NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0In his first 100 days in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has governed with a star power unusual in politics. <\/p>\n
Crowds of supporters show up to his news conferences. Basic municipal services have been infused with newfound excitement. Celebrities help him promote his agenda. <\/p>\n
In the process, he\u2019s been able to notch a few notable early wins. And he\u2019s reached a detente, at least for now, with President Trump, a mercurial leader with an affinity for celebrities.<\/p>\n
But as Mamdani, a Democrat, marks an early milestone in his mayoralty, it remains to be seen whether he\u2019ll be able to leverage his fame into achieving the progressive policy proposals that propelled him to office. <\/p>\n
Though he still has staunch critics, many of whom still view his past criticisms of the police department and Israel as major problems, Mamdani has been able to ease concerns among at least some skeptics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s early but so far, so good,\u201d said Jay Jacobs, chair of the state\u2019s Democratic Party, who made waves for not endorsing Mamdani during the election. \u201cWe may not agree on everything philosophically, but he is getting the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The biggest needs and the smallest needs\u2019<\/p>\n
As the mayor approached his 100th day \u2014 long a benchmark for judging an administration\u2019s opening vision \u2014 his team has moved to highlight the administration\u2019s commitment to the everyday responsibilities of the job. <\/p>\n
While much of those duties are typical for his local office \u2014 picking up trash, plowing snow and filling potholes \u2014 the 34-year-old mayor has leaned on his knack for viral content creation to drive interest and awareness of government programs.<\/p>\n
To hype up his child-care program for 2-year-olds, Mamdani recruited Cardi B to help judge a jingle contest that will determine the initiative\u2019s theme song. His slick social media videos helped recruit thousands of new snow shovelers as a storm bore down on the city. A public service announcement he made brought more than 50,000 new subscribers to the city\u2019s emergency alert system in a single week. <\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, alongside Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty, Mamdani announced a bracket-style competition in which people could vote on small projects for him to come and personally fix on his 100th day. <\/p>\n
On Friday, Mamdani selected a winner \u2014 a garbage-filled lot in the Bronx \u2014 and helped pick up some of the junk with a sanitation crew, following a celebratory event that featured an overflowing trash can mascot and a cheerleading squad. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think every single day it\u2019s an opportunity to meet the needs of New Yorkers,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what we\u2019ve seen over the course of this 100 days is that New York City wants to see a city government that is able to meet the biggest needs and the smallest needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The celebrity status, though, can also prompt backlash. During a bitter cold snap, his surprise appearance on \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\u201d was seen by some as insensitive at a moment when the death toll of homeless New Yorkers was rapidly rising. <\/p>\n
\u201cToo much styling and profiling,\u201d said Curtis Sliwa, a Republican who ran against Mamdani during last year\u2019s election, noting longstanding problems with street homelessness, public housing and infrastructure. <\/p>\n
Still, Sliwa, who hammered Mamdani during the campaign but recently appeared in a comedy skit with the mayor during the City Hall press corps\u2019 annual roast, appeared to give Mamdani some credit, even if it came with a caveat. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just had Eric Adams, swagger man who\u2019d party to the break of dawn, and now we have a guy who seems like he\u2019s got a normal working schedule,\u201d said Sliwa, referencing the city\u2019s previous mayor. \u201cSo having Zohran as the alternative, I think for a lot of people even if they disagree with him, there\u2019s some stability.\u201d <\/p>\n
Still a star among supporters<\/p>\n
On the night of Mamdani\u2019s election party, hundreds packed the streets, some spontaneously, waiting for a glimpse of the mayor-elect leaving the venue. Departing campaign aides were cheered, by name, well after midnight. One attendee likened the street party to Beatlemania. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m at a presidential inauguration,\u201d said Medhavie Agnihotri, a 25-year-old tech consultant. \u201cThis is the first time in a while I\u2019ve felt this hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
His star power has not appeared to wane since then. <\/p>\n
Outside City Hall, New Yorkers and tourists frequently stop for selfies, peering through the iron gates in search of the mayor. <\/p>\n
This week, on the mayor\u2019s 97th day in office, a crowd gathered in the lobby of the busy Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan to watch as Mamdani announced the city would start transferring Rikers Island jail detainees with serious medical illnesses to a specialized unit at the hospital. <\/p>\n
He entered to woos and applause from the onlookers, as many held up cellphones to record videos of the mayor. Dozens more watched along from a set of elevated walkways.<\/p>\n
One man, Ricardo Granados, a 67-year-old retiree, was on his way to take his son to a medical appointment but stopped to see what all the hubbub was about just before the news conference started. He appeared delighted to learn the mayor was going to show up, saying he met Mamdani previously when the mayor was campaigning in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely fond of him. I think he\u2019s going to make a real difference,\u201d Granados said. \u201cHe wants to find out who needs what and he wants to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Jake Offenhartz contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0In his first 100 days in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has governed with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5160,2408,262,154,9433,2659,10797,77049,1445,1092,9,24,77047,55,54,8783,56,973,77048,77046],"class_list":{"0":"post-192579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-administration","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-curtis-sliwa","12":"tag-day","13":"tag-election","14":"tag-few-week","15":"tag-garbage-filled-lot","16":"tag-mamdani","17":"tag-mayor","18":"tag-new-york","19":"tag-new-york-city","20":"tag-new-york-city-governance","21":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","22":"tag-new-york-city-news","23":"tag-new-yorkers","24":"tag-ny","25":"tag-office","26":"tag-swagger-man","27":"tag-unique-star-power"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}