In his first 100 days, Mamdani brings a unique star power to New York City governance

NEW YORK (AP) — In his first 100 days in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has governed with a star power unusual in politics.

Crowds of supporters show up to his news conferences. Basic municipal services have been infused with newfound excitement. Celebrities help him promote his agenda.

In the process, he's been able to notch a few notable early wins. And he's reached a detente, at least for now, with President Donald Trump, a mercurial leader with an affinity for celebrities.

But as Mamdani, a Democrat, marks an early milestone in his mayoralty, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to leverage his fame into achieving the progressive policy proposals that propelled him to office.

Though he still has staunch critics, many of whom still view his past criticisms of the police department and Israel as major problems, Mamdani has been able to ease concerns among at least some skeptics.

“It's early but so far, so good,” said Jay Jacobs, chair of the state's Democratic Party, who made waves for not endorsing Mamdani during the election. “We may not agree on everything philosophically, but he is getting the job done.”

As the mayor approached his 100th day — long a benchmark for judging an administration's opening vision — his team has moved to highlight the administration's commitment to the everyday responsibilities of the job.

While much of those duties are typical for his local office — picking up trash, plowing snow and filling potholes — the 34-year-old mayor has leaned on his knack for viral content creation to drive interest and awareness of government programs.

To hype up his child care program for 2-year-olds, Mamdani recruited Cardi B to help judge a jingle contest that will determine the initiative's theme song. His slick social media videos helped recruit thousands of new snow shovelers as a storm bore down on the city. A public service announcement he made brought more than 50,000 new subscribers to the city's emergency alert system in a single week.

A few weeks ago, alongside Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty, Mamdani announced a bracket-style competition where people could vote on small projects for him to come and personally fix on his 100th day.

On Friday, Mamdani selected a winner — a garbage-filled lot in the Bronx — and helped pick up some of the junk with a sanitation crew, following a celebratory event that featured an overflowing trash can mascot and a cheerleading squad.

“I think every single day it's an opportunity to meet the needs of New Yorkers,” he said. “And what we've seen over the course of this 100 days is that New York City wants to see a city government that is able to meet the biggest needs and the smallest needs.”

The celebrity status, though, can also prompt backlash. During a bitter cold snap, his surprise appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon was seen by some as insensitive at a moment when the death toll of homeless New Yorkers was rapidly rising.

“Too much styling and profiling,” said Curtis Sliwa, a Republican who ran against Mamdani during last year's election, noting longstanding problems with street homelessness, public housing and infrastructure.

Still, Sliwa, who hammered Mamdani during the campaign but recently appeared in a comedy skit with the mayor during the City Hall press corps' annual roast, appeared to give Mamdani some credit, even if it came with a caveat.

“We just had Eric Adams, swagger man who'd party to the break of dawn, and now we have a guy who seems like he’s got a normal working schedule,” said Sliwa, referencing the city's previous mayor. “So having Zohran as the alternative, I think for a lot of people even if they disagree with him, there’s some stability.”

On the night of Mamdani’s election party, hundreds packed the streets, some spontaneously, waiting for a glimpse of the mayor-elect leaving the venue. Departing campaign aides were cheered, by name, well after midnight. One attendee likened the street party to Beatlemania.

“I feel like I’m at a presidential inauguration,” said Medhavie Agnihotri, a 25-year-old tech consultant. “This is the first time in a while I’ve felt this hope.”

His star power has not appeared to wane since then.

Outside City Hall, New Yorkers and tourists frequently stop for selfies, peering through the iron gates in search of the mayor.

This week, on the mayor’s 97th day in office, a crowd gathered in the lobby of the busy Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan to watch as Mamdani announced the city would start transferring Rikers Island jail detainees with serious medical illnesses to a specialized unit at the hospital.

He entered to woos and applause from the onlookers, as many held up cellphones to record videos of the mayor. Dozens more watched along from a set of elevated walkways.

One man, Ricardo Granados, a 67-year-old retiree, was on his way to take his son to a medical appointment but stopped to see what all the hubbub was about just before the news conference started. He appeared delighted to learn the mayor was going to show up, saying he met Mamdani previously when Mamdani was campaigning in his neighborhood.

“I’m extremely fond of him. I think he’s going to make a real difference,” Granados said. “He wants to find out who needs what and he wants to help.”

