MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Mayor pledges to expand public bathroom access, complete stalled Madison Avenue bus lane

Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 10-11, marked the tenth and eleventh days of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did today.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration made two more public works announcements over the weekend as the new mayor continues to settle into New York City’s highest office.

Though Hizzoner made no public appearances Sunday on this official schedule, he went to West Harlem on Saturday to announce that his administration would expand access to public bathrooms, starting with a $4 million commitment.

Deputy Mayor of Operations Julia Kerson and Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn announced on Sunday plans to complete a stalled bus lane.

Health: Mamdani looks to provide relief in a pinch

Mamdani announced the new public bathroom plan in West Harlem, where a new bathroom will be installed later this year, he said.

“Everyone knows the feeling of needing a bathroom and not being able to find one,” Mamdani said at the Jan. 10 press conference , which was flush with bathroom puns and innuendo. “With this new commitment to public toilets, we’re ensuring New Yorkers can travel through our city with a little less anxiety, starting today at 12th and St. Clair.”

The Mamdani administration is committing $4 million to a Request for Proposals for “high-quality modular public restrooms,” which will set off the bidding process within Mamdani’s first 100 days in office. The initial RFP will seek proposals for constructing 20-30 public restrooms, Mamdani said, with development intended to grow “exponentially” in the following months and years.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin joined Mamdani at the press conference, alongside Flynn, City Council Member Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan), and Assembly Member Jordan Wright (D-Manhattan). After their remarks, Menin and Mamdani sat down to sign the final approvals for a new public restroom at the site of the announcement.

“The City Council has been clear that this is a quality-of-life issue we can’t ignore,” Menin said, noting legislation passed by the City Council last year to establish a citywide strategy for 2,100 public bathrooms by 2035. “By working in partnership with Mayor Mamdani, we’re turning that commitment into action, and today’s announcement is an important step toward making it real for every New Yorker.”

A December 2025 report by the City Council raised issues with the quality of public bathrooms already in the city, finding many locations closed, dirty, and “lacking basic amenities.”

Around 70% of New York City’s roughly 1,000 public restrooms are located in parks. Mamdani’s initiative will seek to diversify the locations of public restrooms, focusing on non-green areas such as public plazas.

Transit: Making a move on Madison bus lanes

The Mamdani administration announced plans on Sunday to complete a stalled bus lane project on the major Midtown thoroughfare, expanding bus lanes from 23rd to 42nd Streets.Photo via Getty Images

Kerson and Flynn stood in for the mayor with a press conference Sunday afternoon on Madison Avenue, where they announced plans to complete a stalled bus lane project on the major Midtown thoroughfare, expanding bus lanes from 23rd to 42nd Streets.

“Bus routes from all five boroughs rely on this stretch to get people to work, school, and appointments,” Kerson said. “But right now, bus speeds here are unacceptable; we’re talking about four to five miles per hour. That’s half the citywide average.”

Kerson said that the Mamdani administration will complete the project by the end of 2026. She characterized the announcement as “part of a broader effort” to move public works forward, citing recently announced plans to enhance safety measures on McGuinness Boulevard.

“This project will make trips faster and more reliable for 92,000 daily local and express bus riders coming from all five boroughs,” Flynn added, explaining that the redesign will “extend the existing double bus lane … while maintaining space for general traffic and curb access.”

Mamdani placed a focus on public transportation during his campaign for City Hall, promising to deliver fare-free and faster buses.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal took the podium to express support for Mamdani’s public transportation plans, praising his follow-through on making buses faster, and quipping that “we just gotta do the free part.”

“Today, we celebrate the beginning of faster buses here on Madison Avenue,” Hoylman-Sigal said.

New City Council Member Harvey Epstein (D-Manhattan), who left the State Assembly for City Hall, discussed the importance of work between Albany and New York City to prioritize public transportation issues. Gov. Kathy Hochul has previously cast doubt on Mamdani’s plan to make bus fares free, which would require support from the state.

Public safety: Responding to shootings, pro-Hamas outburst in Queens

The new projects come on the heels of a busy week for the new mayor, which was marked by the announcement of a citywide free childcare program for two-year-olds , two fatal NYPD shootings , and controversy over his response to pro-Hamas protesters in Queens.

Taking questions from reporters after his Saturday public restrooms announcement, Mamdani addressed the fatal NYPD shootings that took place on Friday morning, pointing to his proposal for a Department of Community Safety, which would take some mental health-related calls out of the purview of the NYPD.

“I truly appreciate the work of the NYPD each and every day in addressing everything that has been put upon them as their responsibility, and we know that officers faced a difficult and difficult and dangerous situation in which they acted swiftly, and we know that the safety of New Yorkers is also one that has to be delivered alongside the safety of officers,” Mamdani said.

Menin said she believes “we are asking police officers to do too much with too little,” citing the city’s relatively high officer attrition rate .

In response to a question about why his response to pro-Hamas chants in Queens at a Thursday evening protest near a synagogue came hours later than most other public officials’ comments on the incident, Mamdani reaffirmed his statement that the language used at the protest — “Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here” — was “wrong” and has “no place in our city.”

“There is no place for support for a terrorist organization in New York City, and I want to say that very clearly for New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

In response to a question about why he did not condemn the event being protested, which involved land sales in Israel, including some properties in the West Bank, Mamdani stated that he opposed the sale of such land.

“I absolutely am in opposition to the sale of land in the occupied West Bank, it’s something in opposition of international law, and that comes from my belief in following international law,” Mamdani said.