It has been 100 days since Zohran Mamdani took the role of the mayor of New York City.

The mayor has already seen two separate snowstorms that left major impacts on the city, and is facing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit and more.

What You Need To Know

It has been 100 days since Zohran Mamdani took the role of the mayor of New York City

The mayor has already seen two separate snowstorms that left major impacts on the city, and is facing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit and more

Mamdani sat down with NY1 for a one-on-one interview

Mamdani said his team focuses on every task they can, no matter how big or small.

“It’s just as important when you’re pursuing universal child care that you’re also filling in potholes. And so for us, we wanted to make sure from the very first day that we were pursuing the most expansive parts of our agenda and making sure that New Yorkers can feel it in their day-to-day lives,” he said in an interview with NY1 political anchor Errol Louis. 

Mamdani said his typical day as the mayor of the country’s largest city starts as soon as he wakes up and doesn’t end until he goes to sleep.

“As we know, this is a city that doesn’t follow a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule,” he said. “You have the plan as you thought it would be for the day ahead of you, and there are some days where that plan goes out the window, you know, where you have to scramble because there’s been a five-alarm fire or because something has happened that you couldn’t foresee.”

He said most of the time, his day looks like moving forward with an announcement about an administration accomplishment, internal meetings and also “getting out of the office.”

“It is very easy when you’re in a room like this or a building like this to lose sight of the city at large, and the best people to hear from about the city [are] those who actually live in the city, and trying to get out there to New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

According to the mayor, the city is facing a multibillion-dollar budget gap. Mamdani said that deficit “was a stark reminder as to the importance of actually accounting for what the city was spending because so much of that deficit came from money that the city was spending but refusing to acknowledge.”

“And that’s what we’re finally looking to do, is be honest and put the city back on firm financial footing,” he said.

Mamdani said he has been in conversations with Gov. Kathy Hochul and state leaders about the deficit.

“Frankly, the importance of [those conversations] is that it is that partnership with Albany that will help to put the city back on firm financial footing. And what we will see in our city is an honesty about the money that we are spending and also what it costs to provide the services that we want to,” he said. 

Mamdani, who has met with the president twice since being elected as mayor, said that when he has conversations with President Donald Trump, they are “always focused on the city.”

“I think that I will continue to have meetings with the president. They will always be with the question of, ‘How can we help the city?‌’” he said. “Frankly, the two of us, as we have many disagreements both publicly and privately, we do share one very important agreement, which is a love for this city.”

When it comes to what’s going on internationally, Mamdani said the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran is having a “very difficult effect across our city” as prices continue to rise.

“We have a federal government that has found tens of billions of dollars to plunge millions into despair and refuses to use that same money to uplift working-class New Yorkers and Americans at large,” Mamdani said.

When asked about the history of mayors in City Hall,” he said, “I think you are one small part of it.”

“When you look around this building, you realize many have faced challenges. It’s not that you face them that makes you distinct. It’s about how you respond,” he said.