NEW YORK, NY — More than 80 road crews will spread across the five boroughs before dawn Saturday, fanning out along city streets and highways to patch thousands of potholes left behind by one of the harshest winters on record.
The citywide repair blitz begins at 6 a.m., when crews from the New York City Department of Transportation roll out with truckloads of asphalt and heavy equipment. Workers will move block by block through neighborhoods and along major roadways, filling craters carved into pavement after months of snow, ice and repeated freezing and thawing.
Since Jan. 1, crews have repaired more than 50,000 potholes across the city, transportation officials said. More than 10,000 of those repairs came in the past week alone. The agency reports an average response time of just over two days after potholes are reported.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani said the city plans to tackle the surge in road damage with concentrated weekend deployments.
“While most New Yorkers are still asleep, 80 DOT crews will take to the streets to repair potholes in a five-borough blitz,” Mamdani said. “In a single day, they’ll fill thousands of potholes that pop up every year as spring arrives and our city streets begin to thaw.”
“Safe, accessible streets are a basic promise of city government, and after a historically brutal winter, I’m incredibly grateful to the DOT teams who are not wasting a moment of time in delivering the street improvements we need,” he added.
Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn said the repairs respond to damage drivers feel daily across city streets.
“New Yorkers have braved a rough winter, and we can see and feel the resulting potholes from wear-and-tear on our roads,” Flynn said. “That’s why the men and women of NYC DOT are doubling down on repair efforts in recent weeks and will step it up this weekend with a five-borough, 80-crew blitz.”
The surge in repairs arrives as the city begins its annual road resurfacing season. Officials plan to repave about 1,150 lane miles of roadway this year through curb-to-curb projects designed to replace damaged pavement entirely rather than patching isolated holes.
New York operates its own asphalt plants, allowing crews to produce material and respond quickly to road damage, transportation officials said.
Potholes typically multiply as winter ends. Water seeps into cracks in pavement, freezes, expands and breaks apart the surface. When temperatures rise, the weakened asphalt collapses under traffic, leaving jagged holes in travel lanes.
Drivers should expect delays while crews work Saturday, officials said. City leaders urged residents to report potholes to the city’s 311 system so crews can respond quickly.