A ‘Blizzard’ Gives Mayor Zohran Mamdani Pretext For A ‘Climate Lockdown’ – OpEd

It’s snowing. 

Outside the big picture windows of the flat where we stay when we come to Brooklyn, a gentle snow falls. 

It gusts in the bare tree branches that reach up to the grey-yellow sky. The trees shake back and forth in the wind.

The snow-laden branches stand between us and what are the usually chaotic backyards of the row of dilapidated late 19th century townhouses across from us. The backyards, and their everyday detritus, have receded under the snowfall, to reconfigure into a vague elegance. 

Plastic chairs and rotting wooden picnic tables have been buried under a thick blanket of white. There is about a foot and a half of snow resting across the roofs of the townhouses, gentling their outdated television antennas and their crooked skylights. 

Everything looks like frosting on a wedding cake. 

Everything looks like an old-fashioned Christmas card; the kind — are you my age or older? — that they used to have in the mid-1960s, that had silver glitter glued to the white snow, that came off a bit on your fingers. 

The snow layering the roofs and balconies and railings makes Brooklyn look like the archetypal German or Swiss village on Christmas cards, nestled in wintry softness, as seen far below Santa’s descending sleigh.

This blizzard — or “blizzard;” it seems to me better described as a “snowfall” — has been heralded by legacy media now for a couple of days. 

The language about it has been histrionic. It is a “bomb cyclone!” It is “SEVERE WEATHER” that requires an “ALERT!” A red rectangle on the weather sites, surround those scary words. 

You can’t travel. But it’s not just that you are being advised not to travel, as a sovereign person, as in the past. There are “TRAVEL BANS.”

CNN warns, “Blizzard Travel Bans Remain in Effect as Five States Have Over 2 Feet of Snow.”

The headlines’ freakout conceals the fact that this snowfall is within the range of normal, for the Northeastern United States. While CNN has found that this is the biggest snowfall on record for one city — Providence, Rhode Island — you have to click through several links and read carefully to find out that the last time it snowed THIS MUCH in New York City was…five years ago. 

And this storm has dropped the MOST snow in NYC since that one in…2021.

The New York Post headline calls this storm’s snowfall “HISTORIC” — though the fine print shows that the last such storm was in…2016. 

Same with Philadelphia. This is Philadelphia’s snowiest winter since…2018. 

So basically — if you read carefully and critically — you realize that the snow is falling well within, again, the range of what is normal for winter in the Northeast. 

In 1947, the snow measured over 26 inches in Central Park:

Today at JFK Airport, in contrast, the snow is about 15 inches deep. 

In 1888, 21 inches of snow fell in 24 hours; eventually snow in that snowstorm accumulated to snowbanks almost five feet high.

1888:

1888:

1888:

In spite of the fact that receiving up to two feet of snow in winter in New York City is entirely normal, the headlines drumming up hysteria have prepared the way for what is unfolding right now via City Hall, and via our still-new-on-the-job Marxist-Islamist Mayor, Zohran K Mamdani.

A pure Marxist-islamist rights takeover; a trial run.

In a press conference on Sunday February 22, 2026, Mayor Mamdani showed a range of sombre city administrators arrayed behind him, all of them wearing sad faces and holding their hands clasped in front of them. 

I note the flimsy branded sweatshirts and windbreakers, both zipped and unzipped, and the almost theatrically glum faces of Mamdani’s “crisis team.” 

I feel that this entire iconography is part of the Theatre of Humiliation to which Mamdani is deliberately subjecting our city, just as the Biden era’s women’s-luggage-stealing advisors, its obese health commissioners, its staffers with their publicly broadcast fetishes involving dog masks and leashes, and its pics of sex somehow managed in Congressional hearing rooms (you need security clearance just to get into those spaces) — were all part of a staged Theatre of Humiliation, aimed at our country as a whole, that was similarly designed and produced by our enemies at that time, for similar reasons. 

To reduce and degrade us. 

As a reader of political iconography, I can tell you that this image of Mayor Mamdani’s press conference — in front of a random digital ad in the background for Spotify; with the Stars and Stripes not clearly visible at all; with one staffer holding her cellphone, as if she can’t be bothered to put it away; with staffers wearing what look like sweatpants, or last year’s Target jeans, and work boots; with a woman in the front row, who no doubt works at a computer, having mysteriously rolled up her pants cuffs to a depth of at least two inches; and the woman to her right, who also probably works at a computer station, having tucked her pants cuffs into her boots, as if these women and men are the proletariat who have been slogging through the snowy, treacherous marshes of the hinterlands of Lower Manhattan to get their jobs done, instead of having arrived neatly by subway or Uber; with the longhaired male sign language translator having failed either to brush or comb his disheveled tresses — in all of it, and it is all carefully thought out, this image says: here are the sad weak people — but workers! See their trouser cuffs! — who are now in charge of the safety and security of America’s greatest city: 

It is a messaging of pure, bleak defeated Marxism. Men, women, it does not matter; professionals, laborers — no matter; the “team” has all been leveled down to the grey and blue universal misery of comradeship and Communist communitarianism; and all are messaging to New York and to the world, an equal haplessness, in protecting the city — allegedly now at grave risk — that they are tasked to oversee. 

