A majority of New York City voters say the city is headed in the wrong direction during Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first 100 days in office, with discontent running especially high among minority voters, according to a new Emerson College/Pix11 poll.

The survey found 59% of New Yorkers believe the city is on the wrong track, against 41% who say it is headed in the right direction. The pessimism was highest among Hispanic voters, 68% of whom said the city was on the wrong track, followed by Asian voters at 64% and Black voters at 58%. White voters were nearly evenly split, with 51% saying the city was headed in the right direction.

Economic dissatisfaction ran even deeper among minority respondents: 82% of Hispanic voters and 79% of Black voters rated the city’s economy as only fair or poor.

Despite the directional pessimism, Mamdani’s personal approval numbers told a more complicated story. Forty-three percent of respondents approved of his job performance against 27% who disapproved, but roughly 30% remained neutral or undecided — a finding that mirrored a separate Marist College survey released a day earlier. When asked directly whether the city made a mistake electing Mamdani, 37% said they liked what they saw, 32% said the jury was still out, and 23% said the city had made a mistake.

Mamdani’s strongest marks came on child care, where he drew 54% approval, followed by housing affordability at 49% and public safety at 45%. Voters were most divided over his handling of the city’s $5.4 billion budget gap, with 40% approving and 37% disapproving.

On how to close that gap, 55% said the state should raise taxes on the wealthy, while 41% favored better spending management. Two-thirds of respondents supported a millionaires tax, and only 4% backed a property tax increase — a measure Mamdani has floated as a last resort.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)