Despite Criticism, De Blasio Defends Timing Of Germany Trip
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The fallout continues from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's trip to the G-20 summit in Germany.
He is defending his decision to leave the city after NYPD Det. Miosotis Familia was shot and killed.
On Wednesday, the de Blasio held his first press conference in 12 days and his first since the controversial trip. Although he's not the kind of mayor that likes to do ribbon cuttings or frivolous things, he demonstrated a "big belly" trash can, designed to keep rats out, CBS2's Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported.
The press conference came a day after Familia was laid to rest and followed intense criticism of his decision to leave the city just hours after she was killed to attend the protest rally in Germany. As Kramer reported, it may have been an attempt to change the subject.
"Did you ever give any thought to not going, given the fact that a police officer had been shot?" Kramer asked.
"I gave real thought to the most important thing, which was when the services were going to be," de Blasio replied. "At one point, it looked like they were going to do it this last weekend. Clearly, I was going to stay. That was absolutely clear. Then, they decided to delay it, and that's literately when I decided to go."
The mayor was out of town during a community vigil, but he said he didn't know about it when he left. He also defended his decision to wait until he returned to New York to visit Familia's grieving family.
"I wanted to visit the family. But as I said, it was clear in the first few days there was a lot of the family was working through and it was not yet the time to do such a visit," de Blasio said.
The mayor's trip was paid for by the protest's sponsors, but he refuses to say how much taxpayers shelled out to send his security detail to Germany. He said it isn't important, because he has 24/7 protection.
When he's in New York, however, there are no expenses for planes, hotel rooms and meals.