Mayor Mamdani touted his administration’s early wins at a campaign style rally Sunday to mark his first 100 days in office, presenting a rebrand of sorts from more lofty campaign promises to “pothole politics” — what he has defined as a focus on tangible results for everyday New Yorkers.
He also unveiled three new priorities, pledging to open New York City’s first city-run grocery store by next year. The mayor also announced the Department of Sanitation will containerize all residential trash across the five boroughs by the end of 2031 and that his Department of Transportation will start a new initiative to decrease bus commute times across the city by 20% across dozens of key corridors.
“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani told the crowd of about a thousand supporters at Knockdown Center in Queens, recycling a line from his inauguration speech.
A spokesperson for the mayor didn’t immediately said how much these new efforts are projected to cost the city, which is currently facing a multi-billion-dollar budget gap.
Mamdani dubbed this kind of governance — which has seized on a number of loose ends left by the Adams administration — “pothole politics” in his speech.
He has repeatedly emphasized the over 100,000 potholes the administration has filled since the start of the year, as well as moving forward on a bike lane project in Greenpoint, progress made toward universal childcare and securing millions in settlement money for worker protection.
Mamdani was introduced on Sunday by a DOT worker, public schoolteacher and tenant organizer and parent advocate. Sen. Bernie Sanders also made a surprise appearance.
“What you are doing, and what the mayor is doing, is providing hope and inspiration not only to people all across our country, but honestly, all across the world,” Sanders said.
The new city-run grocery store will be opened at La Marqueta in East Harlem, the mayor said, and will sell goods at discounted wholesale prices.
“During our campaign, we promised New Yorkers that we would create a network of five city-owned grocery stores, one in each borough. Today, we make good on that promise,” Mamdani said, adding that his administration would install all five by the end of his first term.
The bus project seeks to decrease wait times by 20% across 45 busy corridors, the mayor said. Getting trash off the streets in bags and into containers was an initiative started by ex-Mayor Adams but has not yet been funded citywide.
“No longer will city government be afraid of its own shadow,” Mamdani said in his speech.
The mayor, as well as the city’s comptroller and budget watchdogs, have sounded the alarm on the fiscal crisis looming over the city. Mamdani has pinned that crisis largely on his predecessor.
“It seems that you eventually need a socialist to clean up the mess,” Mamdani said Sunday, referring to a Margaret Thatcher quote criticizing socialism.
Some of the evening’s biggest cheers were for a “tax the rich” chant, though the mayor didn’t dwell too much on his push for Albany to give the city more cash through tax hikes on the city’s wealthiest residents and most lucrative corporations.
