The meeting, held at the residence of Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, was focused on an episode that has led police unions and liberal advocates alike to criticize City Hall’s response. But the participants acknowledged that the more recent strife in Ferguson, Mo., where violent protests have broken out after the shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer, underscored just how differently New York City had managed the aftermath.
“When I flew back the other day, I thought about how different it was that we’re going to sit in the cardinal’s residence than what I saw in the streets of Ferguson,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke at a news conference afterward on the plaza of the Palace Hotel.
Mr. de Blasio rarely mentioned Ferguson in his remarks on Wednesday, saying he preferred to focus on problems in New York. But the unrest in Missouri has been a potent counterpoint to critics who questioned the mayor’s cautious response to the death of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man, who died after being placed in a chokehold during a routine arrest.
Mr. de Blasio said he was confident that the march on Saturday, which is to be led by Mr. Sharpton, would be peaceful, and the police commissioner, William J. Bratton, pledged that officers monitoring the demonstration would be calm and professional.
