How’s he doing when it comes to helping the gears of government turn better?
Zohran Mamdani ran for mayor on a platform of big, transformative ideas, many of them dependent on other layers and levels of government. But as every New Yorker knows, day-to-day life is shaped less by grand visions than by the basic machinery of city government — and too often, that machinery is stuck. While Mamdani’s mayoralty will be a test of his ambitious proposals, it will also be a test of small- and medium-bore management. Just Fix It is Vital City’s contribution to helping him pass that test: a running list of concrete, doable ways to unstick the gears of government and make it work better for all New Yorkers.
Another New Yorker — Franklin Delano Roosevelt — established the significance of an administration’s “first 100 days.” In his case they were to be devoted to “starting of the wheels” of his vision for governance, which he had called the New Deal. For Mayor Mamdani, a similar lexicon — his pitch of a “New Era” in city governance — permeated campaign promises.
So: How’s he doing? Many scorecards have tried to answer the question in broad terms. Here, we focus instead on the tasks we laid out for him as inauguration neared in December — our inaugural Just Fix It installment, which put forward 11 specific improvements Mamdani could enact without City Council or Albany permission to make government work better and improve life for New Yorkers. Here’s where they stand, and what else needs to happen to get them done.
1.
The problem: scaffolding
Sidewalk sheds are unsightly and a nuisance in neighborhoods.
Our recommendation:
Ratchet up enforcement and offer new incentives for building owners to complete repairs faster to remove sidewalk sheds.
What the Mamdani administration did:
Reducing the amount of scaffolding on buildings throughout the city was a priority for the mayor’s predecessor. Its Get Sheds Down initiative allowed the Department of Buildings (DOB) to update its regulations, permitted new designs and created new penalties for sidewalk sheds that stayed up too long. We said the Mamdani administration should go further.
The mayor has indicated that he’s interested. In a press conference last month, he announced that his DOB is moving forward with its revisions to Local Laws that regulate scaffolding, shortening size and timeframes and proposing new enforcement abilities that, pending public comment, should go into effect this summer. A specific emphasis has been placed on NYCHA campuses, where some 40 developments plan to take down their sidewalk sheds in the coming months.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next:
Target inspections to the worst sidewalk shed scofflaws. Draw up plans for the 1,120 sheds that have been up for three years or more, and help the rest navigate permitting. Offer rewards if need be. And don’t be afraid of using drones to expedite inspections.
2.
The problem: placards
Parking placards are routinely abused, creating dangerous situations and effectively announcing that government employees think the rules don't apply to them.
Our recommendation:
Rationalize the process for granting placards, and deem all unofficial parking placards moot. Declare a no-tolerance policy for placard and parking abuses.
What the Mamdani administration did:
Nothing of note. Late last year, the NYPD — perhaps the most notorious offender — rejected a reform that tried to clean up the out-of-control parking in front of police precincts, which often blocks sidewalks and crosswalks. The Department of Inspection has consistently said the commissioner has to get a handle on it, an assignment that has so far proven elusive. But when recently asked by a reporter at Streetsblog, the city media’s chronicler of parking snafus, Mamdani merely said he’d look into it.
Verdict: Insufficient progress
What the Mamdani administration should do next:
Look into it — and start clawing back and rationalizing placards right away.
3.
The problem: lighting
New York City’s public spaces are defined by their vibrancy, but after dark, many neighborhoods are marred by “dark zones” where inadequate infrastructure actively discourages civic life and invites criminal activity.
Our recommendation:
Scan the city’s dark places with high crime rates and, working with residents who understand the local landscape, install permanent, high-quality street lighting to foster public activity and deter serious offenses.
What the Mamdani administration did:
Mamdani appears aware of the power of light. At the end of Ramadan, which saw the city’s first Muslim mayor criss-crossing the five boroughs to break fast alongside New Yorkers, he stood in front of revelers on 125th Street in Harlem and pressed on “Eid Mubarak” decorations that brightened the often dim commercial corridor. A lot more lights — about 100 in total — are coming to a major crosstown route in the Bronx as part of a major overhaul.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Come up with a citywide plan to improve lighting, especially where crime and darkness overlap.
4.
The problem: homeless people struggling with serious mental illness
Responsibility for the estimated 4,000 New Yorkers living on the streets and subways — many of whom suffer from serious mental illness or addiction — is currently scattered across a dozen siloed agencies. But because no one “owns” responsibility for this specific population, vulnerable people cycle through a never-ending churn of ERs, jails and shelters, compromising those people and the public space more broadly.
Our recommendation:
Designate a single, high-level authority within City Hall to engage this population, coordinating budgets, data and operations across agencies to ensure every person in crisis is tracked to a stable outcome.
