Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing mounting backlash after naming Mysonne Linen — a formerly incarcerated rapper convicted of two armed robberies — to his public safety and criminal justice transition committees, a move that critics say symbolically detonates the incoming administration’s credibility on crime policy before it even begins.

Linen’s appointment was revealed in a November 26 Instagram post by Until Freedom, the activist group where he serves as a leader. The post celebrated that Linen and other organizers had been chosen to help shape Mamdani’s early City Hall agenda, calling the move “a testament to our decades of work” and declaring, “We are building something different.”

A Controversial Pick With a Violent Past

The reaction was immediate — and explosive.

Linen, now 49, was once a rising New York rapper signed to Def Jam. But his career took a sharp detour after a Bronx jury found him guilty in two armed robberies of taxi drivers in 1999.

Prosecutors said Linen:

Beat cab driver Joseph Exiri with a beer bottle during a June 1997 robbery

Held up driver Francisco Monsanto at gunpoint in March 1998, stealing cash and a ring

Fled the scene with accomplices on both occasions

Both drivers testified and positively identified Linen, and he ultimately served seven years in prison. Linen has long maintained that he was wrongly convicted — but the criminal record stands.

Mamdani: Breaking From Adams, Courting the Left

The appointment is the latest move signaling Mamdani’s break from outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and his more traditional policing agenda. The mayor-elect has already vowed to end homeless encampment clearances in January and build what he calls a “new model” of public safety rooted in anti-violence outreach rather than traditional law-enforcement strategies.

But elevating a man convicted of armed robbery to help shape the city’s safety policy ignited both ridicule and alarm.

Backlash Grows: “Insane” and “Unserious”

The reaction online was fierce.

The activist group Jews Fight Back wrote on X:

“Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani just appointed a convicted armed robber to help shape NYC’s crime and policing policy. This is insane.”

Conservative critics said Mamdani is putting ideology ahead of public safety at a moment when New York remains deeply divided over crime. Moderates within the city called it a “dangerous experiment.” Even some progressives privately questioned the optics of placing Linen specifically on the public safety committee rather than on a reentry or rehabilitation task force.

Mamdani Allies Defend the Pick

Supporters argue that Linen’s lived experience — prison, reentry, activism — gives him a unique understanding of violence prevention in marginalized communities. Until Freedom, where Linen is a prominent figure, praised the appointment and framed it as an intentional disruption of the “old system.”

On Instagram this week, Linen echoed his own refrain:

“We are building something different.”

A Larger Pattern?

This is not Mamdani’s only controversial pick.
In recent days he has also tapped:

A disgraced activist who previously advocated for the abolition of police,

A reparations advisor who criticized capitalism as a tool of systemic oppression,

And far-left organizers aligned with Democratic Socialists of America.

Political observers say the mayor-elect appears intent on delivering a City Hall built from the activist left, even at the cost of sparking early political fires.

The Incoming Administration’s Biggest Test May Already Be Here

With Mamdani taking office on January 1, the blowback has become a defining preview of the ideological battles ahead — one that pits a self-proclaimed movement mayor against a city anxious about crime and stability.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s office, Linen, and Until Freedom for comment.

Whether this appointment becomes a footnote or a turning point may depend on how Mamdani navigates the widening backlash — and whether New Yorkers believe “building something different” is visionary leadership or reckless governance.