Video: John Mulaney Roasts Mayor's Subway Barbecues Fear-Mongering

NEW YORK, NY — John Mulaney has just the message to put Mayor Eric Adams' mind at ease: Nobody is barbecuing on the subway.

The comedian mocked Adams at the Robin Hood gala Monday night over the mayor's defense of cops who arrested a Brooklyn fruit vendor.

Adams argued barbecues might break out on the subway if police don't crackdown on transit rule breakers, but Mulanay had questions.

"Hey, Mayor Adams, what are you talking about?" Mulaney asked, according to video posted by television personality Bevy Smith. "What is a subway barbecue and why do you hate them so much? Were you dumped as a teen at a subway barbecue?"

The nonprofit benefit — where the mayor announced $100 million childcare initiative — came just hours after Adams stoked fear about vendors when asked at a press conference about the Broadway Junction arrest, which has been seen close to 1 million times in a video on vendor advocates' Twitter page.

"We have to follow rules," Adams said. “Next day, it’s propane tanks being on the subway system. The next day, it’s barbecuing on the subway system. You just can't do that."

But despite it igniting heat on Twitter, Adams' rant wasn't all that surprising in that it jives with the mayor's usual style, according to Mulaney.

"Mayor Adams always addresses two problems and then one crazy one — 'No guns, no crime, no barbecues on the subway!" Mulaney joked. "'We need better schools, we need better transportation, no more volleyball games on the BQE!'"

Hypothetical barbecues aside, the thousands of cops Adams has sent into the subways might have more luck looking out for Thanksgiving dinners on the L train or a lobster-serving birthday bash on the J.

Advocates meanwhile have urged the mayor to focus on what they contend is the real problem with street vendors: a broken licensing system.

Arrests like fruit vendor Maria Falcon's are examples of how a decades-old cap on vendor licenses has led to criminalizing the largely immigrant business owners and created a dangerous underground market for the permits, they contend.

Smith, who posted the video of Mulaney, applauded the comedian for drawing attention to the issue.

"She was ARRESTED & HANDCUFFED in front of her child & then strip searched! He defended this horrific abuse of power by saying he had to uphold rules," she wrote. "I [thoroughly] enjoyed @johnmulaney taking him over the coals & the propane heater for his idiotic logic & outright lies."

Falcon, who has sold mangoes and kiwis from her street cart for more than 10 years, was turned down for a mobile food vendor permit despite having passed the health department's food safety course and paying taxes for her business due to the cap, according to Street Vendor Project organizers.

"Street vendors like Maria have every intention to follow the rules, just like any other small business," the Street Vendor Project and a coalition of supporting organizations said in a statement Tuesday. "We hope the Mayor will work with us to reform this archaic and arbitrary system that has discriminated against the street vending industry, an iconic part of New York City."