Susan Richard: Let's find out what the mayor has to say. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, thank you so much for joining us this morning live on 1010 WINS.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani: It is such a pleasure, Susan. Good morning, and thank you for having me back on the show. I am here for a very simple reason. Our city is about to be hit by a whole lot of snow, and I want New Yorkers to be prepared for the storm that's coming. The forecast as we were just hearing [is] predicting at least six inches of snow. Other estimates are going closer to a foot and that is the biggest snowfall we've gotten in a while, but I want to rest assure for every New Yorker, that this city is prepared and that we have thousands of city workers already from 6 a.m. this morning doing everything that they've been trained to do to keep our city safe.
We started brining highways and major roads this morning. We're gonna start salting as soon as the snow starts to fall and as soon as there's two inches of snow, we're going to see 700 salt spreaders activated across every single part of the five boroughs and through all of this, we are going to communicate with New Yorkers, including about what school is gonna look like on Monday.
Right now, the two options are whether it's gonna be remote learning or in-person learning and we also want to encourage everyone to sign up for Notify NYC to receive regular updates on the storm and the final thing I would just add, Susan, is to echo the words that were just said, I do want to ask New Yorkers to consider doing something that we don't typically do, which is sit still and stay home.
It is gonna be a slippery and [a] cold weekend, and so this would be the perfect time, whether it's to play a board game with the family, make a big pot of stew, binge watch some terrible reality television, whatever it takes, frankly, to stay out of the elements.
Richard: Yeah, so let's talk about school, though. So, you have the two options on the table, either go to class in person or remote learning. So you are ruling out a snow day. That's gonna disappoint a lot of kids.
Mayor Mamdani: I know, I gotta be honest, especially someone who grew up in this city. I remember sitting there and watching the news, hoping to see my school on the ticker at the bottom as the one that would be closed and actually, my wife told me that a student reached out to her and sent her an email making their best case for a snow day.
We will not be seeing a traditional snow day on Monday. We're gonna let students, parents, and educators know by 12 p.m. on Sunday whether it's gonna be in person or whether it's gonna be remote.
Richard: Okay, and ultimately, what are the key factors that will go into making that decision?
Mayor Mamdani: It's on the basis of what the actual storm is going to look like. If this is a storm where [there] is six inches of snow, that's far easier for students to be able to get to school on the next day. If it's something on the higher end of the spectrum, and we see that it would be dangerous to ask those students and educators to get to school, then that's what would push us towards a remote learning day.
Richard: All right, so six inches, that seems to be sort of the threshold for one way or the other. I do have a question. If classes go remote, during COVID, tablets were distributed, but that was like five years ago at this point. So do all the kids have the ability to go remote and what is the system for getting kids who may not have a computer or a tablet or something set up for that?
Mayor Mamdani: So that is exactly what our schools are currently in contact with students and parents about right now. They're going to be told today to be taking their technology home with them so that they're prepared in case that's the eventuality that we go with.
And the school system is also going to be working on a set of staggered start times, as well as doing appropriate tech tests this weekend to ensure that if we do go remote, that there aren't the kind of login issues that we've seen in the past.
Richard: How is that communicated to families? [Are] there emails that [will] go out? Is that on a website? Where can people get that information?
Mayor Mamdani: That's going to be going out via email as well as via calls. And I would also just encourage everyone, whether or not you have a child in the city or they're enrolled in a public school, to sign up for Notify NYC because that's also how we'll be communicating a lot of the in the moment updates to New Yorkers across the five boroughs.
Richard: Okay. I want to ask you, are there any additional measures the city is taking regarding city hospitals or EMS because of the nurses strike specifically?
Mayor Mamdani: So, we have continued to monitor the conditions across hospitals in the city and are prepared for any kind of diversion that's necessary as a result. And that is something that's falling really within our emergency management operations. And I can tell you that I'm heartened by the news that nurses and management have returned to the bargaining table.
We continue to urge a swift and immediate resolution to the strike. And we also want to see a resolution where nurses can actually afford to keep living and working in this city because of how expensive it's become.
Richard: Always a conversation during bad weather is the subways. I know that's the MTA, but are you in conversation with them, at this point, about the possibility of having to shut the subways down or at least the above ground ones?
Mayor Mamdani: So, we aren't yet preparing for that. Eventuality is something that New Yorkers should consider a likelihood. We are, however, very much in contact with the MTA as well as all of our city agencies and departments. And I think the key thing here is we know that DSNY is doing incredible work. We are also having so many different agencies supporting that work.
And so, while our Sanitation Department has transformed into the nation's largest snow fighting operation, we will also have, for example, the Parks Department [who are] going to be providing assistance with plowing. We're also going to be seeing so many different public sector workers who are stepping up in the way that they always have, so that this is a weekend that New Yorkers can actually continue to live their lives. And we just ask New Yorkers as much as possible to avoid unnecessary travel.
Richard: All right, we know you've got a lot going on. I just have one more very important question. Are there any good sledding spots that you can recommend in the city?
Mayor Mamdani: I will tell you when I was growing up, it was a little bit around 100th and Riverside, that I would go to pack a trash can with as much snow as possible. And one time I hit it a little bit too well and ended up getting a concussion. So I wouldn't recommend that.
Richard: Right, wear a helmet, kids. All right, so how about building a snowman outside Gracie Mansion right there, Carl Schurz Park, you know, that should be fun.
Mayor Mamdani: You know what, that sounds like a much safer option than what I just said.
Richard: All right, there you go. Mayor Mamdani, thank you so much. We're going to be hearing from you and just again to let everybody know. So, 12 noon on Sunday, that is when you will make the decision about remote or in-person for public schools on Monday, correct?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, that is correct, absolutely.
Richard: All right, Mayor Mamdani, thank you so much for your time.
Mayor Mamdani: Very welcome. Thank you for having me.
