Sure sure sure, but did the government make any profit from doing this?

Business owners whose vehicles now need less repair and maintenance: “This is unacceptable“

New campaign slogan:

Zohran, he'll fill all your holes.

I mean I know he's a ladies man, but seriously, 8000 in a day? Hats off, Mamdani. Don't forget the electrolyte drinks.

if this about cars, only the most libertarian would question, if we're talking about trains tho...

"I used that pothole as a waypoint and now I get lost."

Car infrastructure doesn't need to make a profit don't you know? Its just public transport that needs be a net gain for the city

What a wonderful metric to measure how a mayor or prime minister is working. If the streets are full of potholes, you have a bad government. If the streets are paved with smooth asphalt without a single hole for your precious car burning expensive gasoline to fall in, then they're doing some very good work. The economy and potholes. That's the most important things.

I mean, I do legitimately wonder how he did this when other administrations didn't or couldn't. Would like an insider perspective. Like, did he just pay tons and tons of OT? Did he order the potholes filled quickly, even if they didn't meet the normal standard for quality? Did he crack the whip and say "fuck your union rules!" Or were past administrations just this corrupt/lazy/incompetent?

I'm sure his fanboys will say "obviously it's the last one - he's not a corrupt capitalist pig", or something. And I'm open to that explaination. But I'd like, yaknow, some actual statements from people who were actually involved.

Suspension and tire shops across NYC are sobbing

Bikes and buses use streets, too.

It kind of shows the priorities? Your infrastructure will be fine for a few years if you do no maintenance. After that, it's downhill. If you are investing in maintaining it, you show that you have the longterm interests of the population in mind instead of some shortterm things that might help you during your short term

The point is that Mamdami is actually doing what his constituents have been asking. If you want to put a negative spin on it, at least make it about how low the bar is instead of this insufferable interpretation of the situation

Kier Starmer would never fill a pothole!
The same was said about the previous progressive mayor of my city. She and the party pushed very hard for bike paths everywhere. And we got them. But conservatives and people not from the city were whining because somehow, there were still potholes in the city.

I maintain it's a stupid metric.

Makes you wonder what Eric Adams was doing all day

Wheelchairs, scooters… lots of things that aren’t cars have wheels and may need to cross the road at some point!

Can my city borrow Mamdani for a couple months?

This guy seems like he’s off to a great start.

And who would have thought paying people to provide services would work? I’m shocked!

I know you're joking, but it is so depressing that this is EXACTLY how so many government officials think and how so many constituents have been brainwashed to think.

No it doesn't. He was lining his fucking pockets.

This is "rape whistles shouldn't need to exist" logic. I know you're in your own little universe where you could just Infinity Gauntlet snap and there'd be no more cars in NYC, but in the world we actually live in, he's helping.

EDIT 2: See Aatube's comment below for the NYT article link. It's real.

I mean, I do legitimately wonder how he did this when other administrations didn't or couldn't.

I suspect the article is overselling it (the comparison, not the raw pothole number), and they don't source basically anything they're saying, so it's hard to definitively call them on that. NYC had a winter that created an abnormal number of potholes, and this article (using an uncited figure) says: "the same number that would usually take New York’s Department of Transport (DOT) a week." But is that for filling potholes directly after winter? Is it for the rate of potholes per week averaged across the year (which would be a completely invalid comparison)? I guess I could try digging it up, but Novara Media clearly didn't give enough of a shit when they said it.

I think it's cool regardless.

Donate one hour’s wage per month—or whatever you can afford—today.

Dunno, Novara; maybe when you decide to learn how hyperlinks work.

EDIT: I tried to follow one breadcrumb to the NYT using this quote from the article: "According to the New York Times, the incident signaled early on that Mamdani was raring to take on “long ignored street improvements – the kind of meat-and-potatoes issue that some previous mayors have struggled to deliver on”.".

I can't find that quote, even trying several different verbatim excerpts from the quote (but the full quote should be findable anyway). Thaaaaaaaat's really fucking questionable. I could be missing something. @return2ozma@lemmy.world, your thoughts?

I would give my left nut for my city to spend some money to fill in the god damn potholes instead of whatever the hell they're spending my extra .1 percent sales tax for stupid road projects that will do nothing to actually make a difference in traffic..

Capitalists hate this one trick.

Yeah, be aware it’s low hanging fruit. Make sure it’s not bread and circuses.

Ah, you must be one of those people that needs posts to end in "/s" to get the joke.

"Garmin GPS announces next update to bring back missing potholes by playing bang.mp3 without any user input destination needed..."

The question is, how many potholes do they usually fill in a day? For all we know they fill 8000 potholes every spring, but just don't advertise it. That being said, letting the people know what you do for them is important.

But I’d like, yaknow, some actual statements from people who were actually involved.

He said, asking on Lemmy, where none of those people are likely to exist.

What's Johney-5 up to these days?

Haha I think you might be the person who needs the /s. I was just continuing the sarcasm but making an adjacent sarcastic point

I don’t need the /s

The South African pothole

If this comment is implying an /s then you got me lol

I wish those movies were still funny today. They were so great in their time.

They aged terribly

Fucking socialist, wasting money on things people need.

Fraud. At a break-neck pace.

He’s young enough that, once he’s done in NYC, he could go off and be mayor of several other cities afterward.

That one trick? When politicians focus on actually doing their fucking job.

Low hanging fruit is better than no fruit, which is what we were getting from Eric Adams

A day should be enough to travel from NYC to Washington DC, via Istanbul.

You're right, it is a wonderful metric! The metric boils down to "public servant uses public money to improve the lives of the public." The same can be said for all public services: parks, playgrounds, healthcare, inspection and maintenance, just to name a few.

Contrary to what seems to be a widely held opinion in the US the government should not be a for-profit enterprise, rather an entity entrusted with spending public money (i.e. taxes) for the good of the public, and on things no private company would bother with as there is no expected return on investment other than "making people healthier and happier". Healthy, happy people are more likely to contribute and be more productive, which in turn raises more taxes and so the cycle continues. So yes, fixing potholes is a great start, well spotted.

Unfortunately it was manhattan so that was just one city blocks worth 😝

no, you can see it right there at the end: /s

Here's the source

https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/03/mamdani-administration-fills-more-than-7-000-potholes-during-wee

You can tell it's a pothole by the way it is

Did they do right or just drop some loose asphalt in them and pat it a couple of times with a shovel?

Sure. But a future article or other news source or maybe a former mayor's aide's twitter account might have more info, and maybe someone here knows about that

I appreciate your thoroughness!

He’s got John Henry on the payroll.