Mayor Zohran Mamdani driving the subway.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21-22, marked the 52nd and 53rd days of Zohran Mamdani’s time period as mayor. New York News is following Mamdani round his first 100 days in workplace as we carefully monitor his progress on fulfilling marketing campaign guarantees, appointing key leaders to authorities posts, and managing the town’s funds. Right here’s a abstract of what the mayor did yesterday and at this time.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani spent the weekend gearing up for the second main snowstorm of his tenure, bracing the town for 12-18 inches of snowfall anticipated between Sunday and Monday.
Town has ready 2,200 snow plows, 1,000 emergency snow shovelers, dozens of warming facilities and buses, and declared a Code Blue — instructing metropolis shelters to absorb any New Yorkers caught within the chilly.
The blizzard comes simply weeks after a storm that introduced a dozen inches of snow to elements of New York Metropolis and a historic prolonged chilly snap that led to the deaths of 20 New Yorkers. This weekend’s storm might convey probably the most snowfall the town has seen previously 5 years.
As snow begins to fall on the 5 boroughs, Mamdani and his administration need to take the teachings they realized throughout January’s snowfall into their response to this weekend’s storm, which can once more convey freezing temperatures to the 5 boroughs.
Like final time, Mamdani has a key message for New Yorkers: keep inside.
Classes realized? Mayor takes on second climate check of time period
When January’s snowstorm introduced a lot of the town to a standstill, the town moved all public colleges on-line for the day, quite than cancel courses altogether. The day noticed comparatively low attendance in comparison with typical in-person numbers, and college students and lecturers bumped into minor technical bumps.
For Monday, the town was granted a waiver by the state schooling commissioner, Mamdani mentioned.
Town can also be taking a stronger stance on journey than it did for final month’s snowstorm, choosing a journey ban. Throughout January’s storm, the town strongly suggested in opposition to pointless journey, however didn’t outright ban nonessential autos from being on the streets.
Underneath the journey ban, metropolis streets can be closed to all “non-essential vehicular traffic” from 9 p.m. Sunday to 12 p.m. on Monday, Mamdani mentioned. Automobiles exempt from the journey ban embrace authorities and emergency response autos, public transportation autos, and meals, gasoline, and medical provide supply autos.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill introduced shutdowns of New Jersey Transit operations and velocity restrictions on main roadways on Sunday afternoon. Mamdani urged New Yorkers to prepare dinner for themselves and keep away from ordering meals for supply.
And, as the town braces for extra freezing temperatures, the Mamdani administration is doubling down on its efforts to convey New Yorkers in from the chilly and lift consciousness concerning the shelter choices accessible to these caught outdoors.
Going through a crushing chilly snap that lasted from mid-January into early February, which started with the January storm’s heavy snowfall, the Mamdani administration constructed an emergency response that prioritized getting folks inside.
Just like the final storm, the town is sending outreach groups to find and help New Yorkers caught within the chilly as a part of its Code blue protocol. Mamdani has emphasised that outreach must be led by the Division of Homeless Companies quite than the NYPD.
All through the current chilly snap, the Mamdani administration elevated the variety of warming facilities and warming autos open all through the town, from 10 firstly of the storm in January to 22 warming buses, 13 college warming facilities, and 11 hospital warming amenities. With a higher variety of accessible warming facilities, the administration is emphasizing an early and aggressive response to the chilly.
The administration has confronted heavy scrutiny for its response to the chilly snap, with varied elected officers, together with Metropolis Council Speaker Julie Menin, urging the mayor to involuntarily take away extra people from the streets. New York State has slender provisions for forcibly bringing people inside, requiring a person to be each exhibiting indicators of psychological sickness and a menace to themselves or others.
“Every New Yorker seeking warmth and shelter will be able to find it in our city,” Mamdani mentioned Sunday.
