Music · New York and Rome
Mamdani and Gualtieri sing and joke to promote 70,000 free Met Opera tickets
Zohran Mamdani posted the video on his social media channels, featuring Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri promoting a lottery for 70,000 free Metropolitan Opera tickets for New Yorkers.
AI text based on reports by Il Fatto Quotidiano, Adnkronos, AGI and other publishers. Published . How it is made
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In brief
The New York City and Metropolitan Opera House partnership offers 70,000 free tickets for performances including Macbeth and La Boheme, distributed through a lottery of 10,000 seats a month in the 2026-27 season.
Mamdani opens the clip singing Bella ciao, and Gualtieri interrupts with a Caesar parody, rewriting veni, vidi, vici as veni, vidi, free-ci.
- Late September 2026Mamdani and Gualtieri meet in New York at the Urban 20 Mayors Summit 2026
- 12 OctoberMamdani skips the Columbus Day parade on Fifth Avenue, according to Il Giornale
- 2 November 2026Mamdani posts the video with Gualtieri on social media
A joint video with a Caesar joke
Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, posted a video on his social media channels on 2 November 2026 featuring Roberto Gualtieri, the mayor of Rome. The clip opens with Mamdani singing "Bella ciao" alone before Gualtieri cuts in with a line in Italian.
“Mayor Mamdani, perhaps it is better to leave the singing to the opera professionals.”
The video then runs through a series of jokes built on ancient Rome. Gualtieri rewrites Julius Caesar's "veni, vidi, vici" as "veni, vidi, free-ci", which Italian coverage renders as "I came, I saw, I gave it away for free". At the end Mamdani thanks Gualtieri in Italian, telling him he has gone the wrong way, and Gualtieri answers that all roads lead to the opera. Gualtieri also promises important news on opera for Romans. The two mayors had met in New York in late September at the Urban 20 Mayors Summit 2026.
The Opera for All programme
The video promotes a partnership between New York City and the Metropolitan Opera House, which makes 70,000 free tickets available to New York residents for performances including Macbeth and La Boheme. Under the programme, called Opera for All, a lottery will offer 10,000 seats a month during the 2026-27 season, which is about 10 percent of all available tickets. According to La Stampa, the lottery is reserved for residents who have not bought Met tickets since 2019.
- Total free tickets, 2026-27 season
- 70000 tickets
- Monthly lottery seats
- 10000 tickets
Data from the article text
Criticism in the Italian press
Il Giornale framed the clip as a social media skit that distracts from the programme itself and pointed to Mamdani's past conduct toward Italian-American issues. The outlet said Mamdani skipped the Columbus Day parade on Fifth Avenue on 12 October, and it recalled a 2020 image of him making a rude gesture at a statue of Christopher Columbus. It also said his administration left Little Italy and Arthur Avenue off a map of immigrant communities in New York and promised a correction after the backlash.
Il Giornale also argued that the two mayors face more pressing problems than a singing performance, and it pointed to New York's housing crisis as one of them. The outlet's criticism concerns the tone of the video rather than the ticket programme itself, which it described as a worthwhile initiative.
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Sources and context
- Il Fatto QuotidianoMamdani sings Bella ciao, Gualtieri interrupts him: the two mayors' gag for the operaMamdani canta Bella ciao, Gualtieri lo interrompe: la gag dei due sindaci per l'opera | Il Fatto Quotidiano.it · original in Italian
- AdnkronosMamdani and the gag with Rome mayor Gualtieri: he sings “Bella ciao” and promotes the New York OperaMamdani e la gag col sindaco di Roma Gualtieri: canta "Bella ciao" e promuove l'Opera di New York - Il VIDEO · original in Italian
- AGIMamdani sings Bella Ciao and Gualtieri interrupts him, the video to promote opera in New YorkMamdani canta Bella Ciao e Gualtieri lo interrompe, il video per promuovere opera lirica a New York · original in Italian
- Tgcom24Mamdani sings “Bella ciao” with Gualtieri to promote opera in New YorkMamdani canta "Bella ciao" con Gualtieri per promuovere l'opera lirica a New York · original in Italian
- Zohran Mamdani
- Mayor of New York who posted the video on his social media channels
- Roberto Gualtieri
- Mayor of Rome who appears in the video and promotes opera news for Romans
- Places
- Rome, New York City
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