Mayor Zohran Mamdani filling the 100,000th pothole in New York City this year on Staten Island. Monday, March 8, 2026.
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor Zohran Mamdani personally filled on Monday the city’s 100,000th pothole — part of a month-long effort the city Department of Transportation has undertaken to repair roads across the Big Apple following a bitterly cold winter.
Under the supervision of DOT staff, Hizzoner donned gloves, a hard hat, and a reflective vest on April 6 to shovel asphalt into a crevice on Staten Island’s Olympia Boulevard.
After completing the job, Mamdani told ABC7, which distributed video of the event to the rest of the press, that filling potholes is a “critical part” of being mayor.
“For many New Yorkers, they ask themselves: how can city government respond to the issues that I’m seeing right outside of my house?” Mamdani said. “This is pothole politics. We know that New Yorkers are measuring the impact of city government in these ways.”
All in a day’s work: Mayor Mamdani fills in the 100,000th pothole in less than 100 days as mayor on Staten Island on April 6, 2026.Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
The 100,000 potholes filled by Mamdani’s DOT is the highest number the agency has addressed in the first 100 days of a year in over a decade, according to Mamdani’s office.
Monday’s action marks a milestone in the administration’s pothole-filling efforts on the heels of a winter that, through several snowstorms and weeks of below-freezing temperatures, left city streets cracked and pockmarked.
“That left us with far more potholes than we’d typically see,” Mamdani said.
Mayor Mamdani shakes hands with Department of Transportation workers who have been part of the agency’s recent pothole repair blitz.Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
DOT has sought to eliminate as many of the pesky craters as possible by launching “pothole blitzes” on three Saturdays in March. On each day, the DOT sent out 80 staffers beginning at 6 a.m. to fill a week’s worth of potholes in a single day — 7,200 on March 14, 8,000 on March 21, and 7,600 on March 28.
“The hardworking men and women of DOT have been critical in making sure that we could do blitzes,” the mayor said. “We’ve made it very clear across city government that this is incredibly important. When we say, no problem too big, no task too small, we need to recognize the fact that this is what it takes to show New Yorkers that city government is here to work for them.”
As the weather gets warmer, DOT will pivot from filling potholes to repaving roads, according to City Hall. The agency plans to repave 1,150 lane miles of city roads in the coming months.
“Now, we’re shifting into full-scale resurfacing to deliver the safe, smooth streets New Yorkers deserve,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement. “That’s what excellence in government looks like — responding fast and delivering results.”