Contrast that to the very different iconography and messaging of the Trump administration; with its advisors standing in nearly identical positions.

If you were an adversary of America’s, which team would you rather fight?

In this sadness — and weakness — broadcasting Theatre of Humiliation press conference, Mayor Mamdani warned the press corps that the snow was falling, and that therefore we were all in dire danger. 

Mamdani had been stung by criticism of how he had managed — or rather, mismanaged — the fallout from the January 2026 snowstorm, with its unprecedented mountains of urine-soaked and feces-spotted old snow frozen over, presenting barriers to the disabled, children, and the elderly, as well as to sanitation workers and emergency services, for a matter of weeks; with its caverns of uncollected trash, that attracted rats and fattened them to the size of baby woodchucks. 

Due to Mayor Mamdani’s right-on policy of not bringing homeless people into warm shelter, 19 homeless New Yorkers at that time froze to death. 

Mamdani had, in less than a month in office, turned New York into a Dickensian cesspit, with New Yorkers dying Dickensian deaths from exposure; and with New Yorkers facing, to their horror, Dickensian levels of energized vermin, as well as sanitary dangers from standing waste, that we thought had been sorted out forever by the early 20th century. 

So Mayor Mamdani, understandably, wished this time to get ahead of that kind of criticism. 

But in seeking to do so, he rolled out a management vision of New York in a “crisis,” that escalated the rights restrictions of the bad old days of Covid “lockdowns,” with their violations of the Constitution, and he took them even further, into a Marxist-nihilist hellscape in the name of what is really a “climate lockdown.”

First of all, Mayor Mamdani explained that there was a “travel ban” and that roads were closed to ordinary people; it was forbidden for private citizens to drive their private cars on the city roads. 

Here is Mayor Mamdani’s announcement of his declaration of a State of Emergency:

”Additionally, temperatures dropping into the 20s overnight will result in slippery streets, sidewalks, and extremely hazardous conditions across our city. Due to these factors, we are declaring a state of emergency and instituting a travel ban starting at 9 p.m. this evening and ending at 12 p.m. tomorrow. [Italics mine] This state of emergency closes the streets, highways, and bridges of New York City for all traffic: cars, trucks, scooters, and e-bikes, with some specific exemptions for essential and emergency movement. We are asking New Yorkers to avoid all non-essential travel.

[Note: in his press conference, the Mayor misleadingly concealed the fact that the “travel ban” covers private cars but does not cover a range of the vehicles of his friends, donors, and allies. See below.]

Please, for your safety, stay home, stay inside, and stay off the roads. Hazardous conditions put delivery workers, drivers, and restaurant staff at risk. If you can do so, please look out for your fellow New Yorkers and prepare meals at home until the weather improves….[italics mine]

To aid New Yorkers with disabilities throughout this period, four-foot-wide paths must be cleared across all sidewalks to accommodate wheelchairs and other mobility devices. This is an existing mandate.”[Italics mine. Property owners will receive summonses if they do not do this labor. The Bolsheviks also had the bourgeois shoveling snow in 1918). 

“Property owners, it is your responsibility. In the last storm, DSNY issued more than 4,000 violations. I want to be clear, our interest is not in issuing violations. It is in finding compliance. And finally, I want to warn New Yorkers: the snow will be especially wet and heavy and will be more strenuous to clear.”

The Acting Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation added:

“I want to be clear to all New Yorkers. Clearing snow and ice from the sidewalk is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. Property owners must maintain a four-foot path to allow a stroller or a wheelchair to pass, and if the property sidewalks include an unsheltered bus stop or curb ramp, property owners are required to clear this as well. [Italics mine. This is a completely new requirement — for property owners, no matter if they are female, elderly or disabled, to be forced to clear snow from city bus stops and from curb ramps, or face “violations,” meaning fines. We pay taxes for this labor to be done by unionized members of the city’s work force. Is this demand yet another attack on property owners?] 

“Make no mistake, we will be issuing summons after the storm for property owners who do not meet this responsibility to keep their neighbors safe.” [Italics mine]

The “travel ban” ended at noon on Monday. 

Has there ever been a “travel ban” in New York City before? How can you have a “travel ban?” 

The First Amendment guarantees Americans freedom of assembly, which covers freedom of movement. 

But if you issue a State of Emergency, it means that civil law is suspended and you can impose unconstitutional restrictions. This is why I have been warning about Emergency Law, since my book The End of America, in 2007. 

