Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would crisscross the borough of Queens this week, and insisted he would not shy away from areas where he is not that popular. He kept his promise and held an event in Whitestone on Thursday afternoon, where he got an earful from an angry New Yorker. NY1 Political Reporter Grace Rauh filed the following report.

Queens is home to the some of the city's most conservative neighborhoods, and Whitestone is one of them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared there Thursday afternoon to announce that the city is putting an additional $16 million into a program to smooth out uneven sidewalks caused by tree roots.

"We understand this is a pervasive concern for homeowners in Queens," de Blasio said. "Again, it's partly because Queens has the blessing of all these trees."

The only bumps on his stroll around a Queens home were on the ground below.

But as the mayor wrapped up his news conference, it was clear he had a problem:

"I want to know why you let your police officers down and our country down by going to Germany and protesting against our country!" Vickie Paladino yelled at de Blasio as he left the event.

Paladino, a longtime Whitestone resident, slammed the mayor for leaving the city for Germany this month just one day after a police officer was targeted and killed in the Bronx. The mayor skipped town to participate in a protest rally in Hamburg.  

"This has got nothing to do with party lines," Paladino said to reporters after she yelled at de Blasio. "This has got all about to do with a liberal socialist mayor who is running our country — running our city — and has no regard for our country."

Earlier in the day, the mayor got a warmer reception in Floral Park, where he spoke about a property tax break awaiting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature in Albany.

"We know that's going to make a huge difference for so many people," de Blasio said.

The mayor said his sidewalk program will make a difference, too, for some four thousand New Yorkers.

Fixing city sidewalks is the kind of local issues for which Queens Week seems tailored. Of course, not everything went according to plan Thursday.