(Sarah Fortnisky’s post from the HILLS on 02February 2026.)
Christie
rips Mamdani over garbage removal in New York City: Former New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie (R) criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) for his
handling of the snow cleanup and subsequent garbage removal since last month’s
major storm.
“I
give him a C because he seemed to move a bunch of the snow, but couldn’t figure
out how to do anything else when that was going on,” Christie said in an
interview on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, when asked to grade
Mamdani’s performance during the storm.
“He didn’t pick up the garbage. You walk through it — all our kids live in New York City. I’ve been there since the snowstorm — the garbage is piled up everywhere,” he continued. Streets in New York City have been littered with garbage bags as pickup delays have plagued the five boroughs since a foot of snow blanketed the city late last month.
Streets
continue to be lined with mounds of dirty snow, making walking on sidewalks and
finding parking spaces increasingly difficult in the city.
The
city’s Department of Sanitation is tasked with both garbage pickup and snow
removal, often reallocating resources away from waste collection in the
aftermath of intense storms. Christie suggested that, as the city shovels
itself out of heaps of snow and garbage, the mayor’s residence does not suffer
the same problems.
“But
you know the one place, Bill, that is pristine, the garbage is gone and there’s
no ice, even, on the sidewalk? In front of Gracie Mansion,” Christie said. “So,
like, socialist-mocialist,” he added. “Take care of my thing first.”
