NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio compared the recent Paris terror attacks to 9/11, saying both events were "turning-point moments" for their respective cities and that Paris and New York City now have a "deeper" bond.
"I think this attack— like 9/11— is a turning-point moment for Paris," de Blasio said Tuesday during a one-day trip to the French capital, according to a transcript of a press conference with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo at Place de la République.
"And 9/11 was a turning-point moment for us. Every one of us who was in New York that day remembers where we were, and remembers the way it changed our lives. I think for the people of Paris, these attacks had that same impact."
The mayor was in Paris to meet with political leaders there and members of the Jewish community following the terror attack at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the shooting deaths of four Jewish patrons at the kosher supermarket Hyper Cacher.
De Blasio laid wreaths at those two locations and also at the site where police officer Ahmed Merbat was killed during the attack.
"New York City and the population of New York has also experienced this terrible type of attacks. And this has made the people of New York stronger. And this is what he came to say to us today," Hidalgo said in French.
Asked about how recent issues with police and community relations in New York City equated to the feelings of mistrust some Muslims in Paris feel toward the government, de Blasio said both situations were about "finding common ground" and the "ability to peacefully coexist."
"This is work that has to go on each and every day. And I think equally, the work of bringing all of our communities closer to the police, and the police to all of our communities, is work that has to go on every day," said de Blasio.
"I think the parallel here is, in this beautiful city, this historically pluralistic city, that work is continuing as well."
