Thursday, Feb. 19, marks the fiftieth day of Zohran Mamdani’s time period as mayor. New York News is following Mamdani round his first 100 days in workplace as we carefully observe his progress on fulfilling marketing campaign guarantees, appointing key leaders to authorities posts, and managing town’s funds. Right here’s a abstract of what the mayor did.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Metropolis Council Speaker Julie Menin appeared aspect by aspect Thursday morning to announce the opening of a long-delayed early childhood training middle on the Higher East Facet, providing a second of alignment amid deeper, rising divisions over town price range and proposed protest restriction leglislation.
The Feb. 19 announcement marked the official opening of the District 2 Pre-Ok and 3-Ok Middle at 403 East sixty fifth St., a former parking storage accomplished in July 2025 that had sat unused for months below the prior administration. The middle will open this fall, based on the mayor, including greater than 130 seats and turning into the primary standalone, city-run early childhood training facility within the 10065 ZIP code.
Officers mentioned the middle will quadruple 3-Ok capability and double Pre-Ok capability within the neighborhood, addressing a longstanding scarcity that had pressured households both to journey exterior the world or pay for personal baby care. Households have till Feb. 27 to use for seats.
“While New York City families waited anxiously for child care options near their homes, the last administration refused to move with the urgency this crisis demands,” Mamdani mentioned. “In the wealthiest city in the world, no parent should be forced to choose between raising their child and keeping their job.”
Menin praised the opening as a “big win” for households and credited years of stress from Group Board 8 and native dad and mom. “The building has been ready, and families have been waiting,” she mentioned, calling the delays below the earlier administration unacceptable.
“This is really a sign of what we need to do city wide, to open up more child care facilities, to make sure that every single parent that needs a slot for 3k and pre K has it,” Speaker Menin added.
Protests and NYPD
Menin and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal spoke early within the occasion and left earlier than the press convention’s Q&A, which might give attention to points the place the mayor and the Council speaker should not presently aligned.
Amongst them: proposed laws launched by Menin by way of the Metropolis Council’s newly fashioned Committee to Fight Hate. The invoice would require the NYPD to develop and implement fastened safety perimeters of as much as 100 ft round entrances and exits of locations of non secular worship. A separate, carefully associated invoice sponsored by Bronx Metropolis Council Member Eric Dinowitz would apply the identical framework to academic amenities.
In response to the staggering variety of antisemitic hate crimes reported throughout town, Menin, the Council’s first Jewish Speaker, rolled out a five-point plan final month to fight antisemitism, which incorporates the protest perimeter invoice to guard congregants, making a devoted antisemitism reporting hotline, funding safety at non-public faculties, and offering community-based safety coaching for Jewish organizations.
The introduction Menin’s protest laws was a direct results of two separate and extensively condemned demonstrations close to synagogues in Manhattan and Queens. Her invoice adopted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s assist for comparable laws throughout her State of the State tackle which might ban protests inside 25 ft of homes of worship.
Mayor Mamdani on Thursday mentioned that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has expressed considerations in regards to the proposed buffer zone legislations, apparently what Metropolis & State had reported.
A spokesperson for the NYPD additionally confirmed that Commissioner Tisch raised issued with the preliminary drafting of the payments, “and she is working closely with the speaker’s office to ensure that the language of the bill maintains the NYPD’s flexibility to both protect houses of worship and facilitate first amendment rights.” The invoice is because of be mentioned at a council listening to on Feb. 25.
Mamdani mentioned he has additionally directed town’s Regulation Division and the NYPD to assessment its legality.
“I care deeply about ensuring that New Yorkers can worship freely in their own city, and that we also protect the First Amendment rights to protest at the same time,” Mamdani mentioned, stopping wanting endorsing the laws.
“We are expanding the amount of funding for our office to combat anti-Semitism, and we are also looking to utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure that we root out bigotry from across the five boroughs,” the mayor added.
