Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a campaign-style rally in Queens Sunday night to mark 100 days in office.
Over the course of his 35-minute speech at the Knockdown Center in Maspeth, Mamdani touted the accomplishments of his administration so far to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, including child care from 2-year-olds, targeting the city’s bad landlords and fixing potholes.
He also took time to push back against his critics.
“Others warned that the left could debate but could never deliver. Socialists might be able to win a campaign, but we could never advance an agenda,” Mamdani said. “What we’ve accomplished in 14 weeks, imagine what we can accomplish in 4 years.”
Mamdani laid out future priorities including initiatives to work with the state to speed up buses throughout the city.
“Together with Gov. [Kathy] Hochul we will speed up buses by up to 20% along 45 priority corridors,” he said.
The mayor says the goal is to cut down bus commutes by six minutes each way. Notably, there was no mention of buses being free.
Mamdani said he would also work to inch toward one of his major campaign promises: opening a slate of city-run grocery stores. The initial store, he said, would open next year, with the remaining shops — eventually one in each of the city’s five boroughs — opening by the end of his four-year term.
“At our stores, eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation,” said Mamdani.
The mayor then announced the city is looking to containerize all residential trash by 2031, an effort first started by former Mayor Eric Adams. Mamdani says there will be at least one fully containerized community district in each borough by the end of next year. Though, he gave no details on how much that will cost.
Towards the end of the speech, Mamdani was joined on stage by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who applauded the mayor for fulfilling his promise to make life more affordable for New Yorkers.
“What you guys are doing here in New York City is important not only to the people here. What you are doing and what the mayor is doing is providing hope and inspiration, not only to people all across our country, but honestly, all across the world,” Sanders said.
