January 27, 2026
Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Good morning, New York. Yesterday, the storm that our city had spent days preparing for finally arrived. Snow fell across the five boroughs, temperatures dropped, winds gusted. The forecasts were largely accurate. Nearly a foot of snow accumulated in parts of our city. And yet today, our city is up and running, thanks to the plans we put in place and the countless city workers who delivered on them. The strength of our response is a testament to all of those who put in long shifts, clearing snow from our parks, keeping our public transit running, and responding to emergencies.
Over 5,000 sanitation workers traversed our 6,000 miles of roadway multiple times, using 2,500 pieces of equipment to plow snow, pour brine, and dispense tens of millions of pounds of salt. Every street in this city was plowed. Nearly 19 tons of anti-icing solution were applied to the East River bridges by our DOT crews. The city tow truck task force, which helped our 53 motorists yesterday and today, didn’t just help keep roads clear across the five boroughs. They freed trapped motorists, escorted plows, and ensured ambulances could get to those in need.
These are our fellow New Yorkers, who do immense work that is often unseen and unrecognized. They keep our city running no matter the challenge before them. They deserve immense credit and immense gratitude, to which they would respond, I’m sure, that they were only doing their jobs. New York was prepared, and New York weathered the storm.
I want to commend the leaders who are here with me today, those who are still hard at work at our emergency operation centers, and every agency that communicated and coordinated effectively across government to serve this city. And I [also] want to commend the countless everyday New Yorkers who did their part to help our city stay on its feet. The neighbors who shoveled snow off their stoop and then did the same for the stoop next door. The business owners who salted the whole block. The young people who brought supplies to the elderly couple upstairs. We prepared for this storm together and we rode this storm out together.
Now, while the worst is behind us, there is still more to be done as we clear the snow and restore our city. Our top priority remains ensuring that every New Yorker can remain safe and warm throughout this prolonged cold period. Enhanced Code Blue protocols have been in place since Friday night and empowered our outreach teams to make 170 placements in shelters, safe havens, stabilization beds, drop-in centers, and hospitals over the weekend. The vast majority of these placements were to shelters.
Just because the storm has passed does not mean that the danger to homeless New Yorkers has passed. Outreach teams are only intensifying their efforts today to connect vulnerable New Yorkers to shelter. This is an all-hands-on-deck effort. And I continue to ask New Yorkers to call 311, which will route these calls to 911 as it is a Code Blue, whenever they see someone who may require assistance.
I also want to ask New Yorkers to continue to stay off the roads as much as possible for another day, as [the] DSNY crew continue to plow our streets. A hazardous travel advisory remains in effect. As we announced yesterday, today is a virtual learning day for our students, with exceptions for high school students and schools serving only grades six through 12 that are observing a previously scheduled professional development day. All after-school programs, adult education, and school-based programming have been canceled. As of 9:15 a.m. this morning, we have over 400,000 parent, student, and staff log-ons.
Again, as a reminder, high school students and grades six through eight students co-located with high school students, had a previously scheduled day off for professional development, so our decision to go remote impacts a portion of our school system, about 500,000 students who are scheduled to be in school on Monday. I did visit a classroom this morning remotely, alongside the chancellor, and reiterated my offer to students that they could pelt me in the face with a snowball. They were very excited about that and asked for a time and place. I said, “You can find me anywhere in New York City.”
There remain some interruptions to service. Alternate side parking is suspended today and will also be suspended tomorrow. Payment at parking meters will remain in effect. The Staten Island Ferry is continuing to run on a modified schedule every 20 minutes. And I [also] want to ask New Yorkers to be patient with garbage collection, as DSNY prioritizes snow removal in the immediate short term.
But our city is steadily coming back online. Lift suspension of Citi Bike service has been lifted. The New York City Ferry is running once again and operating at 90 percent capacity. Buses and subways are also running normally, though I would encourage New Yorkers to budget some extra time on their commutes. Our goal is for all services to be fully restored by tomorrow, with all streets cleared, students back at school in person, and our city back to normal, albeit with a lot of snow piled up.
I am grateful to all the New Yorkers who heeded our guidance to stay inside and to practice caution, and to every person who contributed to the citywide effort that allowed us to endure this storm successfully. Please continue to monitor the cold temperatures that we are expecting over this coming week and to look out for one another. As always, New York, stay warm, stay prepared, stay safe. Thank you very much. And now, our chancellor, Kamar Samuels.
Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels, New York City Public Schools: Hello, good morning. So, this morning, I not only logged on with the mayor to a class where we read The Snowy Day, I also logged on with my own daughter before I left home. And so, I was pleased to announce that both times we were able to log on like most of the rest of the city to our classrooms. Things have gone very well this morning, it was a smooth start to the day. Students were able to log into their virtual classroom quickly and get right into their school day.
Schools and families who’ve been having any issues, can call 718-935-5100. I’ve known that number forever, even as a principal. And so, we also have 8,000 staff who are on the ground spreading salt, deploying plows and shoveling to make sure that tomorrow we will be ready for school. And I tell all those people, thank you so much for your work. Thank you so much for your support.
