NYC NOW - Zohran Mamdani’s First 30 Days as Mayor. How Has He Done?

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

One month into Zohran Mamdani’s tenure as New York City mayor, his governing style is starting to take shape. From a snowstorm that tested his crisis response to early moves on child care alongside Governor Kathy Hochul, Mamdani has paired constant public visibility with a push to deliver on his affordability agenda. WNYC city politics reporters Brigid Bergin and Liz Kim assess what he has accomplished so far, where he has political leverage, and the challenges ahead as he tries to run the city while sustaining the movement politics that powered his rise.

Welcome to NYC now. I'm Jena Pierre. New York City Mayor Zoramamemdani is wrapping up his first full month in office. Our politics reporters join us to go over the new mayor's report card. But first, here's what's going on in New York City News. A Manhattan judge has dismissed the most serious federal charges against Luigi Mangione. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett threw out firearm and murder charges. charges. If convicted, Mangione could have faced the death penalty. The judge says she doesn't

want that to be a possibility in this case. Mangione still faces two federal stalking charges, which could land him in prison for life. He also faces additional charges in state court. Mangione is accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in a case that's generated international headlines. A new lawsuit claims the NYPD unfairly targeted black and Latino drivers for searches under the Adams administration. Here's Donna Lieberman with the New York Civil Liberties Union, the group that filed the lawsuit. Stop and frisk has not disappeared. It's simply shifted. What we're seeing now is stop and frisk on wheels.

The lawsuit claims vehicle searches more than doubled under Adams to more than 28,000 in 2024. Drivers of color accounted for about 84% of vehicle searches, but white drivers accounted for less than 4%. Only a small percentage of encounters resulted in charges. The NYPD has said it has more officers in high crime areas, which results in more searches. Another frigid weekend ahead, the National Weather Service says a low-pressure system to the east of New York City could bring more snow to the area. But forecasters say the latest models show the storm passing far enough away, that New York City might actually stay dry. Either way, it'll definitely be cold.

Air temperatures will likely stay in the teens and lower 20s through Sunday, layer up New Yorkers, or maybe stay indoors if you can help it. All right, after a quick break, we take a look at how month number one went for our new mayor, Zoramam Dani. Stay close. Welcome back to NYC now. We've officially wrapped up the first month of Zoraam Dani's tenure as mayor of New York City. And in just a few weeks, this guy has been everywhere.

One moment he's signing executive orders on a desk set up in Grand Army Plaza. The next, he's at the Williamsburg Bridge, paving over a speed bump in a bike lane. And then he's up in Albany, standing alongside Governor Kathy Hokel as she embraces his push for free child care. Bumdani has spent this first month governing much like he campaigned. He's all over the place, cranking out videos on social media and talking about. nonstop about his affordability agenda. So how has he done so far? He scored some early wins, particularly on child care.

But there's a bigger question hanging over all of this. Can Mamdani effectively run the city and lead a movement at the same time? To help us break down his first month, I'm joined by WNYC City Politics Reporters, Bridget Bergen, and Liz Kim. All right, so let's get to Mayor Mumdani's first big test. Of course, we had that big snowstorm over the weekend. And historically, that's been a basic stress test for a new mayor. How did Mayor Mundani handle this one? He handled the snowstorm the way he campaigned,

meaning he was on the ground. He was funny. And he also knew how to drop these cultural references that would make him go viral. The snow is coming down heavily across our city. And I can think of no better experience. for New Yorkers to stay home, take a long nap, or take advantage of our public libraries offer a free access to heated rivalry on e-book or audiobook for anyone with a library card. That's the steamy hockey bestseller, right?

And then we saw immediately the effect of that because the New York public library system put out a press release saying that this book was rented, like the number of times it was rented went up something like over 500 percent or something like that. And people were getting library cards. Yes. He is imminently watchable. So because he is such a gifted communicator, this is sort of what we need in a snowstorm, right? We need our mayor to be on the ground and we need him to be over communicating to New Yorkers, be telling them, you need to stay home.

Yeah. Stay off the roads. I mean, it was also interesting to watch him go through the learning curve of it all, to be out there trying to make sure and to reassure New Yorkers that. that he knew that this was a test, that he knew that people were going to evaluate his performance. Schools are either going to be remote or in person by noon on Sunday. Sent students home with the materials and technology they need to learn virtually and are working with vendors to ensure that our systems have the capacity that they need. He was very conscious of setting the deadlines that he would communicate by.

And he did that. And then exceeding it. Every agency across the whole of government is working in close coordination with each other and with NICM. DOT crews are tending to bridges. Parks department workers are removing snow and down trees from our parks. The NYPD is providing escorts to EMS and DSNY as needed. And the FDNY is maintaining its full emergency response capability. So I think the kind of early evaluation was the communication was very good.

