Actor Michael Rapaport lashed out at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing city leaders of failing to clear snow, ice, and garbage from streets nearly a week after a major winter storm.
Taking to Instagram, Rapaport said conditions remained unsafe as New York endured an extended stretch of below-freezing temperatures.
In a video, Rapaport walked through his neighborhood while filming large snowbanks left behind by plows, darkened by grime and partially frozen, alongside piles of uncollected trash lining the curbs.
"A week after the snowstorm and this is what we got Zoron the Shoveler! Filthy black snow, garbage soup, ice rinks on every corner, cars buried like fossils," Rapaport wrote in the caption accompanying the video.
He continued his criticism, describing what he said was a lack of basic winter maintenance across the area.
"People slipping, breaking ankles, nobody shoveling, nobody salting, nobody doing S***."
Rapaport said the conditions were visible just minutes from the mayor's residence: "This is New York City.
"Three minutes from the mayor's house. Start spreading the news … this place is a dirty snow covered dump."
He ended the post with a direct message to Mamdani: "Clean it the f*** up Mayor!"
Debra Messing also commented on the conditions in a post on X, describing extensive traffic delays that she said were caused by streets that had not yet been fully cleared.
"The streets are a disaster," Messing wrote. "It hasn't snowed in 5 days and the streets still haven't been cleared. Poor ambulance sitting in essentially a parking lot with sirens going."
Messing said a trip expected to take 20 minutes lasted more than an hour and 10 minutes, raising concerns about emergency access.
"I'm praying for the person needing emergency care," she added. "I've lived here for 15 years (this go around) and this has never happened. The plows have always worked around the clock to get the city back to working. I wonder what happened?"
The criticism came amid a dangerous cold snap that has contributed to the deaths of 16 people, CBS News reported, citing Mamdani. Preliminary findings showed hypothermia contributed to 13 of the deaths, while three were caused by overdoses.
"The greatest danger posed by the sustained cold is to vulnerable New Yorkers who remain exposed to the elements," Mamdani said.
Mamdani also defended the city's response, praising sanitation crews and other workers.
He cited efforts to melt 122 million pounds of snow and spread more than 209 million pounds of salt.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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