NYC’s Pothole Crisis: Unions Demand More Highway Repair Workers to Tackle Dangerous Roads

In the bustling metropolis, countless potholes mar the streets, yet the workforce needed to mend them is insufficient.

“We simply lack the manpower to address the issue promptly,” expressed Joe Puleo, the leader of Local 983 of District Council 37, which includes assistant highway repairers among its members.

Union officials, including Puleo, predict that the surge of potholes left by a harsh winter won’t be fully repaired until June, even though Mayor Mamdani has assured that any reported pothole would be fixed within two days.

Puleo, alongside Robert McFarland, who leads DC 37’s Local 376 representing highway repairers, emphasized that the city must recruit at least 200 additional workers to effectively tackle the problem.

The pothole predicament has already proved fatal; a tragic incident on Monday claimed the life of a 46-year-old man when his electric scooter hit a pothole on Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens.

“With the increasing use of electric bikes and scooters, it’s crucial for the city to respond,” Puleo stated. “A pothole might blow a car tire, but for cyclists, it can result in severe injuries.”

As of last week, New Yorkers had made over 11,300 pothole complaints, a stagger 33% surge from the same period in 2025, according to a Post analysis of 311 data.

Potholes form when water seeps through pavement cracks and freezes, causing the liquid to expand and push the road surface outward. Rock salt used to melt ice on streets accelerates this process.

The DOT insisted road-repair staffing is at an all-time high, totaling 976 as of Feb. 27, compared to 864 in 2019 before the pandemic.  

“We consistently meet or exceed our goals of repaving more than 1,100 lane miles of street each year and have filled more than 10,000 potholes in the last week alone,” agency spokesman Vincent Barone said.

“Following the historic winter weather we’ve seen this year, our crews are now out in full force — day and night — to fill potholes and deliver full street repavings in all five boroughs.”

The DOT and Mayor Zohran Mamdani also announced a “citywide pothole repair blitz” that began Saturday morning and will include more than 80 DOT crews filling thousands of potholes daily.

Similar repair blitzes are planned in the weeks ahead.