We have also opened ten high schools across the city as warming shelters for families, for people looking for shelter, and we have school safety agents deployed in all of those situations. New Yorkers, your schools are a part of the city’s ecosystem. We remain connected today, and we will continue to remain connected. And our schools will be ready for opening when the weather permits. Thank you very much.
Commissioner Zach Iscol, New York City Emergency Management: Good morning. I just want to start by thanking the thousands of city employees and volunteers who worked through this weekend shoveling snow, responding to emergencies, serving our most vulnerable, conducting outreach and coordination overnight and in dangerous conditions. From sanitation workers, first responders, DOT crews, park staff, to my team in emergency management, these people really showed up when we needed them most.
And at the same time, this weekend tested us in more ways than one. Alongside the major snowstorm, we faced prolonged extreme cold, as well as two tragic fires in the Bronx. And although snow cleanup is underway, I want to be very, very clear that we are not out of the woods yet. We still have a lot of work to do. Dangerous weather conditions persist throughout the week with frigid temperatures, placing utilities and infrastructures under pressure, and vulnerable New Yorkers remain at risk.
This reality has guided our response from the start. It’s guided our planning and will continue to guide our work in the days ahead. And it’s important for everyone to understand that as a city, we do have a lot more work to do. This was the first major snowstorm New York City has seen in years. We stayed focused on getting clear, timely information to New Yorkers early and often.
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers signed up for Notify NYC during this storm, so they could stay informed about travel conditions, warming centers, and safety guidance. Knowing is half the battle. Informed New Yorkers make safer decisions, and New Yorkers did exactly that. People stayed off the roads when possible. They checked in on neighbors, and they took advantage of city resources.
We were able to open, as the chancellor said and the mayor, warming centers across all five boroughs. At Emergency Management, we coordinated this response around the clock through our Emergency Operations Center, connecting agencies and partners together 24/7 in real time, ensuring our plows were able to operate across all five boroughs. Emergency crews, police officers, ambulances were able to respond and serve.
The mayor and his team really did a great job empowering agencies to act early, communicate clearly, and work together. The support we received from City Hall throughout these emergencies allowed our agencies to coordinate quickly, act early, and respond efficiently. This made it possible throughout the day yesterday and overnight to move resources where they were needed most, keep New Yorkers informed, and unified our response.
As I prepare to step away as commissioner, I want to just say how lucky I have been alongside the team at Emergency Management and all of our sister agencies. I found that [the] government really is truly at its best when it’s a team sport. We’ve tackled, this team, just about everything from – I’m supposed to get emotional in two weeks, not today – everything from one of the largest humanitarian crises this city has ever [seen] arrived on our shores. Tragic mass shootings, a tragic shipwreck. We’ve seen record-setting rainfall, heat, [and] other extreme weather. We’ve had major cyber incidents, space weather, air pollution from Canada, aviation accidents. We’ve had building collapses, water main breaks, [and] an endless number of fires.
Up until now, my amazing first deputy, Christina Farrell, and I have had it all, except a major snowstorm. And one of the things I want to say is I’m very confident that no matter what the future holds, this team has it. This team is incredible. And Mr. Mayor, I also want to say to you, you really are building a great team here at City Hall. In the short time we’ve worked together, it’s been a busy, busy couple of weeks. And I’ve seen you and your team show up for New Yorkers on their worst days through five alarm fires and more.
It’s been a busy few weeks, and I’m confident that with this team, including your amazing deputy mayor for Operations, Julia Kerson, and so many others, our team at NYCEM, and the thousands of men and women who serve this city, who show up day in and day out for the people of this great city. I know this city is in great, great hands. So, thank you all so much.
Acting Commissioner Javier Lojan, Department of Sanitation: Good morning. Yesterday, 5,000 sanitation workers showed up to drive plows and spread salt on highways, roads, and bike lanes. While everyone else was warm inside or having fun in the snow with loved ones, they were working around the clock to help keep New Yorkers safe. And they’re still here. We remain on a full force, 24/7 operation for several days to come, as part of a full cleanup following the storm.
It was the largest and most intense winter storm to hit New York City in about five years, and I want to remind New Yorkers about what to expect from a robust DSNY operation following the storm. Last night and today, we plowed every single street multiple times, running routes consistently and repeatedly based on conditions on the ground. Because of that work today, the streets are passable for emergency vehicles and people who must drive to get to work.
The same is true for bike lanes, which are so critical for New Yorkers in the delivery field. But this is an ongoing process. Those huge mounds of snow can’t stay at the corners. They need to be hauled away. And as New Yorkers address their sidewalks or dig out their cars, bike lanes and roadways will still need additional passes from DSNY.
We are not slowing down. We have hundreds of emergency snow shovelers working today, with an emphasis on making sure areas around schools are ready for tomorrow. We have hired extra equipment for snow hauling and ridge breaking, and given the deep and ongoing cold, we will soon activate snow melting operations, setting up large machines that can each melt up to 120 tons per hour.
In short, we will continue to address all conditions throughout the week. Property owners, please remember to shovel and salt your sidewalks, so that pedestrians can get where they need to get to safely. The city is open, and it will get more and more open in the hours ahead, thanks to the work of this department and this administration at large. Thank you.