UPDATE: De Blasio Won't Say Why He Took an NYPD Helicopter From Brooklyn to Queens

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, who billed himself during the election as a champion for the common man and an absolute anti-Bloomberg, was escorted either to or from Prospect Park early Friday evening by a helicopter belonging to the New York City Police Department, the department confirmed to Patch.

Three days later, on Monday afternoon, the mayor still hadn't told the public — or the press — why his rush-hour helicopter ride was necessary.

The mayor's office did not respond to repeated requests from Patch, sent over multiple days, for information on the helicopter ride.

The sole peep from Team de Blasio on the topic was a tweet sent out Monday morning by Eric Phillips, the mayor's press secretary, as a response to NY1 news anchor Josh Robin. The mayor "was in BK for meetings - he didn't land there. Left from there for an LIC event," Phillips tweeted to Robin.

Phillips did not specify in the tweet why the mayor traveled via NYPD chopper.

De Blasio's public schedule for Friday — circulated to members of the media, as is daily tradition — made no mention of any events or engagements near Prospect Park. His schedule was blank from around 2 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., when he was due to "deliver remarks at the opening of the Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry’s new Electrical Industry Training Center" in Long Island City, Queens.

Witnesses were confused to see a police helicopter landing in a baseball field near the southwest end of the park, just after 5 p.m.:

And here's footage of the mayor landing in Queens.

An NYPD spokeswoman told Patch she didn't know why de Blasio was traveling in an NYPD helicopter Friday.

John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, emailed the following statement to DNAinfo on Monday: "The security and transportation of the mayor are determined by the NYPD. We do not discuss the specifics of security."

So for the time being, we are forced to speculate. And it does not escape our attention that the mayor's favorite gym, the Prospect Park Y, is located a few blocks west of his pickup spot in the park, and that the timing of his helicopter ride conveniently corresponded with rush hour.

This is a developing story. We'll be adding updates as we receive them. Refresh the page for the latest.

Lead photo by Tony Hisgett/Flickr