#De Blasio says protesters’ ‘rights’ must be balanced with safety

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city needs to balance peoples’ ”rights” with safety — the day after a Post reporter was bashed in the face with a 2-by-4 by an Occupy City Hall protester as cops did nothing.

“We always want to figure out the best way to balance safety with the other rights that people have,” Hizzoner told reporters — addressing Sunday’s outrageous incident involving Post reporter Kevin Sheehan, who was covering a demonstration when he was attacked in front of do-nothing police.

Claiming that the ongoing protest outside City Hall “has reduced in size quite a bit,” the mayor added, “We need to always balance first and foremost safety — but of course, freedom of speech and the NYPD is determining the best way to do that.

“I heard the report about the journalist, and if that journalist chooses to press charges, of course, everything will be investigated as any other potential crime,” de Blasio said. “But to the best of my understanding, he has not pressed charges to this moment.”

Sheehan was using his cell phone to take footage of the demonstrators when he was assaulted around 11:35 a.m. — as the crowd snickered.

The reporter, who was left with a swollen lip and headache, told eight nearby officers what happened.

One of them replied that if there were no physical marks left on him, “It’s not assault, it’s harassment.”

Sheehan said that when he then tried to file a harassment complaint, he was essentially ignored.

He reported the incident at his local precinct Sunday night and was set to look through mug shots at the First Precinct, where the assault occurred.

The city has been roiled in anti-police protests and rallies against inequality for weeks — but de Blasio said Monday, “I think the tensions were a lot worse 10 and 20 years ago, and we overcame them.

“Yes, there are tensions out there between police and community. But the vast majority of New Yorkers want to make it work,” he said.

His comments came hours after  Black Lives Matter marchers clashed with pro-cop demonstrators Sunday night for the second day in a row in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Video that surfaced Monday showed a BLM backer getting socked in the face by a pro-cop foe. Other video has shown tensions between both sides mounting till NYPD officers were forced to step in.

“I saw the video from Bay Ridge,” de Blasio said Monday. “I did not like what I saw at all. That is obviously under investigation.”