As Mayor Zohran Mamdani approaches the 100-day milestone for his new administration on Friday, a pair of polls were just released that suggest the city's mood is one of hopeful frustration. Things are still bad, the polls suggest, but we know it's early, and this guy is trying.
On Wednesday, a Marist College poll showed that 48 percent of New Yorkers approve of Mayor Mamdani's job performance so far, and 56 percent believe the city is "moving in the right direction," compared to 43 percent who believe things are "moving in the wrong direction." Interestingly, 74 percent of the roughly 1,400 people Marist polled said the mayor is "working hard," and 61 percent said Mamdani "understands the problems facing New York City."
On Thursday, Emerson College released their own poll (with a smaller sample size of 850 New Yorkers) that gave the mayor a 43 percent approval rating, while (gasp!) 59 percent of respondents said the city was on "the wrong track," compared to 41 percent who said it was on the "right track." This was the New York Post's headline on the poll, except the survey also stated that 59 percent of New Yorkers feel the mayor has been "focusing on issues that are important" to them.
Plus, there are these interesting tax-the-rich stats, for any state governors who might be reading:
Voters were asked which of the following they think New York City should do to close the budget gap: 55 percent think the state should raise taxes on the wealthy, 41 percent think New York City should better manage its spending, and 4 percent think a five percent property tax increase should be implemented.
Sixty-five percent of registered voters support a millionaire's tax, while 20 percent oppose and 15 percent are not sure.
But polls, schmolls: Hell Gate hit the streets this week to talk to New Yorkers across town about Mayor Mamdani's tenure so far. Here's what they had to say, by neighborhood.
Upper East Side
The sun was setting, and a cold wind was whipping down 79th Street as 81-year-old Jane A. paused briefly on the sidewalk to give her assessment of Mayor Mamdani's tenure so far. "Not too well," she said, before ticking off her reasons.
"First of all, what he wants to pass is, if I die, 90 percent of my estate goes to taxes. That's not good," Jane said, overstating Mamdani's plan to raise estate taxes by 40 percent. "And I'm afraid to go up where my friend lives by his house, by Gracie Mansion, because of that whole…incident," she added, referring to the homemade bomb that was thrown by a teenager at a group of protesters last month.
"He's just opening it up for very leftist and, um, Muslim people, to kind of take over our city. He's making it easy for them. Inviting them in," she said. When we asked Jane, who is a retired teacher and admissions officer, what specifically she meant by this, she replied, "Well, they're really socialists. They want to spread the wealth. And for us, people who have worked very hard—I've worked every day of my life since I was 10. So I have some means now, but I've really worked for it. And that's what our country's based on. It's hard work, and focus, and helping others, but, you know, working along the way. And he's really not focused on that."
We asked Jane, who did not vote in the November election, if there was anything the mayor could do to change her perception of him.
"Probably, not really. Because I have preconceived ideas," she replied. But then she thought of something: "He could tone his wife down." We asked, what has his wife done?