Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a press convention in Sundown Park, Brooklyn, on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, the place he introduced a $108 million plan to exchange greater than 6,700 catch basins citywide over the subsequent decade.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Tuesday, March 31, marked the ninetieth day of Zohran Mamdani’s time period as mayor. New York News is following Mamdani round his first 100 days in workplace. We’re intently monitoring 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 in the present day.
Town will make investments $108 million to exchange greater than 6,700 catch basins over the subsequent decade, a part of an effort to enhance avenue drainage and scale back flooding as rainstorms develop extra intense, Mayor Zohran Mamdani introduced Tuesday.
Mamdani stated catch basins are “an essential part of a 7,500-mile sewer network” and stated the town has greater than 150,000 of them.
Catch basins, also called storm drains, channel rainwater from streets into the town’s sewer system. Blocked basin grates can depart neighborhoods susceptible to flooding.
DEP Commissioner Lisa Garcia stated the town’s current rainstorms have elevated strain on that system. “New York City’s most intense rainstorms have all come in the past four years,” Garcia stated. “That means our infrastructure has to work harder and smarter.”
Analysis warns that local weather change is rising the danger of maximum short-duration rainfall in NYC and placing added strain on stormwater infrastructure constructed for much less intense downpours.
DEP Commissioner Lisa Garcia flanked by Mayor Mamdani and native Council Member Alexa Avilés.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Garcia stated the replacements will “modernize underground structures to increase capacity and take in more water.” She stated this system is meant to guard neighborhoods throughout all 5 boroughs.
The catch basin initiative additionally builds on the town’s buy of recent cleansing vehicles, Garcia stated. 9 are already in service, with 4 extra anticipated later this yr.
As well as, DEP spends about $1.5 million a yr to improve current basins, Garcia stated. She stated the company has put in greater than 400 slotted manhole covers to offer an alternate drainage path when basins are blocked and has made practically 300 catch basins bike-friendly.
Garcia stated DEP can also be utilizing a “proactive, data-driven approach” to inspections and upkeep. She stated the company checks catch basins yearly or biannually and makes use of flood sensors to establish persistent flooding areas and prioritize repairs.
She added that catch basin and avenue flooding complaints at the moment are resolved inside three days.
Mamdani forged the funding as a part of a broader argument for seen public infrastructure enhancements. “When city government can show that when it rains in the city, it doesn’t have to flood, it also shows New Yorkers that we can dream of a tomorrow that is better than today,” he stated.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
TikTok: ‘We’re again’
Additionally on Tuesday, Mamdani’s administration reversed the town authorities’s TikTok ban, reopening the app to metropolis businesses after former Mayor Eric Adams barred it from authorities gadgets in 2023 over safety considerations tied to the platform’s Chinese language possession.
The social media-savvy mayor addressed the reversal a couple of hours later on the Sundown Park press convention. Requested whether or not metropolis know-how or cybersecurity officers had set guidelines to guard knowledge and placement info, the mayor stated there can be “specific procedures” and that “authorized users will be able to use this on city devices.”
He additionally argued that the rationale behind the Adams-era ban had modified. “The concerns around privacy had to do, as was stated, with the prior ownership of TikTok, that ownership has now changed,” Mamdani stated. “We see the federal government is using TikTok. Our goal is to communicate with as many New Yorkers as possible. This is one way that many New Yorkers are engaging with the world around.”
Picture by NYCMayor/TikTok
The Adams administration banned TikTok from metropolis authorities gadgets after officers raised considerations that ByteDance, TikTok’s guardian firm, was too intently tied to the Chinese language authorities, probably exposing consumer knowledge. The mayoral TikTok account went darkish after that transfer.
TikTok’s U.S. enterprise was restructured earlier this yr into a brand new three way partnership with a majority-American board, although ByteDance retains a minority stake.
Mamdani visits U.N. headquarters
Mamdani meets with United Nations Secretary Normal António Guterres on the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.Michael Appleton/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
Earlier Tuesday, Mamdani visited the United Nations headquarters for his first assembly there as mayor, sitting down with Secretary-Normal António Guterres to debate cooperation between the town and the worldwide physique.
In response to a U.N. readout, Guterres welcomed Mamdani to headquarters and thanked him for the “outstanding relationship and support” the United Nations receives from New York as its host metropolis. The 2 additionally mentioned find out how to deepen cooperation, with the secretary-general noting the “critical role” cities play in in the present day’s world.
Calling it his first go to to U.N. headquarters, Mamdani added: “It’s beautiful.”
