Primary Recap: What New Yorkers Told Us About the Candidates, And Why They Voted

Countless of the voters who spoke to City Limits this primary polling explained they re pulling for one of the two mayoral frontrunners Andrew Cuomo or Zohran Mamdani They cited concerns about affordability lack of housing and dog poop on the city s sidewalks among other issues Geraldo Arredondo on the first day of early voting for New York City s primary elections in The Bronx Photo by Adi Talwar Poll sites are open Tuesday until p m Look up your poll site here Check your voter registration status here Read more about the mayoral candidates policies and plans here New York City voters turned out Tuesday to cast ballots in the primary for mayor venturing out during an early summer heat wave to choose between a wide field of Democratic contenders hoping to move ahead to the general voting in November Also on the ballot races for City Council borough president society advocate and comptroller as well as particular judge positions By p m more than people had already voted according to the NYC Board of Elections countless of them during the early voting period which ran from June - Among them was Charlesia Brown who cast her ballot in Morrisania last week with her son in tow I m an avid voter Brown reported I love to vote and I want to also show my son that this is the way you get things done you vote for the people that are going to hopefully change your neighborhood for the better function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' In interviews with City Limits multiple voters spoke about the need to restore trust in local governing body Specific explained that motivated them to choose candidates with more experience in office opting for familiar names others expressed a desire for change saying they want fresh faces and new ideas at City Hall I am looking into Zohran I m definitely going for him He s one of my tops Brown described City Limits referring to democratic socialist and Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani who alongside former Gov Andrew Cuomo has been leading in latest mayoral polls The two appear to be neck and neck This is the second city mayoral primary using Ranked Choice Voting which debuted in meaning voters can list up to five candidates in their order of preference Scenes from early voting in The Bronx Photos by Adi Talwar He seems like he s going to be doing something different Brown noted of Mamdani I m tired of voting for the same old people too It s time to give it up to somebody who s newer younger But Chaz Greene another South Bronx resident who works with a nonprofit called Guns Down Life Up explained Cuomo and Assemblymember Michael Blake were among his top choices I ve seen their work so I trust them he recounted a reporter They have already made a difference and I see it It s been a tumultuous year for New York City politics Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams was indicted last fall on corruption and bribery charges though the episode was later dropped at the behest of the Trump administration which noted it would interfere the president s immigration enforcement plans Adams who is skipping the primary to run as an independent this year has denied those charges Though he didn t name the incumbent Greene declared he wants the city s next leader to be more transparent be honorable I want the next mayor to start focusing on not lying he declared A poll site at the Northeast Bronx YMCA on Saturday June Photo by Adi Talwar Other candidates alleged misdeeds loomed over the polls on Tuesday Cuomo is attempting a political comeback after resigning as governor in when women accused him of sexual harassment Mayor Adams and another candidate former Comptroller Scott Stringer also faced previous sexual misconduct maintains All three have denied wrongdoing Kat L who required to withhold her full name for privacy reasons noted she ranked current Comptroller Brad Lander as her first mayoral pick because he didn t have any sexual harassment scandals On the issues One thing consistently on voters minds this primary the high cost of living in New York City Everything is aggressively expensive Connor M communicated a reporter as he voted for Mamdani in East Harlem That s all I was thinking about going in there Voters Tony McLeod and Janice Burroughs spoke to City Limits outside their early voting site last week Credit Adi Talwar Erica Rivera who voted early in Morrisania disclosed she was drawn to candidates who ve been vocal about the need for more housing Those are the candidates that I obviously placed higher in the ranking Rivera commented Let s try to keep the buildings district owned let s try to make sure that if we are building new buildings they maintain affordable rent prices and not make people have to sell their first-born child just to get a one-bedroom or studio apartment in the Bronx Manhattan voter Kat L had a specific housing issue in mind the fate of the Elizabeth Street Garden Located on a city-owned lot in Nolita administrators had long planned to replace the garden with affordable apartments for seniors and masses green space Fans of the park fought the