AP writer Jake Offenhartz contributed to this story

FILE - New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Transportation workers fix a bump near the Williamsburg Bridge on Jan. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives as nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks with Midori Valdivia, Chair of Taxi and Limousine Commission, at a Ramadan Iftar hosted by his team at the New York Taxi Workers Association, March 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)

FILE - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives at the subway station in the Queens borough of New York, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)

FILE - New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, administers the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, as his wife Rama Duwaji looks on, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

MADRID (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth and likely final World Cup will be the first for the Portugal great since he left Europe to play in Saudi Arabia.

The surprise move in late 2022 shocked many in the soccer world and prompted widespread doubts about whether his form would be affected by facing lower-level competition.

But Ronaldo, who turned 41 in February, has dismissed any notion of a drop in performance going into next month’s showcase event. And, to help make his case, the goals have kept coming, both for Al Nassr and with Portugal.

Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said Ronaldo is as hungry as ever and doesn’t see any signs that the star forward has slowed down after moving to Saudi Arabia.

“He keeps performing and he keeps showing his value and he keeps showing that (he) is important for the national team,” Martínez said. “To have that hunger when you’ve won everything in the game is quite remarkable. And that’s without getting away from the fact that to be in the national team you need to be somebody that can help the team now and not with what you’ve done in the past.”

Ronaldo and his longtime rival Lionel Messi are set to reach the milestone of playing in six World Cups. Ronaldo is the all-time leader in appearances (226) and goals (143) for a men's national team. He is also the only man to have scored in five World Cups.

“Even though he’s the captain, even though probably he’s achieved what no other player in world football has achieved, which is the number of games for the national team, over 225 appearances, just with that number is a uniqueness about what he brings, but I think he has the same demands as any other player in the national team,” Martínez said.

Ronaldo made the move to Saudi Arabia in the middle of the 2022-23 season after his latest stint with Manchester United, rejecting other offers to take up a reported salary of $200 million a year and “give a different vision of this country and football.” Ronaldo said at the time his work in Europe was done and he was ready for a “new challenge.”

Criticism immediately began to pour in, with many fans and pundits not liking what appeared to be his choice of taking the big Saudi money instead of continuing his career in elite soccer. Some said he was virtually retiring from competitive soccer.

Ronaldo has constantly praised the Saudi league, though, saying it’s better than both the French and the Portuguese leagues. He said those who criticize him should go there and try to compete in temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and keep performing like he has.

“I don’t need to speak because they can say whatever they want, but the numbers don’t lie,” Ronaldo said in an interview with Piers Morgan last year. “They've never been here, they've never played here ... For me it’s (easier) to score in Spain than score in Saudi (league).”

Ronaldo’s move away from Europe did not appear to affect his performances on the international stage with Portugal. He has kept playing at a high level since then, scoring 25 goals in his last 30 games with the national team.

Ronaldo went scoreless in five European Championship games in 2024 as Portugal reached the quarterfinals. In 2025, about two and a half years after he started playing in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo helped Portugal win the Nations League title, with one of his eight goals in the competition coming in the final against Spain.

Ronaldo has maintained a top-notch physical condition despite just having turned 41. He was hindered by a hamstring injury sustained in late February but recovered quickly. On May 7, he was scoring his 100th Saudi Pro League goal in his 105th league appearances for Al Nassr, which has a chance to win its first league title since 2019.

“All the efforts (Cristiano) makes and what he does on the pitch, which he has experienced more than all of us together, which he puts in every day and every game, is unique,” João Félix, Ronaldo’s teammate with both Al Nassr and Portugal, told the Saudi Pro League earlier this year. “And that we see him, at 40 years old, doing what he does, only gives us more motivation.”

Ronaldo scored 14 goals in 16 matches in his debut season in Saudi Arabia in 2022-23. In his first full season, he netted 35 goals in 31 games, setting a new scoring record in the league. Al Nassr won its first Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023 thanks to a pair of goals by Ronaldo in the final.

In the 2024-25 season, Ronaldo scored 25 goals in 30 matches, and so far this season he has found the net 26 times in 29 appearances. He was the league’s top scorer in both of his first two full seasons, and now is five goals shy of Al Ahli’s Ivan Toney.

Ronaldo has said this will definitely be his last attempt at winning the World Cup, but it remains unclear for how long he will continue playing.

His coach with Portugal knows better not to make any guesses.

“It’s difficult for me to say, because obviously I’ve learned very quickly not to predict the future with Cristiano, just because he’s got this elite brain about being the best that he can be today,” Martínez said. “And I’m thinking if you ask him, he’ll tell you the same. He doesn’t make plans.”

https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

FILE - Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring at the King Saud University Stadium, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)