New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani has finally hit 100 days in office as of Apr. 10. After being sworn into office on Jan. 1, many New Yorkers were eager to see how the young mayor would do in the wake of a tumultuous time in the Big Apple. So far, there have been a lot of changes in New York City under his reign; both positive and negative.
For one, some New Yorkers were unhappy with Mamdani because when he was running for election, he promised free bus fare and travel expenses. However, since he became mayor, the fare has gone up, not down. In addition, he said that he would limit the work hours for home health care workers, and has yet to deliver on that promise, too.
One of his biggest promises that he made to New Yorkers was heavily taxing the “rich.” Instead, there have been discussions with Governor Kathy Hochul how this is impossible, as it would drive the rich to leave New York and worsen the New York City economy. In general, prices in New York have gone up, both because of global issues and local issues.
In addition, a lot of controversy has surrounded Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, due to past remarks made online about various groups of people. These things have been politically controversial about things happening around the world. In addition, some of the comments she has made in the past can be seen as racist, such as using the n-word in on Twitter. She has since apologized for her remarks.
Along with the negatives, Mamdani has been seen as a positive mayor for New York City. For one, Mamdani has created a large campaign to fix the potholes across the streets of New York. After the winter storms this year, many of the potholes got worse. He made an effort to get these filled quickly, as New Yorkers were struggling and damaging their cars because of them.
During the snow storms, he recruited New Yorkers to help shovel the streets and get rid of the snow piles that were impacting the city drastically.
In addition, he has been focusing on making apartments and houses for the middle class more affordable, and especially for those in the lower class. He has made an effort to make life in New York City easier for those who are in lower economic classes, and even inspired free grocery pop-ups in the city. As for transportation, despite not making the fare free, he has increased the amount of bus stops and train stops, while also making an effort to clean them up.
One of the biggest wins that people see for New Yorkers is making childcare more affordable for parents in the city. Under Mamdani, he began to create free 2s programs for toddlers across the city for many parents. Previously, there was only free 3K and Pre-K for children in New York City. Although it is not across the entire city as of yet, there are many neighborhoods in New York now offering free 2s programs come the fall.
With the World Cup coming up this summer, Mayor Mamdani is looking to make various streets across the city designated for soccer matches, and has announced he will create free locations for New Yorkers to watch the World Cup games, as well.
Overall, the first 100 days in office have had its ups and its downs for Mayor Mamdani, but, there is still time to see what comes next from the young politician.
