Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared to move his first climate take a look at as mayor amid a blizzard on Sunday that buried the 5 boroughs with between 8 and 15 inches of snow — probably the most snowfall the town has seen since 2021.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared to move his first climate take a look at as mayor amid a blizzard on Sunday that buried the 5 boroughs with between 8 and 15 inches of snow — probably the most snowfall the town has seen since 2021.
The mayor remained extremely seen all through the town on Sunday beneath heavy snowfall, showing dwell on the Climate Channel, holding a press convention to ship updates, and serving to residents in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, dig their automobiles out from the snow.
Blizzards in New York Metropolis have a checkered political historical past. In a metropolis with 8.5 million individuals packed into 300 sq. miles, Metropolis Corridor’s neglect of any avenue or neighborhood can have disastrous penalties and produce on the wrath of the general public.
Former Mayor John Lindsay’s notoriously failed response to a devastating blizzard in 1969 severely broken his reputation with voters. After the storm left 42 individuals useless and 288 injured, half of them in Queens, belief in Lindsay’s management plummeted and he scraped by in his reelection marketing campaign later that 12 months.
Different successors of Mamdani’s have additionally had pitfalls of their very own in blizzard response — Michael Bloomberg took warmth in 2010 for the town’s botched operations throughout an after-Christmas blizzard, and Invoice De Blasio struggled all through his tenure to achieve belief in his emergency response skills amid a sequence of questionable snowstorm responses.
All through the previous week, Mamdani appeared to take these classes to coronary heart. Days earlier than the storm hit, he repeatedly spoke publicly about storm preparation days and made New Yorkers properly conscious of the hazards that got here.
Ultimately, Mamdani appeared to counsel Monday that the town got here out of the winter storm properly.
“New York was prepared and New York weathered the storm,” Mamdani mentioned at a Monday press convention.
When requested to grade his administration’s response, the mayor demurred.
“I will leave it to New Yorkers to give me a grade,” Mamdani mentioned, as an alternative crediting advance planning and the work of sanitation staff and different metropolis staff who started getting ready days earlier than snow fell.
Communications: Mamdani fills the airwaves
Mayor Zohran Mamdani with Parks Division members in snowy NYC throughout a winter storm on Jan. 25, 2026.Kara McCurdy/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
Simply as essential because the response itself is how that response is communicated and made seen to the general public, in line with George Artz, who served as press secretary for former Mayor Ed Koch.
“He’s done very well,” Artz instructed New York News. “He was on all the TV channels, he was out there, he was holding press conferences.”
Mamdani spent a lot of Friday and Saturday sitting for interviews and holding press conferences about storm preparation, urging New Yorkers to enroll in textual content notifications from NotifyNYC, store for groceries upfront of the snow, and keep away from pointless journey.
On Sunday, the day of the storm, Mamdani went dwell on the Climate Channel from Central Park, chatting with broadcast meteorologist Jim Cantore in regards to the snow. He additionally held a press convention in the midst of the day, delivering updates to the town alongside different members of his administration.
Along with remaining seen on tv and repeatedly updating his social media because the storm went on, Mamdani spent a lot of his time out within the chilly visiting Division of Sanitation Employees, Division of Parks and Recreation staff, and even serving to dig residents’ automobiles out from the snow.
The mayor’s response introduced him reward from different electeds and political gamers — even a few of his critics.
“It was his first test to the public, and it was good,” Artz mentioned.
Mamdani sought to make the day enjoyable for snowed-in New Yorkers, urging residents to remain inside, calm down, and watch tv or learn.
The complaints that did floor
Mamdani made some extent of getting ready the town’s snowplows and avenue brining operations a number of days upfront. When the time got here to place cleanup measures into motion, the town had over 2,000 lively snowplows and 700 salt spreaders canvassing the 5 boroughs. Town’s PlowNYC map permits New Yorkers to test when their avenue was final plowed.
The day didn’t come with out hiccups and complaints, although.
The excessive quantity of snowfall left large mounds of snow on the edges of the streets after that they had been plowed, posing points for pedestrians braving the chilly. And, the town’s requirement that property homeowners shovel their sidewalks in lieu of the town being accountable left many walkways practically impassable, an age-old downside within the metropolis.
Mamdani additionally put an early deal with security, declaring the standard Code Blue, which requires all shelters to confess anyone trying to get out of the chilly and triggers homeless outreach groups to hunt out New Yorkers caught within the chilly. Town normally declares a Code Blue when the temperature drops under 32 levels.
Town recorded 5 deaths on Friday, which Mamdani mentioned are nonetheless being investigated for being tied to the chilly.
He mentioned at a Monday press convention that the dying toll had risen to seven, and that the town was investigating the causes of dying.
“I send my deepest condolences to the families and the loved ones of those New Yorkers that lost their lives,” he mentioned on the press convention. “Any loss of life is truly a tragedy and that’s why we’re continuing to urge New Yorkers to get to a safe and warm location.”
With reporting by Adam Daly
