Wall Street Journal. She did not know who instructed the clergyman to keep quiet.
The camera-shy pastor, who holds services at an East Flatbush banquet hall, was not seen at his $579,800 Long Island home all week.
Even though Findlayter has a flashy suburban home and tools around in a 2012 Lincoln sedan, he has a history of crushing debt.
His congregation was evicted from a Church Avenue building in 2010 after Findlayter fell $45,000 behind on the rent.
He also owes $100,000 to a woman who fell down stairs in the building and sued.
While some Brooklyn politicos called Findlayter a “well- respected” bishop, others said they knew little about the clergyman until the last year or so.
Findlayter rubbed elbows with President Obama at a White House breakfast last year and also joined street demonstrations in East Flatbush after 16-year-old Kimani Gray was fatally shot by police.
He’s pictured in a 2011 video hooking arms with Mark-Viverito at an immigration protest.
Findlayter is also the founder of a Brooklyn charter school, New Hope Academy, which received an “F” grade from the city Department of Education in its 2012-13 progress report.
Police arrested Findlayter last week after stopping him for turning without signaling and discovering he had two open warrants for previous protest arrests. But the pastor was spared a night behind bars after de Blasio phoned an NYPD boss.
Additional reporting by Liz Pressman