Metro

De Blasio praises New York’s peace in face of Ferguson violence

Mayor de Blasio credited the NYPD on Thursday with preventing violent protests after the death of Eric Garner — unlike Ferguson, Mo., where riots raged over the death of a young black man by a white officer.

Despite the similarities in the cases of Garner, a black man in Staten Island who was choked to death by a white officer, and Michael Brown, a 18-year-old who was gunned down in a suburb of St. Louis by a white officer, New York did not see any violence.

Riot police clear a street with smoke bombs while clashing with demonstrators in Ferguson.Reuters

“I think we have a very different reality here,” de Blasio said at the Brooklyn Brownstone School.

“For decades and decades we’ve had the tradition in this city of respecting and properly managing peaceful protests and the right of people to express themselves.”

“And I give the NYPD a lot of credit.”

While juggling his relationship with the police community and the African American community in the wake Garner’s death, de Blasio seemed to be tipping his hat to the cops.

“I think the NYPD does an extraordinary job of creating a secure environment while also leaving the proper space for people to express themselves and their constitutional rights,” he said.

“I can say safely that the way we do things here I think is the right way with a tremendous respect for the democratic process while maintaining security.”