Jim Cantore: Let's talk to the Honorable Mayor of New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani. We talked to him just the other day, certainly about the preparations. Everything was buttoned up. Let's start with what's happened already, unfortunately, certainly with the fire, the four-alarm fire that was in the Bronx. Was that weather-induced or was that something else?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani: At this time, the investigation is still going on. I would say that we're considering that to be separate at the moment. We're thankful that, for the vast majority of New Yorkers, that they are warm and they are healthy and they are safe. We did see one New Yorker lose their life and we mourn them, and we're thinking of their family at this time.
Cantore: Yeah, hard to put any of it into words. And we should alert everyone, with the cold coming in, this is something where space heaters and things like that potentially could be improperly used, so we have to look at using that over the next several days.
Mayor Mamdani: Absolutely, and what I would say is do not leave a space heater unattended. Do not leave a space heater within three feet of something that is flammable. We want to make sure that you're not just warm, but you're also safe, and right now the city is doing everything it can to actually deliver that.
We just recently made the decision that for tomorrow we're not going to have in-person schooling. It's going to be fully remote, and some part of that is because of the snowfall, but frankly, it's the snowfall combined with the cold, combined with the precipitation and the sleet that creates for very hazardous conditions tomorrow morning.
Cantore: Speaking of the cold, Friday night, we're in the 30s, mid-30s. We crashed the temperature on Saturday morning to 10, 15 below with the wind chill. Sadly, we lost some souls.
Mayor Mamdani: We've seen at least five New Yorkers who've passed away. At this time, it's too early to say what the cause of their deaths were. They are currently being examined by the medical examiner. When we have the autopsy results, we will share them. What it is, though, is a reminder of how hazardous these conditions can be. We see on an annual basis New Yorkers who succumb to the cold. We don't want that to be the case, so what we're doing is we've opened up 10 warming centers, two in each borough. New Yorkers can go there. There are a number of places that we're looking to connect homeless New Yorkers with shelter.
So, every two hours, we have city workers who are canvassing homeless New Yorkers, connecting them with services, connecting them with shelter. We are bypassing all typical intake procedures. We're just trying to get people in.
Cantore: You're trying to go out and find them and bring them, right?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes. And if you're a New Yorker, [and] you're watching this, [if] you see a homeless person who's outside, call 311. That will be rerouted to 911. We will get there because no New Yorker should be out there in the cold.
Cantore: And you've given this as a consistent message throughout. I've heard this all week from you. All right, let's go to the snow. Here it is, right on schedule. It's coming down at an inch an hour. You've got the biggest armada in the country to move snowfall in and out of the way here for the five boroughs. How's it going?
Mayor Mamdani: It's going well. And thankfully, you know, the work of these incredible men and women at DSNY, we're seeing it all across the city because they started brining highways, major roadways, at 6 a.m. on Friday. So, if you start preparing when the snow falls, you're already late. But thanks to them, we've been preparing in advance. What we're seeing right now is that they are in line with the projections, 8 to 11 inches.
This time we're seeing, as you said, an inch an hour, and we are still asking New Yorkers [to] stay home. There's still far too many New Yorkers on the roads, to be honest with you. When you're on the road, you're also making it more difficult for city workers to actually be able to do their job.
Cantore: But you think by the time all is said and done, you're going to keep up with it?
Mayor Mamdani: We're feeling confident.
Cantore: I mean, you're feeling confident.
Mayor Mamdani: We're feeling good.
Cantore: With the way it's going right now.
Mayor Mamdani: And frankly, that's because of the work of these city workers. They're doing great, great work right now.
Cantore: Yeah. But trust me, we haven't done a live shot yet at Columbus Circle where there hasn't been multiple plows coming around. Does anything change when we go and we know we're going to mix in with some sleet, right, as we get into this afternoon? Does anything change to how they handle all that?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, I think the key here is for New Yorkers to know that when the snow stops, it doesn't mean the hazard stops. When you have the sleet, you have the rain, you have the icy conditions, that's actually when it can get the most dangerous. And so, you know, you can actually monitor what our Department of Sanitation is doing from PlowNYC. It's an available website for everyone to check in to see how many times the plows are hitting the streets across the city. What we ask is just [to] stay home.
Cantore: When we talked to you the other day, I think your message was, we have 700 million tons of salt. How far into that pile are we?
Mayor Mamdani: We are moving through it. Let me tell you, we're moving through it. We have about 700 salt spreaders. We have more than 2,000 snowplows, and as you said, this is now the largest snow fighting force in the nation. We started at 2,000 sanitation workers for every 12-hour shift. That's now gone up to 2,500 sanitation workers. They are all across the city. They are doing incredible work.
I was actually with them at the 6 a.m. shift change, and what you saw were those who were doing the work in advance, those who were doing the work in the moment, and this is really a time for New Yorkers to stay warm, stay safe, and just be thankful, frankly, for the work of these incredible city workers.
Cantore: And stay home, because the more people are off the roads, the quicker they can get things resolved.
Mayor Mamdani: Exactly, and I think that's the key part, is that we can only get through this if we get through it together. Everybody has a role to play, and I know that for some students who are disappointed that tomorrow's not a traditional snow day, I do have to say to you, if you see me outside, you can pelt me in the face with a snowball. I agree.
Cantore: This isn't snowball making snow, unfortunately, but that was a good setup right there.
Mayor Mamdani: If you come close, you can just, you know, whatever you need to do.
Cantore: Well, I can see the accumulation is mounting on you right now, so I thank you. I thank you for your time. Good luck with the rest of the storm. From what we see, certainly, it's not only beautiful, but it's going along the way you expected for the city.
Mayor Mamdani: Absolutely. Thank you, Jim. Always a pleasure.
Cantore: My pleasure.
