Mayor Mamdani learned his lesson from last month’s snowstorm and announced Sunday that city public-school students will be given a “full classic snow day” Monday.
After receiving backlash over keeping classes open with remote learning during January’s deadly devastating storm, Mamdani posted a cutesy video to X to say that the nearly 1 million kids in the New York City school system can finally enjoy a day off — without being forced into any remote learning.
“Hi, Victoria,” Hizzoner said in a posted video of a FaceTime conversation with a young female student who appeared to have been awaiting his call.
The child gushed, “Oh, my god, it’s the mayor!”
A beaming Mamdani said, “So I thought as the mayor, I wanted to call you and give you the news: no online school, no remote learning, full classic snow day.”
Victoria shouts in glee, while the mayor added, “My only ask is for you to stay safe indoors during the height of the storm.
“Once that has passed, you’re free to go out and play.”
But while the student was thrilled, some parents were left perplexed, including Anna Oberndorf, 36, a mother of four and primary-care nurse from Brooklyn Heights who called the last-minute decision to cancel classes “disruptive.”
“After being off for a whole week from school [for the scheduled winter break] and the little additional day off as a snow day, it’s a little frustrating. It’s a little unexpected to say the least and disruptive,” the Brooklyn native told The Post.
Still, she said she was relieved the mayor opted away from remote learning in the end.
Anna Oberndorf, a mother of four from Brooklyn, with her 20-month-old son Benjamin. The nurse practioner called Mamdani’s decision to announce the snow day on Sunday “disruptive.” Sofia Poznansky/NY Post“I prefer no Zoom school because it’s not an effective way to conduct schooling. It’s also very challenging to have more than one child trying to do Zoom school,” she said.
City officials later said at a press conference that they consulted with the state to be able to grant students “their first snow day in years” after former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration moved to end days off for weather-related issues.
Mamdani’s administration noted that many students currently did not have access to their Chromebooks, which would make it impossible for them to take part in remote learning if the city had opted to keep schools open.
Sunday’s storm was expected to bring as much as 28 inches of snow to certain parts of the city, with the blizzard forecasted to carry on into Monday morning.
The height of the storm was expected to hit Sunday evening.
The mayor’s decision to keep schools closed comes after the contentious rollout of online classes during Winter Storm Fern in January.
The incident saw scores of Big Apple students and their parents struggle to sign in to school as the districts faced plenty of tech glitches.
Parents told The Post that the online system greeted their children with a blizzard of error messages, with many struggling to overcome the computer woes.
Oberndorf’s 8-year-old daughter Katherine (left) and 6-year-old daughter Elizabeth. Sofia Poznansky/NY PostA tally of the school day showed about one-fifth of the student body absent that day.
Big Apple mayors have the power to call a formal snow day, but they still have to ensure students hit their state-mandated 180 days per year.
A number of holidays, including Lunar New Year and Diwali, have been added to the school year over the past decade, making it difficult to announce impromptu days off, city officials have said.
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Dylan Ipsa, 8, a second-grader at a Brooklyn public school, told The Post he feels just “so so” about Monday’s snow day.
“Yes, because there’s no school,” he said when asked if he was happy about the day off.
“No, because there’s like 2 feet is feet of snow,” which he said makes it hard to walk.
His dad, Aaron Ipsa, 53, who is originally from Ohio, works for the city comptroller’s office and said the snow day changes his work plans.
“Well, I probably have to work from home. I didn’t really want to work from home tomorrow, I wanted to go to Manhattan, but I’ll probably stay home and hunker down,” he said Sunday.
City Hall has repeatedly pointed the finger at the Adams administration for its restrictive school calendar with added holidays when called to task over the lack of true snow days.
United Federation of Teachers union President Mike Mulgrew on Sunday praised the mayor’s “snow day” decision — while appearing to take at least partial credit for it.
“Having a traditional snow day is the right decision,” said a statement by Mulgrew, who sent this message to UFT members who work for the city’s Education Department:
“The UFT and the city spoke to the state and asked for a waiver on the 180 school day policy due to the upcoming emergency weather situation,” the missive to city union members said.
“New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa granted the waiver for several reasons including the fact that a travel ban will be in effect in the city, and that students and staff are unlikely to have the equipment they need for a day of remote learning.”
— Additional reporting by Carl Campanile









