Blaz: Secrets Albany’s fault

MAYOR de Blasio’s lack of transparency is Albany’s fault, not that of City Hall.

The mayor again pointed the finger at Albany legislators — urging a statewide citizens’ push to reverse a law that keeps police disciplinary reports hidden from public view.

The mayor, speaking Saturday at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, said the same legislative bodies that passed the 1976 law must now repeal it.

“People all over the state should say to their elected officials in Albany, ‘It’s a different time that we’re living in. It’s time for that transparency,’ ” said de Blasio.

“Literally, with the stroke of a pen, Albany can give police forces all over the state the instruction that they can and should release those disciplinary records.”

The long-forgotten legislation became an issue when city cops cited Section 50-A of the Civil Rights Law for its refusal to provide any disciplinary findings against Officer Daniel Pantaleo.

The cop applied a chokehold on Eric Garner in July 2014 that led to his death. Pantaleo was cleared of criminal charges by a Staten Island grand jury, but still faces departmental charges in the death.

Even as de Blasio champions a change in the law, the mayor’s lawyers have waged a two-year battle to block Legal Aid lawyers from obtaining a summary of Pantaleo’s civilian complaint history. After two judges ruled the summaries can be released, the city appealed.

The NYPD began withholding the internal discipline records this year after years of ignoring the legislation.

Gov. Cuomo has said he would look into changing the law — but noted the NYPD has routinely released the disciplinary reports in the decades since the Civil Rights Law was passed.

Sharpton said changing the law, not ignoring it, was the way to proceed.

“If you break the law, you set up union, police unions . . . they come back and sue, and you end up with a whole other problem,” said Sharpton.