Part of what we're seeing and will continue to see is, a city the size of New York, the scale of the population and what you have to deal with, what were the things that fell through the gaps? And one of the things that I think people will have some questions about that are very reasonable is so far we've seen 10 deaths as of this conversation. Those are human tragedies connected to the storm. What happened and what didn't happen that allowed those people to fall through the cracks. Yeah. And how did Mamdani respond to those 10 debts. I think at this point, he's still saying that the city needs the full report from the medical examiner's office to be able to understand exactly what was the cause of death.

And he's getting criticism for that. There's a question about whether he should have said, you know, we don't know yet because we're awaiting the medical examiner's report. But I think any veteran city official could have told him. And there's been some report. that behind the scenes there was a memo that went out that said these were likely due to hypothermia. But it took him days to finally say that according to a preliminary report, seven of these deaths were due to hypothermia that likely played a role in these people dying. And that these were people that the city had been in contact with previously through the Department of Homeless Services.

So, you know, what happened between some of those previous contacts and how those people were allowed potentially to be unsheltered. And were there any other gaps in how the city responded? And that's something that is to some degree in inevitability, particularly during a moment of transition. Well, he is taking office. New commissioners are coming in. Handoffs are happening in real time in all of these agencies, a 300,000 person workforce.

So is it fair to completely blame him personally for that? I think probably it's way premature to say that. But I think there are assessments that need to be made. And there's still, it's New York City. Like, as well as you can respond to something, there are still going to be critiques about what could get better. I had to take my daughter to the doctor's office on Monday. After shoveling five feet of snow around my car to move it, I realized I shouldn't move my car because I'll never get my parking spot back from my street since alternate side is suspended. So we had to take the bus.

but getting to the bus stop and navigating those snow piles. There's no mountains today. I mean, come on now. These are, there are enormous piles of snow. And on our way there, it was really difficult to navigate. On our way back, we were at a bus stop where some of those independent contractors had been hired and they had made a path. And it made such a huge difference to be able to get off. But who were the people who were riding buses?

Who are the people that need that service? often older New Yorkers, New Yorkers with disabilities. And so I think those are fair questions to ask the city. What can we do in future storms? And also because it's going to stay cold. Yeah. The snow's not melting. So what are we going to do going forward?

Apparently they're going to unveil some snow melting machine. Bring it on, baby. I wanted to give our colleague Liam Quigley a hat tip because he went out and spoke to New Yorkers about how they experienced the snow. and what they thought about the new mayor's response. And there was this one quote he got that I loved, that I feel just sort of captures New Yorkers and why they can never be satisfied.

Tell me, just introduce yourself, please? My name is Denovo Parks. Do you think Mayor Mamdani, the new mayor, did a good job communicating about the storm? Would you say your street was adequately plowed? Do you think there could have been anything done better? Well, faster would have been better because New York is the city that never sleeps.

and we're also at a city that never stops. So doing it faster would have been, you know, more appropriate. But, I mean, it's snow. It's a natural occurrence. We can only control but so much. And I thought that was such an excellent quote. And it kind of shows you, you know, the kind of pressure than a mayor, any mayor faces with snow removal. I mean, you can, they have the Plow NYC interactive tracker, which indicated that snow plows were moving across the city.

The mayor said that every street was plowed, probably multiple times. But you're not going to get everywhere and you're not going to get there fast enough for many people. Okay, so Mayor Mumdani made it through his first snowstorm. Let's go ahead and switch topics now and talk a bit about child care, which was at the center of Mayor Mumdani's agenda. Now, within weeks of being sworn in, Mamdani was standing alongside Governor Kathy Hokel announcing a push for free child care, for two-year-olds. Could either of you walk us through what he actually got done there in his first month? I mean, this was a signature part of Mom Donnie's campaign. Universal Child Care with services available without any sort of preconditions for all New Yorkers from six months to five years old.

That's a huge lift. That is not what they announced eight days into his administration, standing alongside Governor Kathy Hokel. What they did announce was the first step towards moving towards universal child care, which in of itself is a huge deal. They're basically talking about the first step in starting a new grade, for lack of a better term, a program called ToCare, which would it offer child care to the city's two-year-olds, something that they would phase in, something that would initially be offered to people based on need. But in addition to that, they also want to love.

look at some of the existing early childhood education programs. We have pre-K for four-year-olds, 3K for 3-year-olds, and ensuring that those programs truly are universal. 3K at this point has been a source of complaints because people either can't get a seat or if they finally do get a seat, it's in a neighborhood that doesn't make any sense for them. And it wouldn't help them to begin with. So making sure these programs are actually accessible, particularly 3K, for all New York City residents. The big part and the reason Governor Hockel was there was because she has committed

that the state will fund this child care expansion for the first two years. Worth noting, somebody's up for re-election this year. And it's not Mayor M M Moldani. It's Governor Kathy Hokel. And she has made child care something that she has talked about even before Mom Dani was running.

