What a cold call!
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is telling New York City kids to forget about a traditional snow day on Monday — no matter the forecast.
Public school students can at best hope for remote classes early next week as the city braces for a monster storm that the mayor has said is expected to bring “3 to 16 inches of snow.”
“Monday is either going to be a remote learning day or it’s going to be an in-person school day,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced. Gabriella Bass for NY Post
“I know to the disappointment of any student that’s watching this right now, Monday is either going to be a remote learning day or it’s going to be an in-person school day,” Mamdani said on NY1 on Friday.
“It’s not going to be a traditional snow day. That is a determination we’ve made.”
The mayor acknowledged that students hoping for a snow day will greet his announcement with “disappointment.” Gabriella Bass
The city will confirm if students should show up for class in person or from home by Sunday.
“By 12 p.m. on Sunday, we’re going to let parents, students and teachers know which of the two it’s going to be,” Hizzoner said.
Tourists walk in Central Park on Dec. 27, 2025. LP Media
“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.”
Mamdani conceded that his call will be particularly disappointing to one student who went to great lengths to try to convince him otherwise.
The Big Apple could be battered with up to 18 inches of snow through Monday. Getty Images
“There’s a student that somehow found my wife’s email,” he said, adding “they apparently made some great points.”
“She thought it was a very, very good argument.”
Forecasters are predicting the fast-approaching winter storm could batter the city with up to 18 inches of snow through Monday — bringing bone-chilling temps and a travel nightmare across the tri-state.
“If it’s on the lower end, we have full confidence that we can clean our streets such that students can get into school,” Mamdani said.
Snow in Central Park on Jan. 18, 2026. LP Media
“But we want to give our sanitation department these next few days to see what are we actually looking at.”
The city’s sanitation trucks were already out first thing Friday brining highways and major streets in preparation for the storm, according to the mayor.
Roughly 2,000 sanitation workers were also set to work 12-hour shifts from Saturday in a bid to remove snow around the clock.
A child sleds in Central Park on Dec. 27, 2025. Leonardo Munoz
The snow is expected to start in the early hours of Sunday and continue into Monday.
If the Big Apple gets at least a foot of snow, it would be the most in the city since February 2021, when 16.8 inches fell in Central Park over a two-day period.