OAN Staff Addie Davis
5:31 PM – Wednesday, February 25, 2026
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani received heavy criticism after underlining the city’s Emergency Snow Shovelers program during a press briefing on Saturday.
As Mamdani (D-N.Y.) addressed the winter storm predicted to hit the Northeast over the weekend, people online were quick to point out that the program requires several forms of ID — despite Democrat opposition toward voter ID laws.
However, the apparent ID “double standard” has since sparked a slew of negative comments online and by President Donald Trump himself.
“Mamdani is now begging New Yorkers to sign up to shovel snow after mountains of snow and garbage were left on the streets for weeks. He asks people to register online to shovel snow which require ID. ID to shovel snow but no ID to vote. You can’t make this up,” the conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted.
To become an Emergency Snow Shoveler, two original forms of ID as well as a Social Security number, and the card if possible, are required, according to the NYC Department of Sanitation.
In his Tuesday evening State of the Union address, President Trump also touched on snow removal policies in New York City, criticizing what he described as the stringent identification requirements for temporary snow shovelers under the current city leadership.
He highlighted the irony of the program demanding multiple forms of ID for a short-term shoveling job, while contrasting it with his push for voter ID laws.
“If you apply for that job you need to show them two original forms of ID and a social security card yet they don’t want identification for the greatest privilege of all: voting in America,” Trump said.
Although Mamdani has not made many public comments about voter ID laws, he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which has consistently voiced opposition to the SAVE America Act, formerly the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.
If passed in the Senate, it would require proof of citizenship in order to vote.
“Here in New York City we follow the law, and it’s federal law to require certain forms of identification in order for someone to actually be paid for this kind of a job,” Mamdani said when asked for his response to the ongoing criticism during an interview with CNN.
On the specific question of why ID is needed to be paid as an Emergency Snow Shoveler but not to vote, Mamdani has largely avoided directly addressing voter ID laws in statements, focusing instead on explaining that the ID requirements for the snow-shoveler program are dictated by federal employment documentation rules rather than voter policy.
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