New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared the latest update on his pothole repair drive with the Department of Transportation on Saturday. NYC’s mayor said 80 members of the Department of Transportation repaired 7,000 potholes across the city on Saturday.
Zohran Mamdani launched the Pothole Blitz ride after a winter marked by heavy snowfall and long periods of freezing temperatures that left roads in at least five NYC boroughs in need of urgent repair.
He launched the ride along with DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Mamdani shared an update on pothole repair in New York, saying that on March 21, 80 DOT crews repaired 7,000 potholes in the city.
Last weekend, a DOT crew repaired 7,200 potholes in a single day on March 14, Mamdani reported. Meanwhile, since Jan. 1 of this year, about 66,000 potholes in New York have been repaired, the mayor said.
The Department of Transportation also announced a second wave of pothole repair blitzes in five New York City boroughs on Friday.
80 DOT crews were dispatched across the five boroughs starting at 6 a.m. to do the work.
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Since Jan. 1, NYC DOT has repaired more than 66,000 potholes with a response time of just over two days, with more than 20,000 potholes filled in the past two weeks alone, the department said.
“New Yorkers deserve safe, smooth streets, and that’s why Mayor Mamdani and the NYC DOT mobilized on potholes last weekend, fixing more than 7,200 last Saturday — almost as many potholes as we’d fill in an entire week,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn.
The ministry also warned of longer driving times and traffic due to flash pothole repairs.
“While most New Yorkers are still sleeping, 80 DOT crews will be hitting the streets to fix potholes during a five-borough blitz,” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. “In a single day, they fill the thousands of potholes that appear every year when spring comes and the streets of our city begin to melt.”
Why are there so many potholes in NYC?
The reason for the sudden increase in potholes in NYC is the brutal winter that brought record snowfall and intense cold this season.
Pothole season begins in New York around spring, when more potholes form on the city’s roadways due to high humidity, winter weather conditions and the freeze-thaw cycle, according to the Department of Transportation.
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“What’s happened this year is we’ve had a really extended cold spell, and that means when it finally warms up and the asphalt thaws, you’re going to see a lot of those potholes kind of forming at the same time,” Flynn said, according to CBS.
How to report a pothole?
The Department of Transportation asked citizens to use the 311 website or app to report a pothole in their area. One can fill out the form at report a pothole
How long does it take to fix a pothole?
According to the authorities, the average time to repair potholes is two days after reporting. DOT crews currently fix weekly potholes in a single day.
