Jimmy Kimmel Brings Late-Night Home to Brooklyn, With Springsteen, McCartney, and Mayor Mamdani in Tow

The Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music is trading its usual hush for laughter and applause as “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returns for a weeklong residency starting Monday, September 28. The late-night veteran, who grew up just a few subway stops away in Mill Basin, is turning the venerable BAM stage into a temporary home base, bringing together a lineup as eclectic as the city itself.

The guest list reads like a love letter to New York: Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose ascent from Astoria assemblyman to City Hall has been a political story for the ages, will sit down for his first late-night appearance since taking office. On the musical side, legends Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney are slated to share stories and—if the stage gods are kind—a song or two, igniting the borough’s autumn nights with star power.

Beyond the headliners, Kimmel is leaning into the city’s own late-night legacy, inviting fellow New York hosts for what promises to be a spirited roundtable. For the city’s comedy community, the week is a rare moment when the national spotlight swings decisively east, away from Hollywood and onto Brooklyn’s cultural heart.

Outside BAM, Saturday afternoon crowds have already started gathering, hoping for a glimpse of the stars or a shot at tickets. Local businesses along Fulton Street are banking on the late-night bump, with bars and restaurants prepping for post-show rushes and a splash of media attention that feels distinctly autumnal—buzzy but grounded in neighborhood ritual.

As the stage lights come up and Kimmel’s monologue echoes through Fort Greene, it’s clear: for one week, Brooklyn isn’t just part of the late-night conversation—it’s leading it. The city’s energy, always impossible to bottle, finds a new outlet, live and unfiltered, in the borough where Kimmel first learned the meaning of a good punchline.