An NYC DOT crew repaired potholes in Murray Hill on Saturday, March 21, the day more than 8,000 potholes were repaired across the city.
Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
The city’s war on potholes will continue on Saturday with Department of Transportation repair crews deployed across Queens and the rest of the city for the third consecutive weekend.
The initiative, dubbed “Pothole Blitz” resumes at 6 a.m. on March 28, as part of an ongoing effort that follows an unusually harsh winter, the third coldest in the last 30 years, marked by heavy snowfall that accelerated pothole formation on city streets and highways.
A DOT repair crew was filling craters in Murray Hill on Saturday, March 21, when Pothole Blitz repaired more than 8,000 potholes in a single day, more than would be repaired in a full week.
NYC DOT crews filled more than 15,000 craters during the first two weeks of the so-called Pothole Blitz.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
NYC DOT crews filled more than 15,000 craters during the first two weeks of the so-called Pothole Blitz.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
After the second week, NYC DOT repaired more than 80,000 potholes since Jan. 1, including more than 15,000 during the first two Pothole Blitzes.
The need for repairs in Queens became urgent on the night of Monday, March 9, when Jaikarran Seenarian, 46, of 110th Street in South Richmond Hill, was killed while he was riding his standup electric scooter in Ozone Park. He struck a pothole in front of 109-12 Liberty Ave. at 9:30 p.m. and was ejected. Police from the 106th Precinct responded and found him lying on the roadway with severe head trauma. EMS rushed him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
A scooter rider was killed after crashing into a pothole on Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park on Monday , March 9.Photo via Pandemic Pandemonium
“New Yorkers deserve safe, smooth streets — and under Mayor Mamdani, we’re delivering excellence in government to get the job done,” NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said. “We filled more than 8,000 potholes in a single day last Saturday and over 80,000 already this year. This weekend, we’re back at it for a third straight Pothole Blitz — and we’re not backing down.”
Motorists may experience minor travel delays on Saturday as crews complete repairs across the city. New Yorkers are encouraged to report potholes to 311 or by visiting nyc.gov/FixMyPothole.
NYC DOT expects to pave more than 1,150 miles of roadway this year.