As of November 4, 2025, New York City voters elected Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist, as the city’s next mayor. Mamdani’s victory – along with Democratic gains in gubernatorial and state supreme court races – offers a glimpse into potential outcomes for the 2026 midterms and a national response to President Trump’s first ten months back in office.
Mamdani’s campaign prominently focused on free child care and the cost of living and gave comparatively little attention to environmental policy. His official website, however, includes a brief summary of his past climate initiatives and broader goals as mayor, along with a single concrete plan to address the effects of climate change on New Yorkers. The mayor-elect may have stayed relatively silent on climate issues, but he does seem to have a few ideas on how to address them.
Green Schools for a Healthier New York City
In the only detailed plan of action to combat the impacts of climate change announced by his campaign, Mamdani’s administration intends to decrease emissions and increase safety for 500 public schools in New York City.
According to his campaign website, his administration aims to achieve this feat by applying several steps: first of all, the renovation of each school with a renewable energy infrastructure, including HVAC replacements; then, replacing 500 asphalt playgrounds with green spaces in order to lower heat indexes and combat the increasingly hot New York summers. In addition, 50 of these schools will be converted into publicly accessible resiliency hubs that would provide resources year-round, along with representing an easily accessible safe space during emergencies.
While undertaking this massive overhaul, 15,000 union jobs will be created; the measures will, moreover, prioritise out-of-date facilities to help confront environmental racism. By the end of Mamdani’s first four-year mayoral term, his goal is to complete the installation of solar panels and HVAC replacement systems in all 500 public schools and set New York City on the path to complete schoolyard conversion and resilience hub creation by 2035.
Mamdani’s other climate goals
On his website, Mamdani reiterates his commitment to greening New York for his entire time in elected office and commits to continuing his efforts by leading a massive decarbonization and climate resiliency process citywide. This will include building out renewable energy on public lands and fulfilling the vision of 2019’s Local Law 97, which aims to reduce emissions released by large buildings by 40%. Furthermore, the new mayor-elect will oversee a disaster preparedness program that will prioritise safe and resilient housing. Mamdani is, moreover, committed to combating environmental racism, in particular by tackling extreme heat that leads to double the fatalities of New Yorkers of colour than any other type of extreme weather event.
Mamdani does have a record of environmental policy wins, such as successfully protesting and defeating plans to open a fracked gas plant in New York’s Astoria. He also plans to permanently introduce fare-free and faster public buses, thus incentivising New Yorkers to ditch their cars in favour of public transportation. To compensate for the lack of income incurred by bus fares, Mamdani proposes increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5% while simultaneously introducing a flat 2% tax rate for individuals earning $1 million (€870,400) or more.
President Donald Trump’s reaction
In Washington, D.C., President Trump reacted with a post on Truth Social implying that the only reason behind the new mayor-elect’s win and the Republican candidate’s defeat was the lack of his own name on the ballot and the current US government shutdown.
Trump endorsed instead opponent Andrew Cuomo, a former New York governor recently found guilty of sexually harassing 13 women by the federal Department of Justice, barely days before voters took to the booths, and threatened to cut all federal funding allocated to New York City in case of Mamdani’s triumph.
Cover: Mamdani, photo by Kara McCurdy