When was New York City’s last unconstitutional “travel ban”? That’s right — in 2020, at the start of the state of emergency declared by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, because of “Covid.” 

It is worth your seeing Mayor Mamdani’s “Executive Order No 3” in full. It is a terrifying document:

“WINTER WEATHER EMERGENCY DECLARATION

WHEREAS, the public safety is imperiled by a severe snowstorm that is expected to interrupt the flow of traffic, restrict the operation of emergency vehicles and impede the delivery of essential goods and services; and

WHEREAS, it is necessary to restrict vehicular traffic as provided herein in order to protect life and property and to allow for rapid and effective snow removal;

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the powers vested in me as Mayor of the City of New York, […] I hereby declare a State of Emergency.

Section 1. Except as otherwise provided in section 2 of this Emergency Executive Order, for the duration of the local state of emergency, the streets, highways, bridges, and tunnels in the City of New York are closed for vehicular traffic, including but not limited to commercial trucks, electric bicycles, scooters, and mopeds, effective 9 p.m. on Sunday, February 22, 2026, and until 12 p.m. on Monday, February 23, 2026.

§ 2. The following vehicles may operate on City streets, highways, bridges, and tunnels while the local state of emergency remains in effect:

a. Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses, Access-a-Ride vehicles, and other vehicles used for the purposes of responding to this emergency or other urgent needs by any federal, state or local government agency or any contractor of such agency;

b. Vehicles used by any private agency, organization or group organized and functioning for the purpose of providing fire, medical, ambulance, rescue, housing, food or other services directed toward relieving human suffering, injury or loss of life, or damage to property as a result of an emergency, including non-profit and governmentally-supported organizations; [Italics mine] 

c. Vehicles used to deliver food, medical supplies, or fuel; [Italics mine]

d. Vehicles used by utility companies to perform emergency repairs;

e. Vehicles used to transport persons to and from their places of employment in federal, state, or local government offices; [Italics mine; hello Uber] medical facilities; pharmacies; grocery stores (including all food and beverage stores); convenience stores; gas stations; laundromats; news media; food, beverage, and hospitality establishments; hotels and other places of accommodation; and hardware stores;

f. Vehicles used to transport persons to hospitals or other medical facilities for medical care;

g. Vehicles used to transport persons to federal, state, or local court facilities for legal proceedings;

h. Any other vehicles, including for hire vehicles, used to transport persons employed to perform any of the services described in this section to and from their places of employment; and

i. Other vehicles authorized by the City. [1] […] 

§ 8. In accordance with Executive Law §24, any person who knowingly violates the provisions of this order shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

§ 9. This Emergency Executive Order shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect for five days, except as otherwise limited herein, and unless extended or sooner revoked.”

So if you read that carefully, it means: you are violating the “emergency” law — committing a misdemeanor — if you get in your private car and try to drive anywhere in the city of Manhattan or the five boroughs. Getting into an Uber and going to work for Zohran Mamdani is fine. Driving your Uber to drop off a burrito is fine. Being an NGO employee and doing…almost anything in your vehicle, is also fine. 

The roads, for which your taxes paid, otherwise, are, during this five days covered by this edict, no longer accessible to you in your vehicle lawfully in any way.

However — the people who can drive on your roads? Emergency services and sanitation; that makes sense. 

But also — any non-profit that the Mayor says is carrying out a “humanitarian” mission. Recall that a layer of unaccountable nonprofits, as felon-CFO-turned whistleblower Sam Antar has conclusively shown, operates in New York to effectively launder billions of dollars received from the municipal government, to then give donors tax deductions, and to then unlawfully get out the vote and lobby for Democratic (and now Socialist-Democratic, meaning Communist) candidates, to then get them elected, and to then receive in turn the billions of dollars bequeathed to them by those elected officials. 

So those NGOs get to use the roads. See who else gets access to your roads? Food delivery drivers: DoorDash and Uber Eats, who contribute mightily to left-wing candidates in New York City. Note how in his press conference, Mayor Mamdani warned everyone not to eat in restaurants. Why not walk downstairs to a restaurant and keep small businesses profitable? No, this press conference and its restrictions present, like the Covid “Lockdowns” whose huge revenues I tracked in my book The Bodies of Others, another windfall for DoorDash and Uber. DoorDash contributed $2.8 million to its candidates in the last election cycle. Uber contributed $250,000 to two frontrunners for City Council speaker, and $3 million to Gov Hochul. 

Now, even more importantly, consider the national security implications of this “climate lockdown,” which to me feels like a test run for something that will come in the future.

The bridges and tunnels of Manhattan were closed. 

That means those on that island would be trapped if there were a true emergency.

I was in New York right after 9/11, and my family lived through that horrific day. 