It is a win-win for both of them. And this is a huge moment for him to sort of start his administration with some wind at his back to show that they are able to deliver on some of the very big promises that they made to New Yorkers during the campaign. We're not through the budget season yet. This is money that we expect will be in the state budget. But there are a lot of other hurdles to getting this fully off the ground. Yes.

Did you guys see that story about they interviewed, they found a family? or a couple. They already had one child, but they weren't sure they could afford a second child. But then, you know, the story goes that she heard this had, you know, the governor was backing this new to care program and that she sort of called her husband and they're like, we can have that second child now. But I'm like, they could hold up. Hold your horses.

This is government we're talking about. And yes, it is a huge policy victory for. him to get the governor, to put it in her budget and will likely get past. I don't see any hurdles in that. But this is something to implement. This will really test his medal as a mayor. Bridget and I were talking, I mean, Bill de Blasio getting pre-K off the ground was huge, right? But he had an infrastructure to sort of work off of, which were the city public schools.

This is very different. This is him having to go into child care centers, right? And ask them and kind of work with them. Yeah, a very private system. And not just child care centers, but think about all the home-based child care providers that have been doing this. How does he absorb them and put them in the network? And also how does he give them a living wage?

Our colleagues, Karen E. and Jessica Gould did a story, a great story that pointed out that a lot of these home-based child care providers make as little as $6 an hour. Now, for a mayor who has promised to be an advocate for the working class, that cannot stand, obviously. But then again, how does he afford all of this? Well, we know that Mayor Mumdani ran on taxing wealthy New Yorkers to pay for big affordability promises like universal child care. But you know, so far these early deals, including, you know, the one that we're mentioning with Governor Kathy Hokel, they don't actually raise taxes on the rich just yet. What does this really tell you about how much power he has

as mayor right now instead of the promises that he made just as a candidate? I would say that Mayor Mundani has any intention of conceding that he can't get this done. I think, you know, knows that he doesn't have the ability to raise taxes himself, that is a decision that has to come out of Albany through state lawmakers and the governor's office. However, one of the powers of the Mamdani campaign that is continued to be harnessed under this sort of new administration, but in a different way, is the power of boots on the ground. And I went out with this group of volunteers. They were all former Mamdani campaign volunteers who have. now started to dedicate their time to this new organization called Our Time. It's a nonprofit,

social welfare organization. And if you look at their logo, you would say, wow, that looks a lot like the Mamdani campaign local. Same colored scheme. And yet, you know, these are people who are going out. They're going door to door, and they are canvassing to tax the rich. They have been out there since early January. They are trying to get New Yorkers. And they're being smart about it. They're going to doors where they have gone to in the past and gotten some support for this administration. And so they're going to the door saying, hey, we got this really big win. We have the governor saying she's going to help us fund child care. But it's not permanent funding. It's only funding for two years. And there's more that we're trying to do, free.

buses, freeze the rent. To be totally clear, this organization is separate from the administration. They're not supposed to be coordinating. However, it is largely made up of former Momdani campaign, volunteers and organizers. And so there is a clear reinforcement of his priorities in their messaging. And I think we'll see if that sort of moves the needle. They're trying to get 25,000 letters sent to state lawmakers by the end of this month, that's not an insubstantial lift. And so to see if they can get there will be something that we're going to continue to watch. But here's what I think about that, right? Mom Dani got elected because he ran on these very clear affordability issues around free buses, freezing the rent, and later on he tacked on the child care issue. But I think

that for most of the supporters who voted for him, I don't know that wealth redistribution was very high on their list. I think it's a core principle of the Democratic Socialists of America. And he said he was elected as a Democratic Socialist and he's going to govern as a Democratic socialist. And I think what we're seeing him do right now is trying to lead that very left movement to increase taxes on the wealthy. But I don't know that. that the on-the-ground support, this is another ask that I don't know that all of them have buy-in on. And I'm thinking a lot about too, like the immigrant communities, like immigrant business

owners when they hear about raising the taxes on the wealthy. I wonder how that resonates with him. But he is certainly in a much better position to make this ask than Bill de Blasio was in right, because Bill de Blasio wanted this too, right? Did he have this boots on the ground operation to help him? I mean, they never tried to do something on the scale of, I think, what we are seeing through something like Our Time, but Our Time is partnering with things like the New York City Democratic Socialists of America and some of these other advocacy groups that are working on these types of issues.

