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| New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right seen shoveling snow during this week's winter storm. Many mayors have gotten in trouble through inept handling of such storms, but Mamdani got high marks in how he managed his first big winter storm as mayor. |
John Lindsay, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill DeBlasio all caught heat, so to speak, for their handling of New York City snowstorms. Mayors of other cities have flailed in the snow, too.
This weekend's storm dumped nearly a foot of snow and sleet on the Big Apple
It looks like the brand new mayor of the Big Apple survived his first test.
Mamdani is a master of communication, judging for a video he released to social media on Saturday, the day before the storm.
There he was in a sanitation department garage, with all the garbage trucks all retrofitted to become snow trucks. The video was professional produced, complete with optimistic background music, and skillful editing.
The city deployed 2,000 workers on 12 hours shifts. The city sent out 700 salt spreaders and over 2,000 plows
Mamdani also made sure he was seen in public monitoring the storm, even helping people shovel out on occasion. He held press conferences to provide updates. He made sure he was the public face of the New York storm, and messaged that he was on top of it.
"From the early hours of Sunday morning to well into the evening, Mamdani traversed the city, shoveling snow, greeting and thanking sanitation workers, posing for photo ops, providing updates via television interviews and hosting a news conference."
The New York Times headline was "Mamdani Clears Early Hurdles as Storm Bears Down On New York."
Even Republicans admitted Mamdami did a good job. "The city did well. There was an abnormal amount of snow and the markets opened up the trains are running, ad the DSNY is rocking and rolling," former Republic City Council Member Joe Borelli said.
It wasn't perfect. The storm was even colder than most that hit New York City. Temperatures were in the teens to around 20 during the storm, with gusty winds. That made things especially dangerous, especially for people who are unhoused.
About 170 people were taken off the streets and into shelter prior to and during the storm. However, seven people in New York City died, some of whom had been in homeless shelters in the past. However, it wasn't immediately clear whether the deaths were caused by the cold weather.
Another less serious issue that had some New Yorkers disliking Mamdani's actions during the storm. They were school children. Instead of canceling school on Monday, the mayor said there would be remote learning from home.
He said kids could throw snowballs at him if they wanted.
Another criticism Mamdani received: He was not wearing a hat like he should have in such weather.
So no playing in the snow. But, then again, the snow is still on the ground and will be for quite awhile, as more frigid weather is in the New York City forecast.
MAYORS SINK IN SNOW
Other mayors saw their careers set back or even destroyed by how they dealt with a winter storm.
John Lindsay dealt with a February, 1969 storm that was supposed to be mostly rain, but turned into 15 inches of snow. An unprepared and disorganized Lindsay administration couldn't even get major highways open, the subways running and schools open for two days. The storm killed 42 New Yorkers.
Lindsay lost the next Republican mayoral primary, but ran as a third party candidate and barely won.
In 2010 Mayor Michael Bloomberg got in trouble for being in Bermuda during a big New York blizzard. He also blithely said, "This city is going on. It's a day lie every other day," and suggested people go out and shop or enjoy a broadway show.
This as highways were blocked, subways barely worked and more than 20 inches of snow piled into drifts several feet tall.
Bloomberg did better with subsequent storms, though. And he wasn't the only politician who got in trouble for going to warming climes when the Arctic invaded the United States.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is still getting ribbed for fleeing to Cancun when a deadly winter storm and freeze hit Texas in 2021. During the storm last weekend, Cruz was seen on a flight bound for Laguna Beach. Cruz said it was a work trip and he's be back in time for the storm. No word if that can to pass. Cruz was also away in Greece when horrific floods hit Texas last July.
Anyway, back to mayors.
Sometimes, they can't win. A record deep snowstorm was predicted for New York in January, 2015. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was bracing for a snowstorm "the likes of which we have never seen before."
Instead the deep snow stayed on Long Island, and New York City got a measly six inches of new snow, and de Blasio was criticized for hyping things up too much. He responded by humorously reading aloud for reporters a mocking Onion story with the headline "NYC Mayor: Reconcile Yourselves With Your Good, For All Will Perish In The Tempest."
Other cities have certainly seen mayors lose to snowstorms too. In January, 1979, Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic botched the effort to clear streets after a 20-inch blizzard. Because of that, he later that month lost the Democratic primary election for mayor to Jane Byrne, who went to to become the first female mayor of major American city.
Last winter, St. Louis officials came under fierce criticism after a January 5 snow and ice storm left the city's streets resembling skating rinks through the month. City leaders got some redemption with their competent handling of the aftermath of a large, deadly tornado that cut right through St. Louis.
After this week's far-ranging snowstorm, some mayors are taking the kind of heat they wish could melt the snow instead. Residents of Providence, Rhode Island, Paterson, New Jersey and even to some extent Buffalo, New York are complaining about a slow cleanup.
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