Marking his first 100 days in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated with supporters on Sunday and said he is focused on his next round of proposals aimed at improving New Yorkers’ lives.
Speaking to a lively crowd at the Knockdown Center in Queens, Mamdani said he was proud of all the accomplishments his administration had made so far, including starting a new 2-K program and filling thousand of potholes, especially as a socialist leader.
"I was elected as a Democratic Socialist and I will govern as a Democratic Socialist," he said. "If anything, my friends, it seems that you eventually need a socialist to clean up the mess."
Mamdani announced a few new proposals, including a promise to speed up buses by up to 20% along 45 priority corridors.
"We will significantly increase the number of bus stops that are fully accessible. We will construct new, world-class, rapid bus routes for 100,000 New Yorkers who live more than a half mile away from a subway or rail stop," he said.
He also announced his plans to create the first city-run grocery store in East Harlem next year, where "eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation."
Senator Bernie Sanders, a surprise guest, said the mayor did not deserve to receive criticism on his proposals.
"You know, I know that the mayor has been criticized. Some say this is a radical idea. I'll tell you what is a radical idea. Giving tax breaks to billionaires, throwing people off healthcare," Sanders said. "That's radical. What's radical is starting a terrible war. That's radical. But providing affordable food to working families, that's not radical."
Mamdani also said City Hall will be launching a trash containerization campaign across the five boroughs, to be finalized by 2031.
"We will containerize all trash at all residential properties," he said. "There will be at least one fully containerized community district in each borough by the end of next year."
The night also included speeches from civil servants, including workers from sanitation and education, and video montages. Some Brooklyn residents gave their tepid approval to BK Reader earlier, noting it was too soon to judge how the new mayor, 34, was doing. That said, they all expressed their desire for change.
"The people of our city have been left to fend for themselves," Mamdani said. "We hold a mighty responsibility, not just to govern with honesty and integrity, not just to deliver relentless improvement."
