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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani was filmed taking to the streets to shovel snow in New York as a storm gripped the city this weekend.
A winter storm hit New York City on Sunday, causing temperatures to drop and 14.9 inches of snow to hit areas across the city.
Amid the freezing conditions, the Democratic mayor headed to Brooklyn to help clear some of the snow.
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Newsweek reached out to representatives for Mamdani by email outside of normal business hours.
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Why It Matters
The storm has triggered a state of emergency in New York with officials issuing travel warnings across the state due to poor road conditions.
The weather will also be a test for the Mamdani, the city's new mayor, as he holds responsibility for the city's response to the extreme weather conditions, including whether to open schools. He, like mayors and other public officials before him, will be judged on how he handles the emergency.
What To Know
Videos of Mamdani shoveling snow to help a vehicle trapped in Brooklyn went viral on X, with one clip garnering 1.4 million views. The video can be seen here.
On X, the mayor shared a video of him scooping snow with a large spade and wrote: "As I have said, there is no task too big or no job too small. Happy to lend a hand and help out New Yorkers. Stay safe!"
His actions drew praise from New Yorkers. The United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn wrote on X: "Wow- that's hand on leadership! Thank you @NYCMayor for being out on the streets ensuring that the city is moving."
Benny Polatseck, an aide to former Mayor Eric Adams and a Mamdani critic, wrote on X: "Credit where due, looks like @NYCMayor is handling this storm very well so far."
Mamdani reported five deaths in the Big Apple on Saturday amid the winter weather, although he said it was too early to confirm their cause of death. New York City public schools will also have remote classes on Monday.
Nationwide, storms have caused nearly half of U.S. states to declare emergencies and have forced airlines to cancel more than 10,000 U.S. flights on Sunday including at major New York airports LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy. Further travel disruptions are expected.
What People Are Saying
Mamdani wrote on X: "Thank you to all of the city workers who have been working around the clock this weekend to keep us safe. No job is too small, no storm is too big."
Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul told CBS News New York on Sunday evening: "This is a life-threatening event. It is going to be the coldest temperatures that we've seen across many parts of the entire state in years."
What Happens Next
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that snow, sleet and freezing rain would continue through Monday across large portions of the country, with heavy snow from the Ohio Valley into the Northeast and “catastrophic ice accumulation” possible from the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
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