Mamdani says being mayor couldnt be better as 10 die in NYC deep freeze and city faces $12B budget gap

Mayor Zohran Mamdani told other US city leaders that he “struggles” to imagine how his job “could be better” at the moment — even as 10 New Yorkers died in the recent deep freeze and the Big Apple faces a $12 billion budget gap.The cheery remarks, during a panel at the US Conference of Mayors’ annual winter meeting Thursday, reported on by Politico, came after Winter Storm Fern brought around a foot of snow, below-freezing temperatures and turned deadly last weekend.“I’m new to the job.I know the burdens will get heavier, but right now I struggle to imagine how it could be better,” Mamdani said, according to a prepared speech shared with Playbook.“At a moment where so many Americans are searching for genuine leadership and tangible change from government, each of us hold a mighty ability to deliver just that,” he said.

Mamdani delivered the sunny spiel virtually at the event’s “Big City Alliance” panel, and wasn’t expected to attend the two-day conference in-person as New York was still digging itself out from the winter storm.Hizzoner’s optimistic outlook came despite him ringing alarm bells earlier in the week over the city’s $12 billion budget hole — ahead of his first spending plan that’s expected to be unveiled in mid-February.He addressed the potential fiscal problems during his panel appearance.“Some of your cities, like New York, might contend with budget deficits.Others might be reckoning with rollbacks in federal funding, or the myriad of other challenges we face,” Mamdani said, according to Politico.“But no matter how hard it often feels, I try to remember every day the intimacy that defines the relationship between city government and the people of a city.”His comments about his first month in office being better than he could imagine, drew outrage and confusion from politicians and pundits.

“What is he talking about? There are ten people dead, and a man freezing right outside his office window on Broadwa...