De Blasio Postpones New Hampshire Trip After Cop's Death

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio will postpone a trip to New Hampshire following the death of an NYPD cop, his press secretary said Wednesday. The Democratic mayor was reportedly expected to swing through the Granite State cities of Nashua and Concord as he considers a run for president.

The trip was put off after the Tuesday night death of Det. Brian Simonsen, who police say was shot by a fellow cop after they responded to a robbery at a Queens cellphone store. De Blasio visited the hospital after the shooting.

The mayor will still speak "in his official capacity" on Thursday at Harvard's Kennedy School, where he is slated to chat with the political strategist Symone D. Sanders, Press Secretary Eric Phillips said.

The school is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where de Blasio grew up. He will leave the city Thursday afternoon and come back after the talk, Phillips said. Phillips did not specify why the New Hampshire trip would be postponed.

De Blasio was planning to meet with political organizers and Nashua's mayor in New Hampshire, a key presidential primary state, Politico New York reported Monday. News that he was moving toward a possible White House bid drew plenty of ridicule on Twitter.

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio testifies at a legislative budget hearing in Albany on Monday. AP Photo/Hans Pennink)