A Tale of Two de Blasios

When it comes to the NYPD, Mayor de Blasio has walked a tightrope between his cops, who are tasked with fighting crime, and radical activists, who want to handcuff them as much as possible.

Now, in the midst of a re-election campaign, he’s pressing activists on the City Council not to make his life more difficult than it already is.

As The Post reported this week, de Blasio has personally lobbied at least two council members to block a vote on the long-stalled Right to Know Act, which would require cops to obtain consent for some searches and present ID to people they stop.

One of those members said de Blasio made it clear he can’t afford a political battle with either side as he stumps for a second term.

But proponents are even talking about using a rare procedural move to override Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito if she moves to prevent a vote by the full council.

Say this for the mayor: After some early missteps, he did become a pretty firm backer of the NYPD, especially since crime has been hitting record lows.

Was this a case of de Blasio learning on the job? Did he finally come to realize that controlling crime and supporting the NYPD was vital to his political future?

After all, he certainly ran for office as a fierce critic of the way cops were doing their job.

And that, we suspect, represents the real Bill de Blasio — or at least the way he’d prefer to govern if he didn’t have to worry about voters.

Which raises the question: What happens next year, if the mayor — as appears increasingly likely — is re-elected? Which Bill de Blasio will we see: the one who cares about crime and cops, or the one who cares about the radical activists with the anti-cop agenda?

The answer may become clear when we see how soon after the election he lets the council pass those NYPD “reform” bills.