What the Mamdani administration did:
On the campaign trail, candidate Mamdani promised to create a Department of Community Safety, which would consolidate the city’s various outreach efforts to the most vulnerable New Yorkers — which had mostly been relegated by police officers — under a new roof. But with the push still unfunded and unsettled in the City Council, which must draft legislation to create new departments, the mayor has instead started smaller, creating an Office of Community Safety within the confines of City Hall.
Community safety expert and Vital City contributor Renita Francois now serves as the first official deputy mayor for community safety, which may be the closest thing yet to a centralized conduit to care for the 4,000 New Yorkers living on the streets. And early moves, like the opening of a 106-bed shelter in Lower Manhattan and a new wing at Bellevue to replace the Rikers Island infirmary, show promise.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Task the Office of Community Safety with mapping this massive population in most need, down to the individual level.
5.
The problem: curb chaos
Cars and trucks blocking the bus lane and the curb lane with double parking and deliveries cause congestion throughout the city and create dangerous situations for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Our recommendation:
Expand on the MTA’s Automated Camera Enforcement program, which uses cameras and on-the-ground enforcement to stop double parking and free up the curb lane for traffic.
What the Mamdani administration did:
The “free” part of the Mamdani administration’s “fast and free buses” promise is still stuck in traffic, but the “fast” part is off to the races. The mayor’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has revived plans for bus lanes in the Bronx and Manhattan that stalled under his predecessor, and work on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, which will offer near-Bus Rapid Transit levels of service to New York City’s streets, is underway. City Hall is eyeing another 45 corridors for acceleration — and cameras will likely be part of the equation. With data showing much clearer lanes, the MTA is rolling out its ACE program to more corridors.
But within its jurisdiction, City Hall has expressed a sincere interest in unclogging the curb. A new Office of Curb Management is taking shape at DOT, with a mission scope of enacting more efficient uses of the city’s most prized real estate to encourage turnover. Options include more meters, which would free space for deliveries and deter double-parking.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next:
Work with the MTA to roll out more bus routes and lanes that utilize the ACE program. Opt for 24/7 enforcement like speed cameras. Parking reform will be a bigger fight, but it’s one worth having.
6.
The problem: rigid civil service rules
The outdated New York City civil service program that governs much of City hiring is broken: As of November 2025, there were more than 14,000 vacancies, and it can take months to grade civil service entry exams.
Our recommendation:
Dramatically overhaul and streamline the City hiring and civil service system to make it more efficient, which will allow the administration to be better able to attract high-quality talent.
The Mamdani administration did:
Not much. As New York Focus reported, the Adams administration had a window last year to accelerate hiring by exempting 51 different job titles from the civil service exam. But the initiative ultimately caved under pressure from organized labor.
The Mamdani administration has so far stayed mum on any further attempts at overhaul. The vacancy rate for City jobs sits at around 6%, and City Hall has said it wants to fill the 17,000 open roles, if the budget allows it. But some 75,000 people submitted CVs during the transition, and only a fraction have been hired thus far.
Verdict: Insufficient progress
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Draw up a list of short-, medium- and long-term fixes to the civil service system, first exploring technology that could help and then initiating talks with labor unions for a smarter, deeper overhaul.
7.
The problem: inefficient service delivery
AI is underused by the city government. Bureaucratic rules remain a maze, and government service delivery is far too inefficient. Emerging tools can answer questions — and help government find solutions.
Our recommendation:
Invite the private sector to compete to build an AI tool that delivers clear, government-verified answers to a wide range of questions, while aggressively exploring ways to use AI (with human oversight) to do the work of government more efficiently.
The Mamdani administration did:
When it comes to AI, the last occupants of City Hall might be most remembered for creating a chatbot that doled out inaccurate advice to people. The Mamdani administration has cancelled the contract, and the mayor explicitly called it out as wasteful spending. (It cost the city about half a million dollars.) It has yet to be replaced.
But AI’s place in city government remains unclear at the moment. Mamdani himself said he doesn’t use ChatGPT or Claude, but City Hall brought on an expert on AI and privacy as a senior advisor. Last month, the Department of Education released guidance on AI usage for teachers, permitting it for lesson planning but not grading. Smaller pilots persist at the NYPD, FDNY, DOT and elsewhere. And tech-wise, the administration is letting its agencies join the mayor on TikTok.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Revisit the AI Action Plan and see where progress can be made across a range of government functions. Start with permitting and social program assistance.
8.
The problem: a hidebound budget office
The Office of Management and Budget plays an outsized role in city government, but it's usually as the penny counter and the Bureau of No. It needs to be a more proactive partner in efficient service delivery.
