New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was met with jeers and profanity when he took the stage at a pro-police celebration in Staten Island before a protester suffered cardiac arrest after attempting to question him.

The Democratic Socialist Mayor spoke for less than a minute at the National Night Out Against Crime celebration in Midland Beach on Tuesday evening. 

A large crowd composed of some of the more than 3,500 attendees at the 43rd annual police celebration booed and shouted at the mayor to leave, though there was also a smattering of cheers. 

Despite the vocal backlash against his presence, Mamdani kept his trademark grin as he greeted the crowd and said: ‘Happy Night Out Against Crime. It’s amazing to be here for the Staten Island community!’ 

He then briefly thanked Staten Island artist Scott LoBaido, a patriotic artist known for his veteran advocacy and political demonstrations who was in attendance, as well as local elected officials. 

‘It’s a real pleasure to be here. Happy National Night Out Against Crime. God bless everyone. Thank you,’ Mamdani said to close out his remarks before departing the stage as the crowd continued to boo. 

During the event shortly before 7pm, LoBaido suffered a cardiac arrest, an FDNY spokesperson confirmed to SI Live. He was listed as being in critical but stable condition a little after 9pm.

A bystander told the outlet that LoBaido had attended the celebration with a group that wanted to question Mamdani about his intention to discontinue a phased plan to hire 5,000 additional NYPD officers. 

Mamdani spoke for less than a minute at the event. He is pictured leaving the stage as the crowd continued booing him

Patriotic artist Scott LoBaido had planned to question Mamdani, but he suffered a cardiac arrest after being unable to approach the mayor at the event. He is pictured with one of his anti-Mamdani artworks

LoBaido said on Facebook just hours before the event that he took issue with the mayor showing up to the National Night Out Against Crime after ‘humiliating’ police and putting their ‘lives in danger.’

The witness told SI Live that LoBaido had attempted to approach Mamdani as the mayor left the stage, but he was kept back by officers assigned to the event. 

The artist activist soon after said, ‘I’m not feeling well. I need to sit down,’ according to the witness, then took a knee before collapsing onto his back. 

Emergency personnel rushed over and performed CPR and chest compressions before administering LoBaido oxygen and transporting him to the hospital. ‘They really did a good job,’ the witness said of the first responders. 

Later on Tuesday night, LoBaido confirmed he was alright with a post on Facebook of a photo of himself flipping off the camera while hooked up to a nasal oxygen tube. 

The annual celebration took place at more than 70 locations across New York City on Tuesday, with the purpose of promoting ‘police-community partnerships to help make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live,’ according to the NYPD website.

The event offered attendees bounce houses, face painting and food. The Staten Island location Mamdani attended also included performances by local dance groups, a puppet show and arts and crafts stations for children. 

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was appointed by former NYC Mayor Eric Adams but was retained by Mamdani when he took office, also spoke at the event. 

LoBaido confirmed he was alright on Tuesday evening with this photo of himself in the hospital, which he posted on Facebook

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was retained by Mamdani when he took office, also spoke at the event. Mamdani and Tisch are pictured together

She thanked officers for their work and highlighted the partnership between police and communities. 

‘Public safety is something that we all build together, and nights like this remind us of the relationship of police officers, neighbors, community members and elected officials,’ Tisch said. 

Mamdani’s icy reception in Staten Island is explained by the borough’s status as a Republican enclave in otherwise overwhelmingly blue New York City. 

Although the mayor handily won the 2025 election, with 50.9 percent of the vote against Andrew Cuomo’s second-place 41.4 percent, Staten Island voted overwhelmingly against putting Mamdani in office.