Mamdani's latest freebie sets off online fury as critics rip city priorities: 'Opera socialism'

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new giveaway program that will distribute 70,000 free tickets to the Metropolitan Opera, drawing mockery from conservative critics who say the city has more urgent problems to address. Called "Opera for All," the effort pairs City Hall with the Met at Lincoln Center to let residents who have never been to the opera enter a monthly drawing for seats to shows including Macbeth and La Bohème, the mayor's office said. Mamdani's office says the giveaway costs taxpayers nothing: the Met is contributing tickets pulled from about 10% of its unsold seasonal capacity, while the city's part is limited to promotion and distribution, according to a statement given to Fox News Digital.

Appearing in a promotional video with the cast of La Bohème, Mamdani said every resident deserves the chance to see the show "no matter how much money is in their pocket," and separately said opera "was meant to be seen by everyone." He pointed to former Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's "People's Opera," an affordable-ticket effort launched in 1943 that later went bankrupt in 2013 before returning in 2016.

The announcement, which racked up more than 6 million views on X, split reaction along familiar lines, with liberals praising it and conservatives accusing Mamdani of misplaced priorities. Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt wrote on X that past generations of billionaires funded the arts while today's wealthy focus their giving elsewhere, calling it a reason "they're so hated."

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →