De Blasio jaywalks as he preaches road safety

 

De Blasio jaywalks as he preaches road safety

By Kevin Fasick

February 21, 2014 | 12:37pm

De Blasio illegally crossing the street this morning. Photo: Kevin Fasick

He talks the talk — but won’t walk the walk.

Mayor de Blasio, who has been lecturing about pedestrian safety since he stepped foot in City Hall, strolled across a Brooklyn street against the light Friday in a blatant jaywalking violation.

Hizzoner was gabbing on his old-school flip-phone as he slowly made his way across 11th Street on Sixth Avenue in Park Slope — and his NYPD detail faithfully jaywalked with him.

A Post reporter caught the foot faux pas on video a day after de Blasio’s SUV was filmed blowing through two stop signs in Queens and twice going 15 mph over the speed limit.

A prickly de Blasio went for the walk after punting questions about his lead-footed detail to the NYPD, saying the maneuvers were a matter of police “security protocols.”

“Guys, listen, you need to talk to the NYPD. They can tell you about the security protocols that the drivers observe,” he said just before setting out on his morning walk to the gym.

De Blasio and his police posse walked down 11th Street from his house and jaywalked as they turned onto Sixth Avenue, ignoring the solid-red Don’t Walk warning at around 7:25 a.m.

He decided to have the SUV pick him up for the return trip rather than walk back home.

At an afternoon press conference, de Blasio refused to take questions about the jaywalking or his laundry list of moving ­violations in Queens.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton wasn’t bothered by the mayor’s speeding, stop-sign blowing convoy.

“The video did not raise significant concerns,” he said Friday, adding that de Blasio doesn’t really have a say in how his detail gets him from place to place.

“Security is the responsibility of the New York City Police Department. It’s not the responsibility of the mayor,” he said.

“I’m not overly concerned about what I saw, in the sense that the speed issue was raised — they were moving with the traffic flow, which they’re trained to do,” Bratton said. “You get up on the Grand Central Parkway, if that’s going 55 miles an hour, you go 55 miles an hour.’’

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De Blasio jaywalking on Friday morning.Photo: Kevin Fasick

As for the stop signs, which both cars rolled through without braking, Bratton said, “When you’re traveling in a convoy, the second vehicle’s principal function is to stay with the first vehicle. ”

Even if the mayor saw something he was concerned about, or of possible danger to pedestrians, Bratton said, “He could raise [the concern], but quite frankly the security concerns would override any of his concerns.”

The top cop said he hasn’t talked to de Blasio’s chauffeurs about their driving. “I’m not going to ask them. There will be no follow up with what occurred yesterday,” he said.

De Blasio’s predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, reminded his drivers to follow the rules of the road and made a vow not to speed through the streets with lights and sirens unless he was rushing to an “enormous emergency.”

The new mayor has made pedestrian safety a key objective of his administration. On Tuesday, he laid out a sweeping “Vision Zero” initiative to end traffic deaths that includes lowering the city speed limit to 25 mph.

The NYPD released a statement Thursday night saying its officers were following protocol, but has refused to elaborate or give specific protocol examples.

“As a general rule and for very good reason, we don’t discuss security procedures, security levels, numbers of security people, things they do in traffic to provide security,” added John Miller, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence.

“These decisions are made by the operator of the vehicle and by the supervisor of the security detail based on the conditions present.”

Bratton also wouldn’t say what “conditions” might have been present during de Blasio’s wild ride.