The city is riddled with potholes, and the workforce isn’t sufficient to address the issue.
“We simply don’t have enough people to manage this effectively,” commented Joe Puleo, who leads District 37 Council Local 983, which includes highway repair aides.
According to him and other union leaders, the severe winter has left the city with an abundance of potholes that won’t be fully fixed until June. This is despite Mayor Mamdani’s claim that repairs would happen within two days of potholes being reported.
More workers are desperately needed. Joe Puleo, alongside Robert McFarland, who heads D.C. 37 Local 376—representing highway repair contractors—suggests that at least 200 additional highway workers should be hired to expedite repairs.
The situation has turned dangerous; a tragic incident occurred earlier this week when a 46-year-old man died after his scooter hit a pothole on Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens.
“With the rise in e-bikes and scooters, it’s critical for the city to act,” Puleo pointed out. “Getting a flat tire in a car is one thing, but on a bike, you can really get hurt.”
Last week alone, New Yorkers lodged over 11,300 complaints about potholes, marking a 33% increase compared to the same time in 2025, as per a Post analysis of 311 complaint data.
Potholes develop when water seeps into cracks, freezes, and expands, ultimately damaging the pavement. The use of rock salt to de-ice roads further speeds up this deterioration.
Despite the complaints, the Department of Transportation (DOT) claims its staffing for road repairs is at an all-time high, with 976 employees as of late February, compared to 864 before the pandemic.
Vincent Barone, a spokesperson for the agency, stated, “We consistently meet or exceed our goal of repaving over 1,100 lane miles annually. Just last week, we managed to fill over 10,000 potholes.” He added that crews are actively working day and night to repair roads in all boroughs.
In response to the winter’s harshness, the DOT and Mayor Zoran Mamdani announced a “Citywide Pothole Remediation Mission” starting Saturday, with over 80 DOT workers set to tackle thousands of potholes daily. More repair efforts are also slated for the upcoming weeks.
