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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/24\/arts\/music\/mamdani-met-opera-free-tickets.html?emc=edit_nn_20260926&nl=the-morning&segment_id=227102",
    "parsed_content": "Mamdani AdministrationMeeting With TrumpEconomic Vision\u2018Pothole Politics\u2019Affordable Child Care9\/11 Air QualityAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTOpera for New Yorkers: Mamdani and the Met\u2019s 70,000-Ticket GiveawayThe mayor, with a video filmed at the Metropolitan Opera House, joins the Met in announcing a program to distribute free ticketsListen \u00b7 6:36 min Share full article\u201cOpera is one of the greatest art forms we have,\u201d Mayor Mamdani says from the set of \u201cLa Boh\u00e8me\u201d in the video announcing the ticket giveaway.Credit...New York City Mayor\u2019s Office, via YouTubeBy Adam NagourneySept. 24, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google The singers were in place for a \u201cLa Boh\u00e8me\u201d rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera last week when an unexpected guest walked onstage: Zohran Mamdani. For the next hour, Mr. Mamdani, the democratic socialist mayor of New York, used the Met\u2019s grand stage as his backdrop for a video promoting opera \u2014 opera! \u2014 and announcing a new Met-City Hall program to distribute 70,000 free tickets a year to New Yorkers.A few days earlier, Gustavo Dudamel, the new music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic, was heading to the podium to conduct his first concert at David Geffen Hall when he got a call from Mr. Mamdani to welcome him to New York. It was the first time they had talked. \u201cHe was wonderful \u2014 it was very nice,\u201d Mr. Dudamel said. They spoke about education, he said, and the mayor told him he would try to attend a New York Phil performance.For Mr. Mamdani, a mayor who has promoted free child care, free buses and a lottery to give 2,100 free Broadway tickets to high school students, the idea of distributing opera tickets, some worth as much as $400, was in keeping with the populist themes he has embraced during his first 10 months in City Hall. So was the fast-paced video he put out to promote it.But for classical music leaders in New York, the appearance of Mr. Mamdani at the Lincoln Center campus, and his advocacy for the city\u2019s two premier music organizations, was cause for celebration and relief. The financially struggling Metropolitan Opera seized on the mayor\u2019s new enthusiasm as it started a $1.5 billion fund-raising campaign along with the ticket program.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cThe mayor stands for everything that is the opposite of elite,\u201d said Peter Gelb, the Met\u2019s general manager. \u201cHaving the mayor, who is one of the most popular individuals on the planet right now, actively engaged with the Met can only be beneficial.\u201dSince the days of Fiorello La Guardia, who helped found the New York City Opera, high-profile political leaders in New York have been known to take an interest in classical music. For some, that reflected their personal tastes; Rudolph W. Giuliani was a big fan of Italian opera and held a campaign fund-raiser featuring opera performances. But it was also a way of promoting the city as an arts capital \u2014 and crossing paths with wealthy donors. There are exceptions. The last two mayors, Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio, were rarely spotted at Lincoln Center. And over his years in public life, Mr. Mamdani has shown little interest in what takes place at the opera house or at Geffen Hall. Mr. Mamdani, 34, has displayed a liking for other performing arts, appearing as a rapper under the name Mr. Cardamom, for example. (He did not respond to requests for an interview to discuss his views on the arts.)Darren Walker, a former member of the Lincoln Center board of directors and former head of the Ford Foundation, said in an interview that classical music labored under the weight of being viewed as elitist, reflecting its audience and the cost of tickets, which he said posed obvious complications \u201cfor a populist mayor.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cBut a great mayor loves all art forms and understands that for New York to remain the cultural capital of the world, we must have a healthy ecosystem that supports all of the arts,\u201d Mr. Walker said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t optional for Mayor Mamdani. Engagement in my view is essential to furthering the success of this city.\u201dThe ticket program will give away 70,000 Met seats this season and continue indefinitely, Mr. Mamdani says in the video. The tickets will be drawn from the Met\u2019s pool of unsold seats; it sells about 75 percent of its seats a year. The tickets will be distributed by lottery on the Met app, and promoted with various city agencies, including the Housing Authority, the New York Public Library and New York City Public Schools.ImageThe mayor with Met employees.Credit... Richard Termine\/Metropolitan OperaThe program will be limited: New Yorkers who purchased tickets for the 2018-2019 season or later will not be eligible for free tickets this season. There will be no income requirements. Mr. Gelb said he hoped giving away the tickets would ultimately expand the paying audience.The $1.5 billion fund-raising campaign being announced along with the ticket program comes as the Met, which has a $340 million annual budget and 3,000 employees, has drawn down a third of its endowment to pay operating costs. It faces an annual shortfall of $83 million.Mr. Gelb said he intended to use $790 million of the $1.5 billion to increase the endowment, which is now $237 million, to $1 billion. Mr. Gelb said that he had commitments for $407 million of the $1.5 billion and that the fund-raising campaign was intended to raise the rest. That effort, he added, would be greatly boosted by the mayoral video.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cOpera is one of the greatest art forms we have,\u201d Mr. Mamdani says on the video. \u201cAnd there\u2019s no better place to see it than here: at the iconic Metropolitan Opera House.\u201dThe taping at the Met turned into a bit of a celebration for the mayor. Mr. Mamdani, whose office did not permit reporters to cover it, was greeted enthusiastically by Met workers. \u201cEveryone was thrilled to see him,\u201d said Nishana Dobbeck, a librarian for the Met orchestra. \u201cThe applause was thunderous. We are used to hearing thunderous applause. But to see the mayor on that stage was something else.\u201dAt the end of the taping, the mayor took the conductor\u2019s place on the podium as Met photographers captured his image with nearly 1,000 Met employees, including the conductor Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, Mr. Gelb and cast members from \u201cLincoln in the Bardo,\u201d the Missy Mazzoli opera that will have its world premiere on the Met stage in October.\u201cI thought it was really important for the Met to establish a connection with the mayor,\u201d Mr. Gelb said. \u201cHe said to me he intends to come back for a performance next month. I invited him to come back and see \u2018Lincoln in the Bardo.\u2019\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-24T14:30:08+00:00",
    "author_name": "Adam Nagourney",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
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    "ai_headline": "Opera for New Yorkers: Mamdani and the Met\u2019s 70,000-Ticket Giveaway",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Mayor Mamdani Announces 70,000 Free Met Opera Tickets for New Yorkers",
    "ai_excerpt": "New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, known for populist initiatives, has partnered with the Metropolitan Opera to distribute 70,000 free tickets annually. This program aims to broaden opera's audience and support the Met's $1.5 billion fundraising campaign.",
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        "Metropolitan Opera",
        "Zohran Mamdani",
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        "Cultural Access"
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