When a new administration takes over City Hall, everyone wants to know if the promises made on the campaign trail translate into concrete results. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani just released his very first Fiscal Year Mayor's Management Report, offering a massive 544-page breakdown of how New York City agencies performed from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
The report leans heavily into what officials are calling "pothole politics." It is an intentional focus on the hyper-local, nuts-and-bolts services that directly shape daily life. But looking past the upbeat press releases reveals a complex picture. Some departments are hitting record highs, while others are dragging their feet on critical emergency metrics.
The Wins on the Street
You can't talk about this report without looking at physical street repairs. If you drive or bike in the city, you have likely noticed a difference. The administration reported filling 229,365 potholes, a 27% jump from the previous year. Targeted pothole blitzes and increased repaving investments are clearly paying off in raw output.
Speed bump installations also rose by 25%, and tree plantings surged by 61% to reach 55,979 trees planted across the five boroughs. Affordable housing numbers showed real momentum too. The city financed 2,546 supportive housing units and 4,742 affordable homes specifically for formerly homeless New Yorkers, hitting historic highs for a single fiscal year. Total affordable housing completions rose 20% to 26,971 units.
Public safety numbers trended downward in major categories. Major felony crime fell by more than 2% overall, highlighted by a nearly 20% decline in murders. Shootings dropped by over 16%. Burglaries, robberies, and auto thefts also saw notable decreases.
Where City Services Stumble
Despite the wins in street maintenance and crime reduction, the management report exposes serious friction in core emergency response services. If you need urgent help, you might be waiting longer than you did last year.
Dispatch and travel times for life-threatening medical emergencies spiked. Ambulances and fire companies saw their average response times increase by one minute and 28 seconds, pushing the total to 9 minutes and 13 seconds. Ambulance response times alone jumped roughly 20%.
The NYPD wasn't immune to slowdowns either. Response times for crimes currently in progress ticked up by about 26 seconds to 12 minutes and 30 seconds. Police overtime spending remained stubbornly high at $966 million. While that is a minor dip from the previous year's $1.1 billion, it falls short of the sweeping cuts Mamdani originally demanded.
The Reality Behind the Data
Management reports are designed to highlight progress, but they also expose the operational bottlenecks holding municipal government back. Take the Department of Environmental Protection Police, tasked with safeguarding the city's water supply. They faced a vacancy rate exceeding 30% for most of the fiscal year. That staffing crisis directly caused a 19% drop in routine security checks and a 20% decline in total violations issued.
On the housing and social services front, processing times remain mixed. While food stamp applications processed on time sat at a reasonable 84.7%, cash assistance processing lingered at 65.8%, falling well short of the city's 95% timeliness goal.
Meanwhile, the daily population in city jails ticked up to an average of 6,954 people. That ongoing trend creates massive hurdles for the city's legally mandated plan to close Rikers Island and transition fully to borough-based jails designed to hold a fraction of that total population.
Moving Past the Spin
Mamdani's first major report card proves that a hyper-focused municipal strategy can produce fast wins in visible areas like road repair, youth employment programs, and tree planting. Workers entitled to financial restitution through consumer protection settlements surged nearly tenfold, reaching 73,817 people and distributing $48.7 million.
Yet, governing a city of eight million people requires balancing smooth asphalt with functioning emergency lines. When response times for ambulances stretch longer and staffing shortages cripple key protective services, catchy slogans lose their edge.
Take a close look at your local neighborhood metrics, track the specific agency updates that affect your daily commute, and hold local representatives accountable for the gaps that remain.
