After Garner Verdict, Mayor de Blasio Consoles NYC

Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to the news that a state grand jury voted not to indict an NYPD officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner by cancelling a scheduled bill signing and personnel announcement to go instead to a closed-door meeting with clergy, community leaders and elected officials in Staten Island.

Then he spoke to the press, without taking questions, to convey a message of empathy, while calling for protests to be peaceful.

"It’s a very emotional day for our city. It’s a very painful day for so many New Yorkers. That is the core reality. So many people in this city are feeling pain right now," de Blasio said Wednesday night, sighing deeply,and talking about how he connected to that pain very personally. 

The mayor began working with senior staff and First Lady Chirlane McCray on what he would say last week, according to a City Hall staffer. But the mayor finalized his remarks this morning by himself. 

In those remarks, de Blasio spoke bluntly how he and the First Lady, who is black, have worried about the safety of their son Dante because of the dangers a black teenager can face if stopped by police.

"We’ve had to literally train him, as families have all over this city for decades, in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him," he said.

The mayor campaigned on a promise to change the relationship between police and community. His challenge last night, less than a year into his first term, was to keep the tension from turning into violence. 

He called for restraint from protesters, reform for NYPD officers and a deeper look at centuries of racism that underlie city tensions. 

But he also tested the patience of political supporters like Councilmember Jumaane Williams, who said changes needs to come to the NYPD more quickly.

"I just think it’s happening too slowly to be able to tell people: be calm," Williams said.

At a minimum, Williams said he wants to see Officer Daniel Pantaleo fired from the NYPD. But in the meantime, he's struggling with what to say to his constituents.

"When people are still getting shot and killed unarmed, or choked to death unarmed, for allegedly selling loosie cigarettes and nobody is held accountable, that’s amazing to me," he said.