NYC Mayor Discusses City's Response to Historic Blizzard

Mayor Mamdani speaks with NY1 anchor Shannan Ferry about school closures, snow removal efforts, and more.

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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In an interview with NY1, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani discussed the city's response to the recent historic blizzard that brought over 19 inches of snow to parts of the city. The mayor explained the decision to keep schools open tomorrow, the city's use of a state waiver to avoid fines for missed school days, and efforts to clear snow and ice from streets and public areas. He also addressed concerns about garbage collection and the expansion of the emergency snow shoveler program to supplement the Department of Sanitation's workforce.

Why it matters

This blizzard is the first major winter storm the city has faced in nearly a decade, and Mayor Mamdani's handling of the response will be closely watched as an early test of his administration's ability to effectively manage major weather emergencies. The mayor's decisions around school closures, snow removal, and garbage collection will impact the daily lives of millions of New Yorkers in the storm's aftermath.

The details

Mayor Mamdani explained that the decision to keep schools open tomorrow was based on the city's assessment that the Department of Sanitation and emergency snow shovelers would be able to clear streets and prepare school sites in time. He also noted that the city applied for a state waiver to avoid fines for missing the required 180 days of instruction, since many students and teachers were stranded outside the city during the storm. The mayor discussed the city's efforts to set up snow melting sites, geotrack bus stops and crosswalks, and expand the emergency snow shoveler program to over 1,300 workers to supplement the 2,600 DSNY employees working 12-hour shifts. He acknowledged concerns about garbage collection and said DSNY would be suspending trash pickup for the next two days to focus on snow removal, with a plan for the rest of the week coming by the end of tomorrow.

  • The blizzard brought over 19 inches of snow to parts of New York City.
  • Schools will be open for in-person instruction tomorrow, February 25, 2026.

The players

Zohran Mamdani

The mayor of New York City, responsible for overseeing the city's response to the historic blizzard.

Shannan Ferry

A news anchor for NY1 who interviewed Mayor Mamdani about the city's handling of the storm.

DSNY

The New York City Department of Sanitation, which is leading the snow removal efforts across the five boroughs.

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What they’re saying

“A lot of it just comes back to our assessment of the city's ability to respond to this blizzard. And as you all have said, this is the first blizzard we've seen since 2016. And we've seen upwards of 19 inches across much of the city.”

— Zohran Mamdani, Mayor (NY1)

“The reason we applied for that waiver is this was a confluence of events. You might call it a perfect storm, where we not only had the once in the last 10 years blizzard with this level of snowfall, but also we were coming back from a week-long break within our public school system, so you had a lot of students and teachers who were potentially going to be stranded outside of the city as they were trying to come back in for school on Monday.”

— Zohran Mamdani, Mayor (NY1)

“We don't want anyone to enter into a cardiac arrest because of continued attempts at shoveling that snow out, which we've seen in previous storms.”

— Zohran Mamdani, Mayor (NY1)

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This blizzard response highlights the challenges of managing major weather events in a large, diverse city like New York. Mayor Mamdani's decisions around school closures, snow removal, and garbage collection will be closely scrutinized, but his efforts to expand the emergency snow shoveler program and use technology to better coordinate the city's response show a proactive approach to learning from past storms.