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Winter storms have historically been a landmine for New York City’s mayors, with every inch of snow bringing the potential for public criticism over unglamorous issues such as plow deployment and salt distribution.
There’s a long history of experienced mayors getting it wrong. But Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected New York City leader, appears to have passed his first test with flying colors.
During the two-day storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on New York, Mamdani was everywhere, shovelling snow, appearing in children’s virtual classrooms, and capturing the whole thing – of course – in video form.
In the buildup to the storm, it was barely possible to avoid Mamdani – a contrast to Eric Adams, his less visible predecessor – as he popped up on local TV channels and swamped social media, urging people to sign up for updates and later offering guidance to people who had lost heat in their homes.
There was a video the night before the storm which saw Mamdani, clad in a green sanitation department jacket, walking around a facility where snow plows and salting trucks were being prepared. Complete with Mamdani’s trademark snappy edits, it was a rare occasion when the inside of a storage warehouse looked cool.
A crisis can be an opportunity for a politician to look competent and build trust, and it was clear Team Mamdani did not want to miss that opportunity. Once the storm started, Mamdani was dispatched to New York streets, where he helped to shovel cars out of the snow in at least two neighborhoods. (Unsurprisingly, his shovelling was caught on camera.)
He kept the press conferences rolling throughout the storm, and even children couldn’t escape the mayor. After he closed schools on Monday, with students instead learning from home, Mamdani appeared on screen for one class, reading a story and asking students what they planned to do in the snow after school.
“It is such a pleasure to get a chance to say hello virtually,” Mamdani said.
“I know everybody was saying their plans for the snow day after school, that they would make a snow angel, that they would play in the snow with their friends. And also I heard a number of you say that you would help your family, just in dealing with cleaning out the snow – and I want to tell you that whenever you see someone that you can help, it is always a lovely thing to do. Don’t put a snowball in your pocket, though. That will melt.”
Of course, it wasn’t all light-hearted. Despite Mamdani activating the city’s “code blue” protocols, which include precautions to protect homeless New Yorkers from the cold, at least 10 people died between Friday and Monday, ABC News reported, several of whom were believed to have been living on the streets. In response, Mamdani said the city was “executing new additional emergency protocols”, including sending staff to canvass people and help anyone who needs assistance.
More experienced politicians than Mamdani have been bested by snow.
Bill de Blasio had been mayor for about the same length of time as Mamdani when 11.5in of snow hit New York in 2014. Like Mamdani, he had focused his campaign on inequality and helping working-class New Yorkers. De Blasio was accused of neglecting the wealthy Upper East Side in the wake of the storm, instead giving Brooklyn and Queens snow-plowing priority.
He received better press two years later, when a storm dumped 27in of snow in what was the city’s biggest snowstorm since records began. De Blasio held 12 press conferences over two days and was praised by local media, although he still faced criticism from some Queens residents who felt they had been neglected.
His predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, faced intense criticism in 2010, when some streets went unplowed for days following 20in of snow, sending his approval rating plummeting.
It was an eventful debut for Mamdani, but there will be little time for the mayor to rest on his laurels. Dangerously cold temperatures are expected to remain in New York for much of the next week, with the mayor warning “cold snaps like this are life-threatening”.
“When it comes to getting people out of the cold, we are leaving no stone unturned,” Mamdani said.
“Stay safe, stay warm, and look out for your neighbors.”
