Debra Messing has once again voiced her discontent with Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s Mayor, just a month into his tenure. This time, she attributes her missed appointment to the snowy conditions.
After a brief period of silence regarding New York’s new socialist mayor following his significant election victory, the Will & Grace star took to social media to share her experience of being trapped in a taxi for 70 minutes on a journey across the city, which she insisted should have taken only 20 minutes.
The 57-year-old actress, who has previously posted Islamophobic memes referring to the mayor as ‘Osama bin Mamdani’, criticized the state of the city’s roads, calling them a ‘disaster’ despite it being ‘five days’ since Winter Storm Fern, a storm described as ‘historic’ due to its 2000-mile reach.
In just a few days, beginning on Sunday, January 24, the storm covered the entire city with more snow than it has seen in years, with Washington Heights recording 14.9 inches, marking one of the worst snowstorms in a decade.
Messing noted that the storm’s impact, which affected nearly 200 million Americans and resulted in dozens of deaths in a few days, was still apparent as she tried to reach her appointment in a taxi on Friday, January 30. In New York alone, 14 people lost their lives.
“I’ve lived here for 15 years (this go around) and this has never happened,” she expressed on social media. “The plows have always worked around the clock to get the city back to working.”
The Alto Knights star then seemed to hint that Mayor Mamdani was responsible for the more than a foot of snow that had blanketed the nation’s most densely populated city, adding, “I wonder what happened? [smirking emoji].
“Hang in there New Yorkers.”
However, many of her social media followers found her argument absurd, criticizing the actor for her ‘sad’ transformation into a ‘Karen’.
A user attempted to clarify to Messing why New York was still snow-covered in January, commenting: “A blizzard. That’s what happened. A blizzard. Oh, and unrelenting dangerously cold temperatures that have not allowed the snow piles that have been plowed to melt.”
Another follower remarked: “Never thought we’d live to see Grace become a Karen (and not the fun one).”
In an indication that political satire might flourish during Mamdani’s term, some critics of the new mayor humorously agreed with Messing, attributing the snow to ‘Mamdani happened’.
Others referenced the mayor’s inaugural address, in which Mamdani stated he would shift politics towards ‘the warmth of collectivism’ and away from the ‘frigidity’ of individualism.
One individual quipped: “I think Mamdani is waiting for “the warmth of collectivism” to clear the streets.”
However, for most people, especially New Yorkers, it wasn’t her political stance that puzzled them, but rather her transportation choice in the snow-laden city. One succinctly advised: “Girl, take the subway lmao.”