Our recommendation:
Put the M back in OMB, directing the office to modernize and advance its analytical capabilities to improve efficiency of government service delivery.
The Mamdani administration did:
Nothing yet. Sherif Soliman, the new head who previously brought order to CUNY’s finances, was consumed by questions over the city’s uncertain fiscal future at the City Council’s budget hearing, rather than any talks of reform. Meanwhile, the City Hall-designated ‘chief savings officer’ at OMB moved forward with cuts to costly office leases, but nothing beyond that.
Verdict: Insufficient progress
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Start the process of modernizing OMB.
9.
The problem: vestigial offices and panels
Year after year, executives and legislators create their own smattering of new offices, boards, working groups and reports. Administrations rarely do the hard work of decluttering the bureaucracy — leading to inevitable redundancies, inefficiency and waste.
Our problem:
Rationalize the many interagencies and offices and streamline their functions. Then continue the work to eliminate unnecessary reports, boards and redundant staffing.
The Mamdani administration did:
City Hall has been on a roll with roles. The Office of Mass Engagement. The Office of Community Safety. The Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs. A “mom and pop czar.” A “childcare czar.” A “World Cup czar.” And within the agencies themselves, a new Office of Curb Management (NYCDOT) and a new Office of Street Vendor Services (Small Business Services, or SBS). We’ve also gotten a few new taskforces.
To some degree, this is a matter of reshuffling. City Hall has revived the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, for example, while sunsetting the Office of Public Realm, instead directing those resources elsewhere. The “chief savings officers” may have replaced the futile “chief efficiency officer.” And the long-awaited release of a Racial Equity Plan, which sputtered out for so long in a new office created by the last mayor that its leaders sued, may imply a newfound sense of ownership of a sprawling organizational chart.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Rearrange hierarchies to meet changing needs and priorities. Continue to pinpoint redundancies wherever possible.
10.
The problem: inadequate transparency
The public has the right to know how the mayor and his team are conducting the city's business — and transparency is a tonic for creeping cynicism in government.
Our recommendation:
Set a new bar by becoming the most transparent mayoral administration in history. Release a comprehensive daily schedule; push out information quickly; turn around FOIL requests in days, not weeks and make leaders available for regular engagement and questions — on any and all topics.
The Mamdani administration did:
It’s a mixed bag. Mayor Mamdani pretty quickly archived his predecessor’s tweets and deleted them from public viewing. He has invited more forms of ‘new’ media into City Hall, but the exclusion has frustrated Room 9 reporters. He came under fire for talking about government business on Signal. He quietly skirted off to Washington for a surprise meeting with President Trump. And his administration still owes some FOILs.
But the Mayor and his team are also out there more than most. Hizzoner is walking (or biking) home from City Hall and greeting New Yorkers along the way. The new deputy mayors and commissioners have led public availability, including a recent ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit around housing. And the ‘Rental Rip-Off’ hearings had policymakers face the public.
Verdict: It’s a start!
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Release the FOILs faster, and let the press know of any advance trips — especially if it involves the largest housing project in a borough’s recent history.
11.
The problem: an overly complex housing voucher process
The process to help move New Yorkers into permanent housing is time-consuming, confusing and redundant, keeping people in shelter longer than necessary and costing the city money.
Our recommendation:
Streamline the process to obtain CityFHEPS vouchers without loosening eligibility.
The Mamdani administration did:
As a candidate, Mamdani promised to loosen eligibility rules for the fast-growing program that offers vouchers for permanent housing, after the Adams administration sued to stop a Council-backed expansion of eligibility. In office, as he faces down deficits, Mayor Mamdani has understandably continued the effort to block it. The mayor’s budget proposal instead kept the same funding for the $1.2 billion program intact, sparking outrage from advocates and policymakers.
While a CityFHEPS expansion is not in the cards for budgetary reasons, City Hall must focus much more on the dozens of steps and many months it takes for those who are eligible to access the program.
Verdict: Insufficient progress
What the Mamdani administration should do next: Systematically review the overly bureaucratic CityFHEPS process and streamline it — without widening access in a way that grows the program’s costs.
This installment was prepared with the help of John Surico. Sarah Feinberg and many others provided essential guidance and will continue to inform our work on this project going forward. In the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to surface practical suggestions from people who know the system best — current and former agency staff, nonprofit partners and the everyday New Yorkers who routinely deal with, and often trip up trying to navigate, New York's bureaucracy.
Send your ideas to justfixit@vitalcitynyc.org; if you wish to remain anonymous, we will honor your request.
