Democratic mayoral contender Bill de Blasio yesterday tore into rival Christine Quinn’s decision to keep Ray Kelly on as police commissioner if she is elected mayor later this year.

The public advocate, one of Quinn’s likely challengers, painted the closed-door move as a “backroom deal” orchestrated by Mayor Bloomberg.

De Blasio admitted he doesn’t know whether the mayor was personally involved in conversations between Kelly and Quinn, the City Council speaker.

“But I do know this: The people of this city are sick of backroom deals. They’re sick of the mayor, in particular, trying to exert influence on the next administration, trying to continue to have a role that is not one that should continue after his term is up,” de Blasio said in response to a report about the deal in yesterday’s Post.

De Blasio, a cautious critic of the NYPD’s use of stop-and-frisk, said he has “a lot of respect for Ray Kelly” but that it is premature to discuss who would be the next commissioner.

READ MORE: NY POST