UPPER WEST SIDE — An angry man yelled at actress Debra Messing and local politicians while they were campaigning Tuesday for Hillary Clinton at a senior center.
City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, who represents the majority of the neighborhood, City Councilman Mark Levine, who represents the northern section, and Messing, best known for starring on the hit sitcom "Will and Grace," urged dozens of seniors at the Hamilton Senior Center on West 73rd Street to get out and vote in the New York primary April 19.
"Experience matters," said Rosenthal, explaining her support for Clinton.
"My role model was very much the Hillary Clinton way," she said, which meant getting out and listening to people and "learning from your mistakes."
Rosenthal praised Clinton's track record and caliber before turning the microphone over to Messing.
Calling herself a "neighborhood girl," referencing the two years she lived on West 73rd Street and Columbus Avenue, Messing got a warm welcome from the crowd.
"I feel in my soul that she is the most prepared," said Messing of Clinton, describing her also as "brilliant," "a unifier," and "a fighter for all of us."
In this "unprecedented race," Messing continued, "your voice, your vote is important and it's powerful."
But before Levine could make his case for Clinton — he has praised her in the past for her "unrivaled depth of knowledge, experience and commitment on Israel and so many other high-stakes issues" — he was interrupted by a man who moved into the middle of the room and started shouting.
"You're holding seniors hostage," the man, who refused to give his name, shouted over and over again.
"They're using us as a captive audience," he yelled.
Staff members could not calm him immediately. Levine, Rosenthal and Messing left the podium and held smaller conversations with seniors sitting around the room. Other seniors grumbled that this behavior was nothing new from the man, whom they'd encountered at the center before.
