{"id":366255,"date":"2025-11-09T06:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T06:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/366255\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T06:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T06:24:05","slug":"mamdani-needs-a-new-new-york-soundtrack-new-york-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/366255\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani needs a new New York soundtrack \u2013 New York Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before the votes were counted last week, Zohran Mamdani<\/a> was making his first misstep as the mayor-elect of New York City.<\/p>\n

The upstart outsider who had shocked the political establishment<\/a> with his out-of-nowhere win hadn\u2019t even given his victory speech, and already he was sending the wrong message.<\/p>\n

Mamdani sauntered onstage election night to the blaring music of one of New York City\u2019s many anthems, not unlike a boxer approaching the ring before the bell sounds for Round 1.<\/p>\n

But the next mayor of The City That Never Sleeps couldn\u2019t have chosen a worse soundtrack.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s theme music of choice? Ja Rule\u2019s \u201cNew York.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI got a hundred guns, a hundred clips<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from New York, New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JaJa Rule performs during Shorty Gras on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in New Orleans. (Photo by Amy Harris\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Now, to be fair, whoever pressed play didn\u2019t allow the track to run long enough for the excited crowd to hear the violent lyrics.<\/p>\n

But if you know, you know. And, if you don\u2019t, well, now you know.<\/p>\n

The song, as catchy as the beat is, was a poor choice for a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

The next mayor delivered his speech in Brooklyn, where, despite the decline in violent crime, neighborhoods are still plagued by deadly, senseless shootings.<\/p>\n

Just three days before Mamdani made election night history, a 16-year-old Bronx boy visiting friends in Brooklyn was shot to death in Crown Heights.<\/p>\n

\"TysonTyson Harps Jr., 16, was fatally shot in the head in front of this building on Eastern Parkway near Rochester Ave. in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Saturday night. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Tyson \u201cTJ\u201d Harps Jr. was shot in the head along Eastern Parkway near Rochester Ave. just an hour and a half after texting his protective mother who had worried about him going out that night.<\/p>\n

She had asked him to check in every hour.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ma, I\u2019m good,\u201d he wrote just before 7:30 p.m. Ninety minutes later he was dead.<\/p>\n

His mother is 38, just four years older than Mamdani. The last thing she probably wants to hear is Ja Rule rapping about \u201cslugs flying at the speed of sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tyson<\/p>\n

GoFundMe<\/p>\n

Tyson Harps Jr., 16, was fatally shot on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on Saturday night, November 1, 2025. (GoFundMe)<\/p>\n

During his Paramount Theater victory speech, Mamdani tore into President Trump, painting him as part of the billionaire class convincing \u201cthose making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cAnd if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not only how we stop Trump; it\u2019s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you\u2019re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, right message. Wrong song.<\/p>\n

I got a hundred guns, a hundred clips<\/p>\n

I\u2019m from New York, New York<\/p>\n

Despite it all, despite the bigotry, the misogyny, the threats to SNAP benefits and the ICE raids that separate families, the president is still a man who just months ago survived an assassination attempt.<\/p>\n

A bullet clipped his ear as it went by his head.<\/p>\n

Mamdani is only 34. No one expects him to walk out on stage, confetti flying, to Frank Sinatra, or even Billy Joel.<\/p>\n

The new mayor has to keep it fresh. But his song selection has to be better. Even Ja Rule\u2019s \u201cNew York,\u201d released in 2004, is more than 20 years old.<\/p>\n

Mamdani did much better on his way out, the venue speakers thumping to the sounds of a Bollywood song, \u201cDhoom Machale,\u201d<\/a> that paid tribute to his Indian roots. Mamdani\u2019s parents were born in India before they moved to Uganda, where he was born.<\/p>\n

This is what New Yorkers need to hear, songs that celebrate the city\u2019s immigrant culture, songs that honor inclusion, songs that still sound good.<\/p>\n

Turn the volume up.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even before the votes were counted last week, Zohran Mamdani was making his first misstep as the mayor-elect…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":366256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,1269,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-366255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-opinion","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115518313100924839","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}