proposal and the dispute dragged out for years On Monday in an abrupt about-face Mayor Adams revealed the city is dropping the plan and will pursue rezonings to build affordable housing at alternative sites nearby a process requiring additional review that could take a large number of months more critics of his decision say Kat a garden supporter liked several progressive Democratic mayor candidates But those contenders informed the New York Times they were in favor of emerging the site pointing to the dire affordable housing shortage After hearing Monday s news that the garden will remain she felt like she could vote her conscience and base her rankings on other bigger issues facing the city I know the garden is not the the greater part fundamental thing Affordability and housing stuff is more critical she revealed Kevin Rutledge a park attendant at Little Island revealed he was voting for Mamdani who s promised to freeze the rent for tenants in stabilized apartments for the entirety of his term It s rough out here for people trying to make a living I think that anything that could stabilize rent would be great he explained Poll workers on the first day of early voting in The Bronx last week Photo by Adi Talwar Other New Yorkers explained City Limits they re concerned about crime and masses safety immigration schools and childcare costs Dennis McKenzie a -year-old landlord who moved to Brooklyn years ago from Jamaica disclosed he wants the next mayor to focus on a specific quality of life obstacle Majority of of the time when people bring their dogs they poop on the sidewalk and leave it like that reported McKenzie who mentioned he s a Cuomo supporter I think that the city should be stricter with these owners to clean up their poop That s my biggest concern A Cuomo-Mamdani showdown Multiple of the New Yorkers who spoke to City Limits for this story stated they were voting for one of the two mayoral frontrunners Mamdani fans announced they were drawn to his bold ideas like making city bus system free They also cited his energetic campaign which has been fueled by a wave of small-dollar donors something the candidate has touted as a contrast to Cuomo who s received millions from a billionaire-backed super PAC Genesis Elias Wilson and Diana Barrera both revealed they supported Mamdani and cited his campaign s street outreach efforts and accessibility on social media Credit Adi Talwar I think he can get it done and he s not backed by the landlords or the super rich elite in New York unlike Cuomo revealed Junior Jean who in recent times graduated from Pace University and ranked the Working Families Party s slate of candidates I think Zohran Mamdani has legitimate reason to listen to the voters because it s the voters who put him here who gave him the money Steven Rutledge a -year-old attendant at the Whitney museum disclosed Mamdani had an optimism to him that I feel like a lot of politicians don t I like Mamdani s youth his force and that he is progressive And I m scared to death of seeing Andrew Cuomo in that spot mentioned James Skidmore a -year-old lifelong New Yorker who works with developmentally disabled adults Another voter revealed they were inspired to vote for Mamdani after seeing he was endorsed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez And Ivy from East Harlem commented she d be excited to see New York City elect its first Muslim mayor A lot of my friends also encouragement him and I think people in my age range who I know like him a lot she announced And he went to Bronx Science I also went to Bronx Science He s very relatable When it comes to aid for Cuomo multiple voters cited his years of experience as governor including his role as a prominent voice during the COVID- lockdowns Just him being governor of New York getting us through COVID being trustworthy in my opinion mentioned East Harlem resident Gabrielle Evans I know other people will think you know otherwise but I trust him Sabrina Pierre a healthcare worker cast the first ballot of her life for Cuomo alongside her -year-old son I honestly believe he was an excellent governor she commented At the polling site at P S in Flatbush Brooklyn City Limits ran into Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn who chairs the Kings County Democratic Committee Though she was a key endorser of Eric Adams in his run for mayor she s backing Cuomo this time around and her husband Edu Hermelyn is working for him as an advisor People see a hero in Andrew Cuomo Bichotte Hermelyn mentioned The former governor has seemingly has the broadest spectrum of voters she added He has rich people voting for him he has low-income people voting for him he has a very wide diverse ethnic group of people working for him Still as head of Brooklyn s Democrats Bichotte Hermelyn revealed she ll sponsorship whoever wins the party s nomination on the general vote ballot If Zohran or Brad Lander wins I would endorse them she revealed I would endorse the Democratic nominee To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint procedures here The post Primary Recap What New Yorkers Reported Us About the Candidates And Why They Voted appeared first on City Limits