See Mayor Eric Adams get ‘tooned’ up on crime … by animated Stephen Colbert host

Mayor Eric Adams got drawn into a debate over policing and increased patrols on subways … with a cartoon talk show host.

Hizzoner was mocked by the fictional anchor of “Tooning Out The News” — a new cartoon-hybrid produced by CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert — during the segment, which was filmed in the historic Blue Room at City Hall.

“Bloomberg reports that misdemeanor arrests in New York City jumped 25% in the first six months of Eric Adams’ administration. These are small crimes like subway fare evasion and sleeping on a park bench,” says James Smartwood, the Colbert-resembling fictional host of the show.

Then comes the punch line: “These arrests do let concerned New Yorkers know Mayor Adams will not tolerate being poor in this city. Can you promise that by the end of your term that every New Yorker will be rich or in jail?”

Adams responds in the clip, which was first obtained by The Daily Beast, with an awkward laugh before launching into a well-practiced defense of the policy.

“Every New Yorker will feel safe,” Adams rebuts. “Those are the quality of life arrests. We lost almost $500 million from those jumping the turnstile.

“They start out as [misdemeanors],” the mayor continued, “then they enter the [subway] system and commit felonies. That’s what history has shown us.”

But the cartoon host was not done and pivoted to the controversial move by the NYPD to boot a saxophonist from the Herald Square subway station at the MTA’s request for performing without a permit.

Officials have said that the player, Jazz Ajilo, had violated the rules of conduct in part by setting out a large display of dancing animatronic cats that was impeding the flow of straphangers in the station.

NYPD officials said that Ajilo refused officers requests’ to pack up and leave and subsequently resisted the arrest, which ultimately involved six officers.

“You called the NYPD’s response ‘proper policing,’” Smartwood tells Adams. “Are you concerned the NYPD does not have enough funding when you only have six cops in your Saxophone Strike Force?”

The mayor again defends the Ajilo arrest, citing concerns about quality of life and arguing that enforcing seemingly minor rules helps preserve a sense of order underground and prevent violence.

But the cartoon host wouldn’t have it: “Do you need additional resources to protect the city from the other instruments out there?” he chides the mayor. “Someone could be playing the trumpet, trombone, piano, what else is there?”