New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has been slammed for bypassing a gym close to his home and rather driving to one considerably farther.

The mayor has faced critique especially because he's been calling for New Yorkers to adopt more sustainable habits in the wake of President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

But De Blasio doesn't seem to be following his own advice. He goes to the YMCA gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn - 12 miles away from his home, the Gracie Mansion - five days a week rather than a gym near his home, which is less than half a mile away.

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Bill de Blasio has been slammed for using a gym far from his home, Gracie Mansion. He is pictured here leaving the YMCA in Park Slope in Brooklyn, 12 miles away from his home

Five days a week, the mayor bypasses a gym less than a half a mile away from his home. He is pictured here again, clad in his gym gear, leaving theYMCA

On a WNYC radio show he appears weekly, he declared: 'Everyone in our own life needs to change our habits to start protecting the Earth.'

But he was stopped in his tracks when a New Yorker confronted him about his non- environmentally-friendly gym routine.

'How about you stepping up your game and leading by example [by] getting out of your SUV armada?' said caller, Charles Komanoff, an experienced energy-policy analyst and an environmental activist.

De Blasio retorted and said he drove to the gym using a Hybrid, an electric energy-efficient car - although his security drives behind him with a gas-guzzling SUV.

'The issue is not cheap symbolism,' the mayor said in response. 'I wish my life was like everyone else’s, but it’s not, for obvious reasons.

'But again, the issue is not cheap symbolism here. The issue is, are we going to take action? Are we going to change the way things are done?'

The mayor's gym at Prospect Park is just under 12 miles away from his home while there's one called the Asphalt Green, labelled in black, less than half a mile away

Many say his gym routine is bad for the environment because he could save energy by either going to one closer or using the subway. He is pictured here in February gearing up to work out at the YMCA

A caller on a WNYC show confronted him when he asked: '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 in a 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 last time the Mayor - pictured on New Year's Eve with his wife Chirlane McCray - used the subway was on April 19

While the mayor has been pushing for policies to protect the environment, his practices have long been a point of contention.

He has also been criticized for his rare use of the subway system - even though his predecessor Michael Bloomberg frequently used them. In fact the last time the mayor rode on the subway was on April 19, the New York Times reported.

And Komanoff didn't shy away from addressing the mayor's travelling habits too.

The New Yorker said: '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 in a 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?'

He also questioned how the mayor could identify with commuters who often have to deal with delayed trains and an overburdened transit system if he doesn't travel with trains.

'[We] need a voice and we don’t have one,' he said. 'It’s harder for the mayor to become the voice when he doesn’t use the system.'