Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing fresh criticism for focusing on his image — rather than New York City’s response — during Winter Storm Fern, the January system that dumped heavy snow and ushered in a prolonged deep freeze.
The backlash follows reporting that, as the city prepared for the storm, Mamdani also “wanted to find a new coat.
“One that was unassuming and modest, but still able to distinguish him while he addressed New Yorkers during the storm,” an NYT Style section article detailed.
Critics say the episode reflects a broader pattern of prioritizing optics.
“If he used a fraction of the energy spent on his propaganda videos and prop jackets towards running the city, we wouldn’t have people literally dying from the cold, piles of garbage, and mountains of snow,” one Democratic operative told The New York Post.
Mamdani, 34, ultimately wore a custom Carhartt jacket for a camera-facing briefing on Jan. 25 and later for a snow-shovel photo op, according to accounts of the rollout and the garment’s backstory.
His artist wife, Rama Duwaji, helped guide the mayor toward the quilted jacket, and an adviser described her as a key source of “creative input,” according to the reporting.
“The first lady is his No. 1 trusted adviser for creative input,” said Noah Neary, one of Duwaji’s senior advisers, adding that Duwaji was “pleased” with the end result.
The $159 jacket was bought at Dave’s New York in Manhattan and customized at Arena Embroidery in Brooklyn, the reports said, including stitching inside the collar with the phrase, “No problem too big. No task too small,” drawn from Mamdani’s victory speech.
Outrage intensified this week as the toll from the cold snap rose. Mamdani said Monday the number of deaths tied to the extreme cold had climbed to 16, with preliminary indications that hypothermia played a role in most cases.
“What I didn’t expect was over a dozen dead as a direct result of Mamdani’s leadership, roads clogged with snow, and garbage piling up. But, hey, at least Mamdani got a customized Carhartt for his propaganda videos,” one X user griped.
City Hall, for its part, said agencies were mobilized ahead of the storm, with a Winter Storm Warning in effect starting early Jan. 25 and continuing into Jan. 26.
Past mayors have had their own branded outerwear, critics noted, but this episode is fueling a broader argument that New Yorkers want basic competence — not curated aesthetics — when conditions turn deadly.
More over at The New York Post:
Mamdani ripped over hunt for personalized Carhartt jacket ahead of winter storm that left 16 New Yorkers dead: ‘City is still a mess.’ Read today's cover here: https://t.co/kDb4CRwgnF pic.twitter.com/Pibhg36pOr
— New York Post (@nypost) February 4, 2026