Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears on Mornings on 1 to Provide a Weather Update
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
I'm feeling good and frankly I have to say it's because of the incredible men and women we have working for our city. We've already seen just starting at 6 a.m. today sanitation workers brining the highways and major roads of our city all preemptively to prepare for what we're going to see this weekend.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think they're completely in shape and ready for this and I think we're seeing it not only for today's activities but you know tomorrow we're gonna see 2,000 sanitation workers start on their 12-hour shifts and we're gonna be transforming what is our typical DSNY operation into the nation's largest snow fighting operation. And that's going to be something we'll see with plows and chains. As soon as we hit about two inches of snow we're going to start to see salt being put across the city. We have 700 salt spreaders ready to do this work and we're prepared.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo what I can tell you is, I know to the disappointment of any student that's watching this right now, Monday's either going to be a remote learning day or it's going to be an in-person school day. It's not going to be a traditional snow day and that is a determination we've made. We're going to clarify for parents by noon on Sunday as to which of these two things it is and we want to make sure that we give them as much time as possible to plan because while students love them, parents actually [have] a major impact on their schedules and so that's the determination we're gonna come to on Sunday.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceAnd by 12 p.m. on Sunday we're gonna let parents, students and teachers know which of the two it's going to be and the reason that we're waiting until then is to see what is the extent of the snowfall we're talking about because you know as well as I do, the range is a pretty big range. We could be talking about 8 inches of snow. We could be talking about 18 inches of snow and if it's on the lower end then we have full confidence that we can clean our streets such that students can get into school. But we want to give our Sanitation Department these next few days to see what we are actually looking at and I do have to say this is not for a lack of trying from students. There's a student that somehow found my wife's email and made a case for why it should be a snow day. They apparently made some great points.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceShe thought it was a very very good argument but this is where we've ended.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWell we've already seen that we're starting to emergency procure additional salt to start to reckon with this mismatch and I think that's the part of this is that we want New Yorkers to be prepared. We want the City government to take every step to actually be stepping up to the plate and this is the other part that for any New Yorker that's looking to get anything this weekend, today's the day. If you want to get your groceries, if you want to get that new winter coat, whatever it might be, I recommend you do it today because we're not just talking about snow, we're also talking about a cold front and that's why the city has activated Code Blue from yesterday and we're going to be intensifying our outreach to homeless New Yorkers across the city to connect them with shelter so that no one's sleeping outside.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWe've been in touch. Whether it's with the MTA or all of our city departments, everyone is preparing for this and I think that's what gives me a real sense of confidence is we're not just putting this on one department. You know, we're talking about snow plowing, that's DSNY, but the Parks Department is actually also going to help them with that because everybody understands, like you heard from the New Yorkers on your own show, these are the moments that New Yorkers remember and this is the measure of an administration we're confident that we're going to be able to deliver.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWow, you know I have to be honest with you, it's been incredible to be the mayor and I mean as a New Yorker growing up to have the privilege of leading this city and also the team that we have around us, it's amazing and so often in politics every idea is ascribed to the person who's leading it, but I can tell you that so much of what we've been able to accomplish, it comes from the work of the people around me and that's what gives me such confidence. We have 300,000 municipal workers in the city, they work every day in and out giving it their best and that's what we're gonna see this weekend, that's what we've been seeing for three weeks.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWell I'll tell you for this weekend, our Deputy Mayor Julia Kerson for Operations. She is someone who's in charge of an operations portfolio. That includes DSNY, that includes so much of what we're talking about with our snow fighting work and what I so appreciate is that it is very easy to only start to prepare for a crisis when you're in the middle of a crisis, but what the hallmark is of a great leader, someone like Julia and someone like everyone we see within the world of operations, is they're preparing for it in advance. So it's not just that the salt spreaders are gonna start when two inches of snow hit, it's that they're out this morning at 6 a.m. putting the brine on the highways so that we can respond to the snow and that we actually have a way out of this crisis.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThe new fare gates? No, well yes, I actually have tried the new fare gates. Well you know so far I've been able to make the trains, I've been able to get through in and out pretty quick, but there's always that you know tension of whether my OMNY card will swipe, but it has so far.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI just got my shot again yesterday, I'm getting my shots once a week. [For] seven months, one [on] each side.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceNot as yet. Okay. I can tell you what I'm eyeing is a Zyrtec, which I take before each of the shots just to keep going.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears on Mornings on 1 to Provide a Weather Update.