So I don't think that they were trying to make it as much a campaign in the way that we are seeing the Mamdani administration and its backers. trying to advocate for this campaign. We're talking with WNYC's city politics reporters Bridget Bergen and Liz Kim about Mayor Mundani's first month in office. So Bridget, I want to look ahead here to maybe discuss what are the biggest challenges that the mayor will be facing in the near future? The budget is one of the ones that stands out. He is already trying to, I think, use what we're going to use what we're going to be.

We often refer to as the budget dance where the administration paints a dire picture. It's part of a negotiating strategy both with the council but also with the state. They're projecting it more than $12 billion budget gap for the next two years, which Mondani is saying is higher than the budget gaps that we saw at the height of the Great Recession. Those are serious numbers. What is the sort of behind the scenes accounting? that is getting us there and what's not being included in those projections. That's something we won't know until later next month.

But there are some real challenges associated. What do they get from the state? And can they try to get more money than the city has gotten from the state in the past? Okay. Liz? We should also talk about the primary races, the congressional primary races. That's another challenge, right? Yes.

He decided to weigh in, I think, which surprised some people have maybe not surprised. Not surprising. But he now finds himself on opposite sides with establishment Democrats. Powerful establishment Democrats. So the first one he did was he weighed in on the primary for Dan Goldman. He's going to back city controller, Bradlander, who is a progressive ally during the mayoral race. But I think the more worrisome race for him is the one in Brooklyn. in Queens, in which he is backing the Democratic Socialist Claire Valdez against the Brooklyn

Borough President Antonio Raynoso. Yeah. Who grew up in the district, who is the protege of the predecessor, Representative Nidia Velazquez, who she was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. You know, when she announced her decision to not run for reelection right around Thanksgiving, she was really emotional. So for him to come out and endorse Clara Valdez with what sounds like very little consultation or coordination with representative. His campaign, people close to the mayor have tried to push back on that.

But it's unclear, right? I think what matters, though, is she's mad. Yes. Oh, she's mad about it. Yeah. And that's political capital that he has spent that now we'll see. What is the result of that? If Valdez is elected, it may seem like it was a very smart bet.

If she's unsuccessful, it may be some bridges that were burned and some allies that were lost very early in his administration. Yeah. Well, I was going to say it, and it's, you know, it's because of Nydia's influence, right, that she is going to carry along a lot of other important Democrats in the council, for example, right? I mean, we could list all of them off, but he's going to need the counsel, you know. But to put yourself on this like opposing side from these establishment Democrats, you know, one person said to me, and it's true, you know, it's hard to be a mayor. And you're going, like most mayors will go through some tough times and you're going to need friends. Yeah. Right.

So there's that dynamic too. Is this too risky for him to do? The flip side argument is, listen, it's an open seat. Right. Yeah. And this is what primaries are for. And I think he feels a responsibility to representing a movement. Exactly.

And he wants to expand the number of people who he feels can have influence, you know, in the state legislature and also in Washington, D.C. And he feels that this is not only within his right to do this. But he feels this is a responsibility he has to his home party that really helped get him elected, which is the DSA, you know. Here's the big question for you, too. How do you think Mayor Mumdani has been received so far by New Yorkers? He has continued to engage and use social media in a way that no mayor before him has ever used it. And it's a little unfair, right? Because the number of platforms are constantly growing and the ways you use it is evolved.

He's all over my social media feed. Same. You know? Oh, totally. And these aren't just like liked by like a thousand people. It's like liked by tens of thousands. Tens of thousands. Or more.

In like a million views easily. Yeah. Right. There is something captivating about him to watch because he is such a good performer, I think. And I was kind of shocked because there was that GQ story. I texted it to you, right? And it was all about Mayor Mamdani had a custom embroidered New York City jacket made for the snowstorm. It's a black jacket, a Carhart jacket.

It looked really nice. It was really stylish. She looked really good. And he even did like a fit check video, right? But I was thinking, and when I tweeted that out, I was like, you know, Adams would have gotten killed if he had done something like this. because people would have said, you know, it's the height of narcissism. How much did that jacket cost? Not in the beginning.

