{"id":240067,"date":"2026-05-22T00:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/240067\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:53:19","slug":"zohran-mamdanis-first-twitch-stream-was-fine-except-for-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/240067\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani’s First Twitch Stream Was Fine, Except For Chat"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> admits that he\u2019s not a gamer. (He has, however, dabbled in Sim City and\u00a0<\/a>FIFA<\/a>, and thrown a\u00a0Mario Kart\u00a0reference<\/a> out there while discussing policy.) Today, though, he took the podium on the gamer\u2019s streaming service of choice for a new Twitch show<\/a> called \u201cTalk with the People,\u201d to answer questions from New Yorkers. No, he didn\u2019t play any video games, but the chat was still telling him to hop on Minecraft, Fortnite, and Undertale in between the bots spamming nonsense and New Yorkers actually trying to ask the mayor a question. He also said he didn\u2019t know what Minecraft\u00a0was beyond the bad movie<\/a>. Oof. That one hurt.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s actual stream was more straightforward than you might believe if you looked solely at the chat, where viewers used ASCII art to spam penises and also to say some pretty heinous things we won\u2019t repeat here. He spoke about some issues in the city, including his budget deficit solution<\/a>, changes to SNAP eligibility in NYC<\/a>, and the ongoing efforts to deliver free childcare to families<\/a>, and gave an update on his campaign promise to make buses fast and free, which he still maintains he\u2019ll accomplish before the end of his term in 2030.<\/p>\n

The mayor took a few questions from viewers, mostly about NYC legislation and also sports and city culture. One viewer asked if he would play\u00a0Minecraft\u00a0on the stream, and he seemed to have no real idea what the sandbox game was, and instead associates the name with something much worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotta be honest, I have not played Minecraft,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cHow do you play Minecraft? Is it a computer game? [\u2026] I sound so old, because to me, Minecraft is a movie that I knew was based on a video game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani wonders if he\u2019s too old to know what the game is, which is crazy, because he\u2019s only a year older than me. My guy, come to\u00a0Kotaku, we\u2019ll educate you.<\/p>\n

While the mayor didn\u2019t acknowledge the specifics of what was being said in chat, around 28 minutes in, co-host and seasoned streamer Moose asked viewers to \u201ctry to be a little respectful\u201d and \u201ckeep it family friendly.\u201d The chat\u2019s demeanor did not change.<\/p>\n