Nothing Hamburger

The point?:

Mr. de Blasio’s travels to Hamburg, where he spoke at a nonviolent political demonstration against the G-20 meeting of world leaders and visited his son, who is living abroad this summer, would probably have raised curiosity under most circumstances.

But the timing of his trip — he left the day after the ambush killing of a city police officer as she sat in her mobile command unit in the Bronx — drew criticism from even some staunch supporters. It threatened to reopen wounds between Mr. de Blasio and the Police Department that the mayor had worked assiduously to salve since the last time officers were gunned down in an apparently targeted killing, in December 2014.

And it also demonstrated, in stark terms, a political reality that the mayor knows well: His fortunes have been improving as he heads toward re-election, and with few challengers, he now appears to have broad latitude to behave in whatever way he sees fit.

That has created something of a de Blasio Unbound, free to disregard criticism from various parts of the spectrum, including police unions, commentators, Democratic and Republican rivals — and, of course, the lacerating series of tabloid headlines: “And Don’t Come Back,” The New York Post shouted Friday; “Mayor Phones It In,” The New York Daily News remarked Saturday; and, finally, The Post’s welcome-back front page to the mayor, “Deutsch Bag.”

“That’s what’s frustrating for me about him not having an opponent,” said Christina M. Greer, a professor of political science at Fordham University. “There’s a certain level of accountability that is not there.”

Mr. de Blasio, back in New York on Monday, defended the trip, saying it was important to let people in other parts of the world know that many Americans disagree with President Trump, who attend the G-20 meeting in Hamburg.

“This was a particularly meaningful moment,” Mr. de Blasio said, “and bluntly, what a lot of people wanted to know was that the cities of America, that the states of America were not going to follow along with President Trump on issues like climate change.”

Many New York elected officials groused about the apparent fruitlessness of the travel — it was not tied to a job-seeking economic mission or other possible city business — and the perception that Mr. de Blasio was being disrespectful to a police force in mourning over the loss of an officer. But none would do so on the record, to avoid picking a fight with the newly emboldened mayor.

. . . to achieve a “city purpose”:

The city Conflicts of Interest Board gave Mayor de Blasio the green light for a free trip to Germany because it achieved a “city purpose” — of opposing President Trump, a spokesman said Monday. An email from the conflicts board’s lawyer, sent at 10 p.m. Friday — more than a day after de Blasio flew to Germany — said the board approved his itinerary based on a rule that allows acceptance of travel-related gifts if “the trip is for a city purpose and therefore could properly be paid for with city funds.”

Asked what city purpose was achieved by de Blasio giving the keynote speech at a G20 protest rally in Hamburg, spokesman Eric Phillips cited Hizzoner’s self-appointed role as a progressive foil to the president.

“He was representing New York City and our values, and providing an alternate American viewpoint to the deeply problematic vision of President Trump,” Phillips said.