MIDTOWN — Maybe the SUV was in the shop.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was spotted on an uptown C train Wednesday evening, hopping on the Iron Horse and feeling the pain of other straphangers.
The mayor waited on the platform as at least two crowded trains went by before getting on, according to television critic Alan Sepinwall, who spotted him
Just stood on subway platform next to Bill DiBlasio and his security force as they waited for an uncrowded C train. He already let two go by
— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) June 14, 2017
De Blasio later told a New York Times reporter who spotted him finally on the C train that it was the "easiest way to get where I'm going."
Spotted on the C uptown: @NYCMayor. When asked if any reason for riding, replied "easiest way to get where I'm going." pic.twitter.com/mUjtSyo2ai
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) June 14, 2017
The gesture wasn't appreciated by everyone on Twitter.
one ride in all these tears...big deal. Take the subway every day. Be late for work. Stuck in a tunnel.
— GoddessOfDance (@MusesofDance) June 15, 2017
Too little too late. Maybe you should divert funds from the useless tram and invest it into the actually arteries of the city.
— Alexander Xenopoulos (@A_XENOP) June 15, 2017
Earlier this month, the mayor heard from a critical caller while he was doing his weekly WNYC radio interview with Brian Lehrer.
"How about you stepping up your game, leading by example, getting out of your SUV armada, and if you need to go to the Park Slope Y five days a week rather than a gym near you, why don’t you take mass transit or even once and while ride a bike like the vast majority of your fellow New Yorkers so you will know how we are suffering under a transit system," the caller said.
The mayor replied: "Charles I understand the emotional appeal of what you’re saying but I’m just got going to take the bait my friend. ... It’s not whether I go to the gym, whether I go to the gym does not affect the policies that affect millions of people," the official transcript of the interview states.
"I use the subway when it makes sense to use the subway, and I do stay in touch with what people are going through. ... We change the world with policies that affect people and the policies of this city are going to lead to addressing climate change in a much more aggressive way that it’s ever been addressed in the history of New York City."
The mayor Wednesday subway ride came hours after mayoral candidate Sal Albanese, armed with a MetroCard, blasted de Blasio for his SUV rides to his favored Park Slope gym.
“What I wanted to do was ask Bill to take the subway: On behalf of all New Yorkers, he should experience what I’ve experienced many times," he said at a press conference outside the YMCA. "The system is in disarray and the mayor should take the subway once in a while. So we’re here to spur him on.”
