Zohran Mamdani on Monday defended his administration’s response to a deadly winter storm and a recent spike in homeless deaths, rejecting criticism that the city failed to adequately protect vulnerable residents during extreme cold.
Appearing on “Katy Tur Reports” on MS NOW, Mamdani was asked whether the city had changed its strategy after a previous cold snap during which 19 people were found dead outdoors, and seven others died indoors, with some fatalities potentially linked to heating failures.
“Did you deal differently with the unhoused population this time around?” host Katy Tur asked, noting the high number of deaths reported during the earlier stretch of freezing temperatures.
Mamdani responded that several of the deaths were related to overdoses and that the city had taken steps to try to mitigate them.
“A number of those New Yorkers who lost their lives, the preliminary indications came that it was from an overdose-related death,” Mamdani said. “And so, we worked with our overdose prevention centers to keep them open, not just during the weekday hours that they would typically have. But over the course of the weekend nights.”
The mayor also pointed to expanded outreach efforts to connect homeless residents with shelter and services. He said more than 500 outreach workers were deployed across the five boroughs during the most recent blizzard.
“So, as of now, we have no deaths reported from this blizzard, from being outside or in a public area,” Mamdani said, adding that the city implemented from the outset the same strategies it found effective during the earlier prolonged cold period.
However, reporting from CBS New York cited city data showing that 19 people died during a recent stretch of brutally cold weather, and the New York Post reported that medical examiners ruled at least 15 of the outdoor deaths were caused by hypothermia due to environmental exposure, challenging suggestions that overdoses were the primary factor.
The controversy comes weeks after Mamdani pledged in his inaugural address to replace what he described as “the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”
Ahead of the latest winter storm, the Trump administration offered federal assistance. But Kathy Hochul declined the offer from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, instead calling for changes to federal immigration enforcement policies as a condition for accepting aid.
As the city continues to grapple with homelessness, addiction, and extreme weather, Mamdani insists that his administration’s expanded outreach and emergency measures prevented further loss of life during the most recent storm.
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The situation in NYC is only going to get worse.
The so-called ‘Warmth of Collectivism” doesn’t seem very warm to me!
I would think, if they could talk, that 19 people would disagree!
Liar liar. Your pants are on fire.
Why are there so many homeless people these days? Are they too lazy to work, mentally ill, strung out on drugs? I don’t remember our country having homeless at this level until recent years.