It was released along with "Hard to Explain" as a double A-side single on June 25, 2001, in Australia and Europe.

"New York City Cops", written in response to the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo by four plainclothes police officers, was released along with "Hard to Explain" as a double A-side single on June 25, 2001, through RCA Records in Australia and Europe.

The band did so after they witnessed the "valiant response" of the city's police department during the tragedy, feeling that it would be "wrong to release it during these highly sensitive times".

"[9] The song was performed at a rally for Senator Bernie Sanders at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire on February 10, 2020.

[10] According to some accounts, "New York City Cops" was not on the band's setlist, but the Strokes performed the song after taking issue with lights being turned up and attempts to stop crowd-surfing fans.