New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tactfully, and some would say cordially, shut down a heckler who interrupted the announcement of his “Neighborhood Builders Fast Track” program, a new affordable housing initiative in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Mamdani refused to take the heckler’s bait and even went so far as to defend the man, saying it wouldn’t be New York City if his constituents weren’t shouting at him.

“We love that in New York City you’re gonna hear it from everybody,” Mamdani said. “It wouldn’t be our city if there wasn’t somebody on the block.”

Instead of reacting to the heckler, Mamdani used the opportunity to stay on message and say that the day a man isn’t yelling at him is the day he was priced out of the city.

“I don’t want that, I don’t want that for him, I don’t want that for anybody in this city,” Mamdani said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “We need to make this a city where it’s affordable enough to yell at your politicians. If it’s not that city, it’s not the city I want to live in.”

Watch Mamdani’s full remarks here:

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.