"Haters gonna hate, hate, hate." - Billy Joel, sort of.

OK, while the iconic singer (and native New Yorker) didn't actually quote Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off,' that was basically his message to all of the New Yorkers throwing shade at T. Swift for becoming the city's Welcome Ambassador for Tourism.

"I see the New York press going, 'Taylor Swift is going to be the new New York representative?'" the 'New York State of Mind' singer told USA Today. "You snoots. Let her in. That's what New York is all about. I say, 'Welcome.'"

"I think she's a talented songwriter," he continued of the 'Welcome to New York' songstress. "She catches a lot of junk, maybe because she's so popular with young girls. But I like what she's projecting. I respect what she's doing."

Considering that an NYC vintage store recently displayed a 'RIP Taylor Swift' mural in retaliation for the '1989' singer's new title, we think that Billy Joel's support couldn't come at a better time.

Of course, we're loving T. Swift's new role. Just see what we were super psyched to find in Manhattan the other day:

A photo posted by PopCrush (@popcrush) on

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