Even when addressing the 'them' in the Bronx, he couldn't do it directly, couldn't address them directly as people. No, "you." He still referred to them as, "they."
Not that "you" as a different group would be exceedingly better - lumping multiple people as one big lump devoid of individuality - but hey, if he's going there to smooch him up, for crying out loud, talk to them like they're there in front of him.