You could not, on the island of Manhattan, at least not in our neighborhood at that time, which was a mile from Ground Zero, escape, unless you sought out a bridge or a tunnel, from what turned out to be toxic, carcinogenic fumes and stench; not just from pulverized bodies but also from tons of poisonous chemicals. 

The death rates and illness rates from cancer, sustained by 9/11’s brave First Responders, are catastrophic. 

Now imagine what would happen to eight million people if there were a chemical attack — and they could not leave at all. 

The whole island, in 2001, was vulnerable to a second attack, which is a technique that terrorists often use — one blast to draw first responders and attention, and then the next blast to kill off those who respond.

I remember the feeling of panic that I had, worrying that I might not be able to get my then-small children off the island if I needed to. 

A few months after 9/11, I took all the money I had to make a down payment on a little house upstate, just so I would have somewhere safe to take my family, if there were another attack on New York City. 

But to get out of the city, anyone requires freedom of movement, and needs to get through a bridge or a tunnel. 

Mamdani’s “mandate” unconstitutionally restricting travel removes that freedom and that access.

The benign-sounding “travel ban” of Feb 21-22 2026, — with its allied NGOs free to patrol the streets and to determine access to others — placed New York City and its boroughs, and all of its population, squarely, helplessly, into the crosshairs of any serious adversary planning an attack: an explosive, a dirty bomb or chemical attack, or a nuclear strike. 

This is no far-fetched worry.

Mayor Mamdani’s administration is studded with staffers who have expressed their contempt for America — or for Jews, who make up 12-13% of New York’s population. Zohran Mamdani’s own mother expressed her contempt for America and boasted that her son was not “not an American at all.”

Ramzi Kassem, now Mamdani’s chief counsel, represented Al Qaeda.

Middle East Forum reports that many of Mamdani’s donors are linked to terror organizations: 

“Mamdani’s Money Trail: Terror-Linked Donors Bankroll NYC Mayor’s Race:

“Some of America’s most controversial extremist organizations are backing Mamdani, starting with the Islamic Circle of North America, a Muslim nonprofit that terror experts identify as the North American branch of Jamaat-e-Islami, a violent South Asian Islamist group.

Ashrafuzzaman Khan, the former head of ICNA’s New York chapter, was convicted by a Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal and sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the torture and murder of 18 Bangladeshi intellectuals.

Five ICNA staff members kicked in a total of $1,300 in individual contributions to Mamdani — meaning that, including matching funds, his campaign received $7,700 thanks to ICNA generosity.

The Hamas-aligned Council on American-Islamic Relations boosted a Mamdani-affiliated political action committee with a $100,000 donation, the NY Post has reported.

On top of that, at least five CAIR officials gave independent small-dollar gifts to the Democratic Socialist’s campaign, helping him scoop up taxpayer funds.

They work for an organization that was listed as an unindicted conspirator in a scheme to finance Hamas — a trial that ended in a 65-year sentence for a CAIR board member.

Other Islamists from outside NYC have contributed to Mamdani’s campaign through his superPAC, New Yorkers for Lower Costs.

The Illinois Muslim Political Action Committee, which gave $10,500 to the PAC, includes as members Ousamma Jamal and Zaher Sahloul.

Altogether, New York academics at hard-left institutions contributed just over $105,000 to Mamdani — or up to $690,000 when boosted by matching funds.

Both have served as presidents of the Mosque Foundation, a suburban Chicago organization with links to Hamas that has funded at least four charities that were subsequently shut down for financing terrorism.

Mamdani, who has refused to condemn calls for violence against Israel and who used this week’s Oct. 7 anniversary to again accuse it of “genocide,” also enjoys financing from professional activists who work to demonize the Jewish state.”

So friends — the snow has now ceased falling, since I began to write. 

It’s about 16 inches deep. I’ll put on galoshes and go out in it, and likely I’ll be just fine.

But I won’t be fine, if this “climate lockdown” was a test run. 

We won’t be fine, here in New York and its boroughs, if NGOs and donors are assigned rights to city resources such as the streets themselves, that are closed to ordinary citizens. 

That was how the Bolsheviks managed urban life — with friends of the Party, with apparatchiks, patrolling everyone else, and gaining primary access to the “common” goods;” and with ordinary people treated like serfs and subjects, rather than as citizens. 

We won’t be fine, here in New York and its boroughs, if our rights are restricted again so that we are absolutely physically helpless against any attack that may come — perhaps from the many terrorist friends and allies of the Mayor, or the many terror-linked donors who put this Mayor into office.

Ladies and gentlemen, this was not a weather emergency.

It was a snowstorm.

But it may well have been — under the cover of “climate” and “weather” concerns — a very, very serious Constitutional rights, and national security, emergency.

• This article appeared at Brownstone Institute and is republished from the author’s Substack