A spokesperson for the Speaker’s workplace mentioned Menin has had “multiple productive conversations with Commissioner Tish and the commissioner had a few minor tweaks to the bill which will be included in a new version.” They didn’t make clear what these tweaks entail.
The mayor has already taken steps to stability the rights to protest and worship. Final month, he quietly reinstated an Adams-era government order he had beforehand revoked: one which directed the NYPD to higher regulate protests exterior homes of worship, together with synagogues.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
A separate Adams-era directive to extend the NYPD’s uniformed headcount by 5,000 officers amid a rising staffing disaster was formally shelved by Mamdani in his preliminary price range on Tuesday.
Earlier than being elected Mayor, then-candidate Mamdani mentioned he had no intention of following by way of on the plan outlined in Adams’ November price range define, and as an alternative dedicated to sustaining the NYPD headcount as it’s.
In his $127 billion preliminary price range, the NYPD’s allocation is slated to go from roughly $6.4 billion this yr to round $6.38 billion in 2027. After that slight decline, projected spending would rise once more, reaching almost $6.44 billion by 2030.
The price range plan units apart $421 million to plug funding gaps the administration says had been missed, akin to mounting extra time prices throughout the police division, upgrading an ageing fleet of squad automobiles, and paying for increasing and sustaining high-tech monitoring programs
The division has misplaced a mean of 316 officers per 30 days in 2025 attributable to retirements and resignations, and its present headcount is beneath the budgeted ranges.
When requested in regards to the pushback towards not growing he headcount, Mamdani mentioned he’s targeted on addressing the division’s retention disaster, attempting to cut back the “expanding number of responsibilities we’ve given to those officers.”
Mamdani mentioned his proposed Division of Group Security was one method to shift the numerous duties from officers and tackle extra time, noting that police are presently dispatched to roughly 200,000 psychological well being–associated calls. Funding for the proposed Division shouldn’t be included within the preliminary price range however will probably be added to the manager price range anticipated in late April, based on the mayor.
Property tax
To remove the present price range hole, Mamdani on Tuesday outlined two choices: safe Albany’s approval to boost taxes on prime earners and firms, or — if that effort falls quick — flip to measures town controls, akin to a 9.5% property tax improve and tapping reserves. He described the property tax hike as a “last resort.”
Nonetheless, each approaches face steep obstacles. Gov. Kathy Hochul has firmly rejected new taxes as she campaigns for reelection, and Speaker Julie Menin has additionally dismissed the concept of elevating property taxes.
Menin’s look with Mamdani on Thursday adopted an interview the day earlier on the right-wing radio present of Sid Rosenberg on WABC Radio, the place she criticized Mamdani’s preliminary price range proposal. Rosenberg has drawn criticism previously, having labeled Mamdani, town’s first Muslim mayor, a “terrorist” and claiming throughout the marketing campaign that he could be “cheering” one other 9/11.
For the reason that unveiling of his preliminary price range, Menin has mentioned that potential property tax hikes shouldn’t be mentioned amid the present affordability disaster. Chatting with Rosenberg on Wednesday, she emphasised that the Metropolis Council has the ultimate say over property taxes and made clear it won’t approve any hike.
Menin mentioned shifting further prices onto small owners and companies throughout an affordability crunch is unacceptable, and “either dipping into the rainy day reserves or proposing any kind of property tax increase is not on the table for us.”
Requested by a Politico reporter about Menin’s look on Rosenberg’s present after his Islamophobic feedback about Hizzoner, Mamdani mentioned he would let the Speaker reply that.
A spokesperson for the Speaker’s workplace mentioned Menin’s look on Rosenberg’s present was one in every of many media hits she did that day to debate the price range however that she “vehemently disagrees” with the hosts views and previous remarks in regards to the Mayor.
“Speaker Menin vehemently disagrees with Sid Rosenberg on a whole range of topics. She strongly condemns his Islamophobic rhetoric. She appeared on WABC radio, as well as numerous outlets, to speak to New Yorkers about the impact of the city budget,” the spokesperson mentioned.
