Guess Who Didn't Know This Famous New York Song?

A New York mayoral candidate found himself in a bit of a pickle recently.

Zohran Mamdani, who's running for office, was on a music podcast called Track Star. The host, Jack Coyne, played a game called "Name That Tune" with him.

Early Success

Mamdani did pretty well at first, guessing songs by:

Jay-Z
Mobb Deep
Even Frank Sinatra correctly.

He even joked about Sinatra being "probably priced out of New York City," which fits his campaign's focus on making the city more affordable.

The Turn

But then, things took a turn. When Coyne played a snippet of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind," Mamdani was stumped. He couldn't figure out who the song was by, even with hints like:

"plays the piano"
"from Long Island."

He later admitted he thought, "Who is this? When did this drop?"

Connecting with Younger Voters

This might show that Mamdani connects more with younger voters, who are often more into hip-hop than classic rock. Unlike his older competitor, Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani has been running a smart social media campaign. By being on Coyne's show, which has over 1.3 million followers, he's reaching a lot of people.

Public Reaction

People on TikTok seemed to like Mamdani's honest reaction. One user even said:

"The fact that he didn’t know Billy Joel is a plus for me."

Others from out of state and even the U.K. sent him support.

Billy Joel's Connection to Cuomo

Interestingly, Billy Joel has been a supporter of Cuomo. He even donated $50,000 to Cuomo's super PAC and is the godfather of Joel's eldest daughter. Plus, Cuomo used "New York State of Mind" as his campaign theme song. Mamdani, on the other hand, was just being honest about not knowing the song.