DJ Mugsy Mugs Shares His ‘Lifeline’

By Kami-Leigh Agard

You know him as DJ Mugsy Mugs. However, did you know that Belle Harbor native, Adam Funtleyder (a.k.a DJ Mugsy Mugs), worked for more than 20 years as a performing arts and crisis intervention teacher, plus dean for the NYC Department of Education, produced and deejayed music for the likes of celebrities, Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina, Halle Berry—the list goes on. However, for Mugs, his love of music and community has been the anecdote for healing from PTSD, witnessing death during Hurricane Sandy, losing his dad from Alzheimer’s with COVID—yet not giving up hope—whatever the circumstances. Since his dad’s passing, he started an annual “Pickle Ball for Pop” for the Alzheimer’s Association. And as the lyrics from his hit song, “Lifeline,” with global reggae/dance hall superstars, Beanie Man and Swallow, resonates, “There’s no me, without you.”

Funtleyder was born and still lives in Belle Harbor with his wife, Diana Collazo-Funtleyder and their three children. (By the way, congratulations to his son, Jesse Funtleyder, a class of 2021 CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice dual-degree bachelor’s and master’s of forensics psychology graduate, who recently received a Fulbright Scholarship!).

Mugsy Mugs attended Beach Channel High School, where his humble beginnings in music began with playing trumpet and piano in the high school’s jazz band. He shared that his inspiration was his dad.

“My father was a professional musician, playing saxophone, clarinet and flute. When I was a child, he taught music in the house. I would hear music all the time. And so, my love of music came from him. I played trumpet in the band and took private piano lessons. But I never was as talented as my father. He could just hear a song and just play it by ear. I inherited his love for music, but not the same talent,” Funtleyder said.

However, Funtleyder became hooked on music and began growing his collection of 8-tracks, boasting a variety of music—from soul, rock, reggae, jazz and more. But life took a turn when the budding, “Almost Famous” music aficionado met a friend in high school who was a deejay.

“This is the ‘80s, when a friend in high school was a deejay and asked me to play with him at events and parties. I bought equipment, including some turntables. We were playing Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Eric B, Sugar Hill Gang and more.

“I was a disco roller skater. I wasn’t into team sports, but I liked roller hockey. We would go to roller rinks around the city to dance and perform. Roller skating was my love before pickle ball,” Funtleyder said.

As for how he got his name, “DJ Mugsy Mugs,” Funtleyder shared that it began when he was playing roller hockey at Beach Channel.

“We had a roller hockey team at Beach Channel and played in streets all over Rockaway. We all had nicknames on our jerseys. One of my friends said that when I was racing to get the puck, I would have a face like a mug. So, everyone started calling me, ‘Mugs.’ So, when I became a deejay, it became ‘DJ Mugs’ or ‘DJ Mugsy,’ which evolved into ‘DJ Mugsy Mugs.’ With roller hockey and skating, I just loved doing tricks and dancing. This is in the 1980s. We would go to Central Park, take our skates off and dance,” he said.

Funtleyder, a graduate of SUNY Oneonta, worked for over 20 years as a fifth-grade schoolteacher for the DOE at P.S. 225, now known as Waterside Children’s Studio School.

He said, “I taught fifth-grade performing arts, then I became the dean, working as the crisis intervention teacher for rough students.

“I took 30 students from Rockaway to a studio in Freeport, Long Island, and we did a song called, “Stay in School.” And we performed around the district.”

However, though working with celebrities in the studio and having, “I’ve arrived” moments on the red carpet, Funtleyder’s pivotal life changer was Hurricane Sandy, which to this day, he still recollects:

“Sandy was tough. My whole family evacuated, but I stayed in the house, in case I had to pump out water or do something. All of a sudden, I heard water crashing through. I ran downstairs and tried to grab all my equipment. The water came through the driveway and broke the window. I was trapped in the basement. I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to die today.’ I took a deep breath and dove, and what I saw was what I thought was floating like a blanket. It was Rich, the mailman,” he said.

Sandy was in 2012, but Funtleyder found himself again on the doorstep of tragedy a few years later, during COVID with his dad, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s .

“Sandy was the beginning, when I saw my dad starting to slip up, with the Alzheimer’s kicking in. After Sandy, I went back to work, and wrote a song called, “Lifeline,” with Beanie Man.

“I went to Jamaica for a couple weeks just to clear my mind. I was having anxiety at night. Thinking what am I doing here? Thinking about my family; Rich, the postman who died in my house because of Sandy. However, with just living a very simple life on the beach, slowly I started to heal and lay down the tracks for ‘Lifeline.’ And then I got connected to Beanie Man,” Funtleyder shared.

Today, DJ Mugsy Mugs hosts “Pickle For Pop,” an annual pickle ball event to raise awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association. Plus, he volunteers, his music talents for The Little North Pole, Rockaway Special Olympics, Rockaway Beach Autism Families and many more organizations.

Funtleyder has experienced many highs and lows, however, what’s so endearing about the Rockaway local is his desire to overcome any wave life hits. Instead, his “Lifeline” is “There’s no me, without you.”

DJ Mugsy Mugs is playing at Caracas, Beach 106th Concession on August 8. For more info, follow: djmugsymugs on Instagram.