New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash for, of all things, announcing a snow day ahead of what could be one of the most significant winter storms in city history.
Initially, New York City public schools intended to have remote learning on Monday. However, Mamdani reversed course on Sunday afternoon, giving New York City students their first true snow day in several years. The city previously attempted to end weather-related off days under former Mayor Eric Adams.
As has often been the case during Mamdani’s two months as mayor, many social media users took issue with the playful tone he adopted in the X videos. New York City is preparing for nearly 2 feet of snow, along with thunder and lightning, in a storm that could carry over into Monday morning. Not only has NYC issued a travel ban, but parts of Westchester County, Rockland County, and Long Island have already followed.
Why, then, would Mamdani reveal the snow day decision in a light-hearted FaceTime video with a NYC public school student?
The call has been made! NYC Public Schools will have a full snow day tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/2tXF3Wo3TY
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 22, 2026
“Why is everything entertainment?” one X user asked. “You know, you can just make a post. Stop making everything into entertainment. You’re a mayor; you’re not a late-night show host.”
Another wrote, “Not sure if Mayor Mamdani wants to govern or just be a TikTok star and do Cameo videos. Maybe he delayed the announcement so he could think of something viral to do.”
Evidently, Mamdani may not have learned much (if anything) from the universal negative reception he received ahead of Winter Storm Fern last month. Mamdani posted a video remarking, “There’s snow doubt about it,” before explaining that New York City expected 8 to 9 inches of snow. A New York City worker walked into frame later in the video and remarked, “And to all our school kids, that means the next time you see the mayor, you can get him with a snowball.”
Mamdani’s approach comes as at least 19 New York City residents have been found dead outside over the last month.
Can’t be a serious post. Making it like this is a good thing. Soooo pathetic.
— Mike Violetta (@MikeVioletta) February 22, 2026
“You’re not kidding anyone with these photo ops of you outside in the snow,” an X user vented on Sunday. “You’re a fraud who got dozens of New Yorkers [killed] by your gross incompetence.”
Look, we understand that some people use humor to cope. If you don’t laugh, you cry. The problem, though, is that such a mindset isn’t for everyone. It’s clear that New York City residents don’t want to see or hear their mayor smiling or cracking wise when millions are at risk. They want someone who can put his feet down and literally try to guide his city through the storm. Mamdani even called the blizzard “serious” in a follow-up X post.
Mamdani is still early into his tenure as mayor, so he certainly has time to consider changing his delivery. Anyone old enough to remember Hurricane Sandy and the devastating impact it left on the tri-state area should agree, because if we get to October and Mamdani is smiling with a superstorm on the horizon, there might be no going back.
“So he’s just going to flip flop the entire time he’s there?” an X user nonetheless asked. “Finally, a city can hit bottom faster than LA.”
