New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has just appointed a (former) convict to serve as crime adviser on his City Hall transition team. Because, who better to advise on public safety than a literal criminal? Take a look: BREAKING: NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has chosen to appoint Mysonne Linen, a convicted armed robber, to be on his City Hall transition team. You cannot make this up. pic.twitter.com/D3FKfWInpN — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2025   Mysonne Linen is a rapper who served seven years behind bars for armed robbery. FORMERLY INCARCERATED: NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has chosen a formerly incarcerated rapper to serve on his City Hall transition team. Mysonne Linen was convicted and served seven years in prison in the late 1990s for two armed robberies of taxi drivers. pic.twitter.com/SaQK5EyoUZ — Fox News (@FoxNews) December 8, 2025 Linen was convicted in 1999 for robbing two taxi drivers in the Bronx. The New York Post shared more details on the crime: Linen was a promising young rapper when he was convicted in 1999 for being part of a crew that robbed two cab drivers in the Bronx, the New York Daily News reported at the time. The conviction came just as Linen’s debut album was due for release by Def Jam Recordings. Bronx prosecutors said his crew pulled off the June 8, 1997, robbery of taxi driver Joseph Eziri, and the March 31, 1998, gunpoint theft from cabbie Francisco Monsanto, according to the News. According to officials at the state Department of Correction and Community Renewal, Linen was hit with a sentence of seven to 14 years and was sprung on parole on July 5, 2006. Linen, who had faced up to 25 years behind bars, continued to deny he was involved and rebranded himself as a community activist following his release from state prison. He spent years volunteering as a so-called violence interrupter and also founded Rising Kings, a non-profit group that teaches classes to inmates at Rikers Island. Now, Linen is involved with a social justice organization that he co-founded with another adviser of Mamdani, anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour. Their group is called Until Freedom, which Linen apparently uses to advocate for non-violence. Until Freedom broke the news of Mamdani’s appointment of Linen on social media. Fox News reported: Mamdani’s appointment of Mysonne Linen, 49, was announced in a Nov. 26 Instagram post from Until Freedom, a New York City–based social-justice organization, where Linen is a leader. Linen is featured in the social media post alongside Tamika Mallory and Angelo Pinto. “We are proud that Until Freedom leaders have been chosen to serve on Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team on committees for public safety and criminal justice respectively,” the post reads. “This is a testament to our decades of work advocating on behalf of Black and Brown communities and our expertise in gun violence prevention, legislative advocacy, and criminal justice reform. We are building something different.” Over the years, Linen has built a public presence as a community activist, frequently posting about anti-violence initiatives and civic engagement, and promoting his involvement with Until Freedom. This is shaping up to be a disaster. Don’t say we didn’t warn you, New York. NYC’s new mayor-elect is putting a guy who did 7 years for armed taxi robberies in charge of advising on public safety. Nothing says “stop crime” like hiring someone who used to commit it. Welcome to 2026, New York. — MidnightRun (@MidnightRunz) December 8, 2025