He wouldn't have gotten that. No, I don't think so. I don't think so either. New York City is the fashion capital also. But Mom Dhani just got a lot of love for that. I mean, I think that's the different, like, when you think of it's the honeymoon versus later on. Yeah. And I think part of the Adams administration was they were under scrutiny so early on for, you know,

what ended up being so many different things. This administration is so new. And yes, it is a honeymoon. I was thinking about your question as you asked to Jeney, and my pause in responding is, I think what's fascinating is not just how are New Yorkers responding to Mayor Mum Donnie at this point? It's our people across the country responding to Mayor Mom Donnie,

because Liz and I are incredibly fortunate to be covering someone who is a... national story. And he knew it from the moment he walked into his inauguration. He made decisions that were so strategic about the messaging that he wanted to send, not just to New Yorkers, but to the country, about how someone who was self-identified as a Democratic socialist could govern with excellence, could bring the city to new heights, could show that you could expect incredible things from civic governance. I think about the swearing in that you, I went to Liz in this subway station that's no longer used, but it is like a marvel of something that was built, the City Hall subway station that's now essentially a museum.

That again speaks to his ability. It's stagecraft. I just, you know, his mother, as you just interviewed someone about her. Miraneyer. Mirrenier is a filmmaker. I don't think that's an accident. His wife is an artist. I think he is just really attune to storytelling.

Aesthetics. Aesthetics. One of this week's press conference, he tells people a story about when he was out in the snow and he came across a New Yorker. And he noticed that his jacket was open. And he uses that as a way to tell a story about New Yorkers who are in need. And I looked over at this man and he was wearing a jacket and I asked him, You'd zip up your jacket. It's very cold.

He said, my zipper is broken. And the reason I share this with you is that there are many New Yorkers who are having to go through these kinds of conditions without everything that they need. And too often they're made to feel as if it's their responsibility. And I want to make very clear from our city government that actually we view your problems as our problems. And it's such a story that brings you sort of really in close contact. Like, we know people like this, right?

We've met people. And I think when he does things like that, that is part, I think, of his skill in reaching New Yorkers and making that connection. Well, it's leaning on human experiences, right? Yes. Like, that's the beauty of it. But I think to your point, the message of a story like that is this is how city government can tell you to take care of your neighbor. And we think that we can help you take care of your neighbor, which then, to bring it back is why on this inauguration day as we were out, talking to people in different parts of the city.

Our colleague, Joe Hong, was at one of those block parties that was outside of City Hall talking to people who were out there in what was incredibly. It was so cold. I can just tell you that when I think about it, my feet started to get cold. He met this young guy from Boston, phone banking for Mom Donnie. From Massachusetts? From Boston? Wow.

Throughout the campaign. I'm a DSA member in Boston, DSA. And Mom Dani obviously had his roots in, in, tire leave during his campaign through New York DSA. And we've seen what works. We see that it's a message. It's about not just saying affordability, but having goals, having a plan. We're running candidates in Boston and Cambridge and Somerville with very similar agendas of city-owned grocery stores. We're currently getting rent control on the ballot for next year. And we've gotten the signatures. We're fighting for that. And I think seeing what's possible in New York has moved

a lot to do more in Boston. So that to me is just this reminder that this is a phenomenon that New Yorkers will have an intimate experience with, but this is bigger than just New York City. If you could give a letter grade to Mayor Mundani on this first month, what would it be? Wow, a letter grade. I mean, I think I'm going to give him an A-minus. Liz? Same, A-minus.

Okay. Which is a really high mark as, you know, what does that make him, like, Magnacum? loud or something if that was his average fan. I think it's a reflection of the fact that he was able to deliver this big win on one of his... On childcare? Yeah, on child care, one of his key

priorities, that he navigated some real big challenges with this snowstorm and while not perfect, I don't think he's leaving it with any devastating missteps, but certainly with lessons

and ways that they can improve how they perform. going forward. Yeah, I agree. I think the snowstorm was really key. At the end of the day, a snowstorm can be the thing that inflicts real political damage. Everybody brings up the example of 1969 and Lindsay. There was a 15-inch snowstorm that killed 42 people. You know, damaged his political career.

And he not only got through it, but I felt like what the test is, you don't have any major screw-ups where, like a neighborhood, like the Upper East Side says, hey, you didn't hit our neighborhood. Like, that didn't happen. Right. Which is the big thing that happened to Bilazia. Right. But it's also, I think, you know, and this goes a lot to the performance aspect of it. It's projecting that you're in command and also establishing right off the bat, like the first month, trust with New Yorkers. A busy month for Mayor Mumdani and a busy month for you too as well. That's WMYC's Liz Kim and Bridget Bergen.

Thanks so much. Thanks, Jeney. Thanks, Jene. What's your grade for Mayor Mumdani this first month? And why? Hit us up, we want to know. Send us an email at NYC now at WMYC.org. Thanks again for listening.

I'm Jenae Pierre. See you soon.