New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D.) said he does not want to see the world "through the prism of Gracie Mansion," which is why he drives 12 miles every day to a gym in Park Slope.
De Blasio offered the explanation during a weekly appearance on WNYC radio, the New York Post reported Friday.
"I am going to do what I believe is going to help me be effective and stay connected to the neighborhood I come from because I don't want to be someone who is seeing the world through the prism of Gracie Mansion," de Blasio said.
"I want to be someone who sees the world through the prism of the world I come from in Brooklyn and remembers where I came from," he said.
De Blasio's 12 mile daily drive has been criticized as hypocrisy after the mayor broke with President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.
Prior to Trump officially announcing the U.S.'s withdrawal, de Blasio signed an executive order to keep New York City committed to the accords's climate goals.
"The president withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would be horribly destructive for the planet, the country, and this city," de Blasio tweeted.
The president withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would be horribly destructive for the planet, the country, and this city.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 31, 2017