Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
This feels like a quiet policy shift.
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The Mamdani Beat
/ February 5, 2026
Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
The New York mayor is opening the roof of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building to the public, but has plenty of work ahead to make the city below more affordable and accessible.
D.D. Guttenplan
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The view of south Manhattan from the roof of the David Dinkins Municipal Building
(Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
The metal detector at the entrance to the North Tower of 1 Centre Street—the 40-story Beaux Arts pile known formally as the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building—wasn’t working on Monday, which meant reporters arriving for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s press conference had to submit to a manual search. But the sight that greeted us upon arriving at the 25th floor rooftop was worth the wait, and the bitter cold: a spectacular view of lower Manhattan from river to river, pressed into service as the backdrop for an announcement by the mayor—flanked by the comptroller, public advocate, and Manhattan borough president—that, starting in June, both the rooftop and the building’s majestic 36th-floor cupola would be open to the public free of charge.
“In many ways, Mayor Dinkins was ahead of his time,” said Mamdani, citing his predecessor’s frequent references to “the ‘gorgeous mosaic’ that is New York.”
“Mayor Dinkins paved the way for so many who followed,” Mamdani continued. “He was not only the first Black mayor, [but] he was also the first to have been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and his politics of compassion, kindness and generosity remain a guide for me and so many others, as we lead from City Hall.”
Having covered the Dinkins administration at the time, I can attest that he was a thoroughly decent, and at times even morally courageous man whose record is apt to be more generously appraised by historians than his actions were by the press of his day. But he was also a one-term mayor whose failures—on not just public safety but also the efficient and effective delivery of city services—opened the door to Rudy Giuliani and the politics of resentment that still contaminates our public life.
Though it would have been tactless to say so while celebrating his legacy, Dinkins offers a cautionary tale not just about the enduring racial bias that holds non-white politicians to a higher standard, but the perils of neglecting the details of day-to-day governance for the distractions of soaring vision and lofty rhetoric. As a spectacle, the mayor’s rooftop extravaganza was first-rate; he even promised, ahead of the Super …
This feels like a quiet policy shift.
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Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
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Current Issue
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The Mamdani Beat
/ February 5, 2026
Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
The New York mayor is opening the roof of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building to the public, but has plenty of work ahead to make the city below more affordable and accessible.
D.D. Guttenplan
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
The view of south Manhattan from the roof of the David Dinkins Municipal Building
(Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
The metal detector at the entrance to the North Tower of 1 Centre Street—the 40-story Beaux Arts pile known formally as the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building—wasn’t working on Monday, which meant reporters arriving for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s press conference had to submit to a manual search. But the sight that greeted us upon arriving at the 25th floor rooftop was worth the wait, and the bitter cold: a spectacular view of lower Manhattan from river to river, pressed into service as the backdrop for an announcement by the mayor—flanked by the comptroller, public advocate, and Manhattan borough president—that, starting in June, both the rooftop and the building’s majestic 36th-floor cupola would be open to the public free of charge.
“In many ways, Mayor Dinkins was ahead of his time,” said Mamdani, citing his predecessor’s frequent references to “the ‘gorgeous mosaic’ that is New York.”
“Mayor Dinkins paved the way for so many who followed,” Mamdani continued. “He was not only the first Black mayor, [but] he was also the first to have been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and his politics of compassion, kindness and generosity remain a guide for me and so many others, as we lead from City Hall.”
Having covered the Dinkins administration at the time, I can attest that he was a thoroughly decent, and at times even morally courageous man whose record is apt to be more generously appraised by historians than his actions were by the press of his day. But he was also a one-term mayor whose failures—on not just public safety but also the efficient and effective delivery of city services—opened the door to Rudy Giuliani and the politics of resentment that still contaminates our public life.
Though it would have been tactless to say so while celebrating his legacy, Dinkins offers a cautionary tale not just about the enduring racial bias that holds non-white politicians to a higher standard, but the perils of neglecting the details of day-to-day governance for the distractions of soaring vision and lofty rhetoric. As a spectacle, the mayor’s rooftop extravaganza was first-rate; he even promised, ahead of the Super …
Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
This feels like a quiet policy shift.
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Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
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Current Issue
Politics
/
The Mamdani Beat
/ February 5, 2026
Mamdani Touts a Stunning View of the City, but Struggles to Clear the Sidewalks
The New York mayor is opening the roof of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building to the public, but has plenty of work ahead to make the city below more affordable and accessible.
D.D. Guttenplan
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
The view of south Manhattan from the roof of the David Dinkins Municipal Building
(Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
The metal detector at the entrance to the North Tower of 1 Centre Street—the 40-story Beaux Arts pile known formally as the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building—wasn’t working on Monday, which meant reporters arriving for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s press conference had to submit to a manual search. But the sight that greeted us upon arriving at the 25th floor rooftop was worth the wait, and the bitter cold: a spectacular view of lower Manhattan from river to river, pressed into service as the backdrop for an announcement by the mayor—flanked by the comptroller, public advocate, and Manhattan borough president—that, starting in June, both the rooftop and the building’s majestic 36th-floor cupola would be open to the public free of charge.
“In many ways, Mayor Dinkins was ahead of his time,” said Mamdani, citing his predecessor’s frequent references to “the ‘gorgeous mosaic’ that is New York.”
“Mayor Dinkins paved the way for so many who followed,” Mamdani continued. “He was not only the first Black mayor, [but] he was also the first to have been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and his politics of compassion, kindness and generosity remain a guide for me and so many others, as we lead from City Hall.”
Having covered the Dinkins administration at the time, I can attest that he was a thoroughly decent, and at times even morally courageous man whose record is apt to be more generously appraised by historians than his actions were by the press of his day. But he was also a one-term mayor whose failures—on not just public safety but also the efficient and effective delivery of city services—opened the door to Rudy Giuliani and the politics of resentment that still contaminates our public life.
Though it would have been tactless to say so while celebrating his legacy, Dinkins offers a cautionary tale not just about the enduring racial bias that holds non-white politicians to a higher standard, but the perils of neglecting the details of day-to-day governance for the distractions of soaring vision and lofty rhetoric. As a spectacle, the mayor’s rooftop extravaganza was first-rate; he even promised, ahead of the Super …
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