A Month in Review: Mayor Mamdani, from Housing Reform to Shoveling Snow

“A New Era for New York City,” the slogan of the newly elected mayor, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, is plastered everywhere in New York City. However, has New York City really entered into a new era? Looking back on the past month since his inauguration on January 1st, 2026, Mamdani has enacted several new policies and actions aimed at fulfilling the promise that “Zohran will lower costs and make life easier.” 

On January 1st, 2026, Mayor Mamdani was inaugurated. In his inauguration speech, he acknowledged all members of New York City who helped him along his journey, ending the speech by saying, “The work continues, the work endures, the work, my friends, has only just begun.” Additionally, he overturned some of the previous mayor’s executive orders, reestablishing the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants to expand tenant protections. He also established the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT), fast-tracking the renovation of abandoned plots into affordable housing. 

Two days after his inauguration, on January 3rd, Mamdani announced the redesign of McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn. This redesign would prioritize citizen safety by installing pedestrian ramps and protected bike lanes. 

On January 6th, Mamdani visited the bike entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge. He was addressing the problem in many bike commuters' paths every day, the “Williamsburg Bump.” With a group of construction workers, Mamdani paved a new, gentler slope on the entrance to the bridge. This was one of the very first published events of Mamdani taking physical action and helping to improve the city’s infrastructure.

On January 11th, Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, moved from their rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens, into Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence. According to NBC New York, he relocated for additional safety, privacy, and better focus on his work. Critics pointed out the irony of Mamdani leaving a rent-stabilized apartment for a historic mansion in the Upper East Side, a neighborhood where he received relatively fewer votes in the mayoral election. 

On January 19th, Mamdani restarted the “Just Home” housing program. “Just Home” will create 83 new affordable housing units on the campus of New York City hospitals. This program was initially announced in 2022, but the previous mayor, Eric Adams, put the project on hold in late 2025, citing safety concerns and the need to relocate the project. The revitalization of this program exemplifies Mamdani’s push for the construction of more affordable housing, eliminating past bureaucratic obstacles.

On the weekend of January 24th, Mamdani prepared New York City for the largest snowstorm in recent years. As part of the preparations, in a controversial move among students, he declared that New York City public schools would have virtual school on Monday, the 26th. This sparked outrage among students across the city, with Riverdale junior Oliver Deckey expressing, “Mamdani should have given all New York City students a snow day!” However, according to City Journal, the decision of a snow day wasn’t solely Mamdani’s call. Because New York State law requires a minimum of 180 instructional days each year, a full snow day would add a day to the end of the school calendar. While his decisions on school closure were contentious among students eager to play in the snow, Mamdani also prepared New York City for the snowstorm by activating sanitation crews for snow removal, created warming centers for the unhoused, coordinating citywide emergency measures, and demonstrating personal participation, shoveling snow off of trapped New Yorkers' cars.  

Mamdani ran on the position of creating free bus fares, so the increase in subway and bus fares to three dollars has led many people to be confused, including Riverdale junior Austin Kretschman, who questioned, “Why aren’t the buses free yet?” However, this change was made under the past mayor, Eric Adams. According to the Independent Budget Office of New York, if fare-free buses are introduced, the MTA would lose around $652 million annually. Nevertheless, Mayor Mamdani has continued to work with the MTA to work towards this goal, highlighting the free Q70 LaGuardia Link bus as a successful model for broader citywide affordable transit. 

While Mamdani’s election sparked many debates about the fate of New York City, since taking office, Mamdani has worked towards delivering new policy reforms and hands-on actions, such as expanding affordable housing development, improving pedestrian and cyclist safety, and preparing the city for a major snowstorm. While the long-term effects of his policies will become clearer further into his term, Mamdani claims to continue working to “make life easier” for all New Yorkers. New York City resident and junior, Brian Tran, concluded, “I feel like he will bring meaningful change to New York City, like bringing back eight-dollar Halal!”