New York city Mayor Zohran Mamdani has managed to sign a single bill in over 10 months since he took office, leaving nearly 100 previous other bills to become law without his signature while insiders describe him and his team as focused on making viral videos for clicks.
The bill signed was a year-round roadway dining law, passed by the City Council on Aug. 13 as Int. 0655. Mamdani signed it on Aug. 31 as Local Law 135, eliminating the winter dismantling requirement for roadway cafes.
It would let roadway cafes, the curbside setups that occupy parking lanes outside restaurants, stay open year-round instead of coming down each winter.
Additionally, restaurants can weatherproof them during colder months. While the old rule required roadway cafes to close from November 30 through March 31, sidewalk cafes operated year-round.
The Department of Transportation will set the rules for winterizing the structures.
“Outdoor dining transformed our city once before, and now we are making sure it has a permanent place in New York City,” Mamdani said at the time.
Mamdani’s legislative record would leave you to notice a glaring mismatch between governing and performing, where Nearly 100 bills have slipped into law without his signature, while he kept feeding the feed on TikTok and other social media with scripted clips and punchlines, even though those Bill’s required his signatures before it could become law.
Mamdani, born October 18, 1991, turned 35 last week.
The scale of the difference between the New York mayor’s signed laws’ records and his predecessors‘ is difficult to overlook at the same point in their respective terms. His predecessor Eric Adams had signed 30 bills, Bill de Blasio 47, and Michael Bloomberg 28. Mamdani had signed one.
The comparison does not, by itself, explain why the numbers differ, but it raises questions about the importance his administration places on the formal business of governing.
In the past, Mamdani’s administration has faced scrutiny over its social-media unattended to habits. CBS had previously reported that the mayor’s office used an encrypted Signal group to communicate with more than 200 online creators, sharing information and arranging opportunities to engage with city officials.
The act prompted questions at a City Council oversight hearing about record preservation after disappearing messages came to light. The administration said it had taken corrective action. But critic said they never do
Although, that reporting did not establish that government records had actually been lost or shared.
With 3.7M followers on TikTok, his last upload hitting 3.9M views and a dramatic 6k comments.
“The mayor and his team are obsessed with becoming a content farm, often delaying or can-kicking boring governmental meetings so the mayor and his staff can hold pitch sessions for social media videos,” a source who is very close to and often works with City Hall told the New York Post.
“The mayor gets pitched comedy sketches more than Lorne Michaels. There are lots of laughs, and there is very little work.” The source added, reported by the Post.
Surprisingly, unsigned bills that became law without Mamdani’s signature included his own previously pushed agenda’s: an expansion of free childcare programs, a rent-assistance program, and a bill requiring wellness checks on elderly New Yorkers when temperatures exceed 95 degrees.
All three were awaiting his signature in July and became law without it.
More eye-opening was a fourth bill, sponsored by Council Member Alexa Avilés, a socialist ally of Mamdani. The bill, which requires sanctuary rules banning cooperation with ICE to be posted at schools and city-owned buildings, was introduced in February and passed by a wide margin. It reached Mamdani in June and took effect later without his signature.
Under New York City’s Section 37(b) allows a city council bill to become law if the mayor does not sign or veto it within 30 days.
Former New York City Council Member Diana Ayala told the New York Post the pattern was hard to square with the substance:
“It is a little bit weird,” she said. “Those are his initiatives.” Ayala said a signature would have mattered to the sponsors. “It would be nice to elevate their initiatives,” she added. “It shows goodwill and that they are in alignment on specific issues.”
Those records have unfolded alongside a steady stream of clips from the mayor’s office. Mamdani had continued to appear in his own social media hobbies while all this was at issue. The post reported even until Monday. Unsigned bills sat for signature in his office.
One former City Hall staffer a additionally told the Post:
“It’s easier to govern by TikTok than to actually perform the duties of the job.” A former Bloomberg staffer said of the unsigned legislation: “They haven’t found a way to make this into compelling social media content.” Another City Hall insider described the approach as “lazy government.”
While his legislative record stood at one signed bill, his social media presence was surging. Mamdani launched his campaign with fewer than 60,000 Instagram followers and grew to more than 12 million, a growth that has outpaced his output at City Hall.
Source note: Unnamed New York City staffers and insiders’ comments were originally reported by the New York Post.
