Mayor Zohran Mamdani was nowhere to be seen at a mass funeral for nine homeless New Yorkers who froze to death during last winter’s deep freeze.
The mayor, who was battered for his limp handling of the Big Apple’s outdoor homeless population during the bitter cold, was noticeably absent at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue that honored the unclaimed bodies.
‘Now we know little of these nine neighbors, but we do know this – they are beloved,’ Reverend Mark Schultz intoned at the All Souls Day Mass service.
‘We speak the truth of their dignity,’ Schultz delivered.
Arrangements for Monday’s service, for nine of the 18 homeless people who perished outside last winter, were assembled by a handful of good Samaritans.
The altruistic team saved the array of deceased from being laid to rest anonymously on Hart Island, the city’s potter’s field off the coast of the Bronx, in order to grant the group a proper send off. Â
Rhonda Roland Shearer, a nonprofit founder who helped arrange the service, said she hoped the memorial would serve as a warning about the dangers facing New Yorkers living on the streets.
She said she wanted the service to ‘make everybody alert to prevent this again.’
Mayor Zohran Mamdani was absent Monday night from a heartbreaking memorial service for nine homeless New Yorkers who froze to death during last winter’s brutal deep freeze – a tragedy that triggered fierce questions over his administration’s response to the city’s most vulnerable residents
The criticism placed Mamdani in an uncomfortable position early in his mayoralty, forcing him to confront the difficult balance between his progressive philosophy on homelessness and the practical responsibility of protecting people from immediate danger
The All Souls Day Mass at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue brought together mourners to remember nine people whose bodies went unclaimed by relatives and whose final resting place might otherwise have been an anonymous grave on Hart Island, the city’s potter’s field off the coast of the Bronx
Rhonda Roland Shearer, a nonprofit founder who helped organize the memorial, said she hoped the ceremony would force New Yorkers to confront the dangers facing people living on the streets
And while mourners gathered to remember those who had died, the mayor, whose administration faced mounting criticism over its response to the freezing temperatures, was not in attendance.
Mamdani’s handling of the cold snap became one of the first major tests of his leadership at City Hall, with critics accusing his administration of failing to act aggressively enough to bring homeless people inside before temperatures turned deadly.
As the mercury plunged, the mayor urged New Yorkers to ‘come inside’ and seek shelter.
But he also maintained that forcibly removing homeless people from the streets should be considered only as a ‘last resort’.
That position sparked fierce criticism from those who argued that saving lives had to take precedence over concerns about involuntary intervention.
The controversy was compounded by problems surrounding the administration’s mobile warming centers, which were intended to provide refuge during the dangerous weather.
Critics complained that the centers were difficult to locate and that some were not where they were supposed to be, raising serious questions about whether the city’s emergency response was reaching the most vulnerable people most desperately in need of help.
Nicole Gelinas, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, issued a stark warning about the consequences of the mayor’s approach.
The service was arranged by a small group of good Samaritans determined to give the deceased the respect and recognition they deserved
The debate has become one of the most politically sensitive aspects of Mamdani’s approach to governing New York, where thousands of people experience homelessness and the city faces longstanding questions over shelter capacity, mental health services and the availability of affordable housing
‘He knows this is coming and more deaths are coming unless he changes his approach,’ she told The New York Post at the time.
The democratic socialist campaigned on a promise to make New York more affordable and to pursue a more compassionate approach to poverty and homelessness, distancing himself from policies critics have characterized as punitive and overly reliant on policing.
But last winter’s deaths exposed the difficult reality of governing a city where compassion and individual autonomy can collide with the urgent responsibility to keep people alive.
For his critics, asking homeless New Yorkers to come inside was not enough. They argued that when temperatures reach life-threatening levels, the city has a moral obligation to intervene – even when someone refuses help.
Supporters of Mamdani’s approach have countered that forcibly removing people can be traumatic, undermine trust and do little to address the underlying causes of homelessness. They argue that meaningful solutions require adequate shelter, outreach, mental health services and permanent housing.
The tragedy has become an uncomfortable test of whether Mamdani’s vision of a more compassionate New York can translate into effective action when lives are immediately at stake.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the New York City Mayor’s office for comment.Â
