Dear friends,
We are in the home stretch of the primary season, and the madness continues. Early voting, of which I am ordinarily a fan, begins tomorrow. There have been a lot of late developments, and it seems that things may continue to be strange.
The quick run-down is that Adams has become embroiled in #fridgegate, which is really a question of where he lives. He gave reporters a tour of his home in Bed Stuy. The fridge contained salmon, which the vegan candidate does not eat; it’s easy to suspect that it’s his son’s residence.
Adams spends some weekends in NJ with his partner, which is certainly reasonable. Adams has made a big deal of Yang’s absence from the city during much of the pandemic. Still, he is polling at the top of the heap.
Dianne Morales’s campaign continues to implode. She fired 40 workers this week, explaining that she could not use matching funds to pay staff who are not actively working on her campaign. The latest polling has Morales as first choice candidate for just 5% of respondents.
Kathryn Garcia picked up the endorsement from StreetsPAC, which counts for a lot in my household. The StreetsPAC people are persuaded that her promises to build protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes and to preserve open space are backed by her track record of getting projects done.
Jumaane Williams and AOC endorsed Maya Wiley, in efforts to bring progressives together, especially after the second allegation against Stringer came to light. Williams has been explicit about the importance of choosing a mayor who will avoid the lazy response to public safety of simply calling for more police.
Williams has already endorsed Lander for Comptroller and Tahani Aboushie for Manhattan DA. These endorsements are unsurprising, given that these are all Working Families Party picks.
I was thrilled to hear Williams promise to offer rankings in the mayoral election. This seems like the proper way to advocate for informed participation in ranked choice voting (RCV), and I have been disappointed that more candidates have not promoted the idea by example.
There are plenty of primers out there about how ranked choice voting works, but I like the one from the Times. In the spirit of RCV, my second choice explainer is the one from the NYC Board of Elections, which is less text-heavy.
Make sure you understand how RCV works before you vote.
I must confess that I missed last night’s debate. Unlike candidates for public office, I will not insult your intelligence with excuses. I relied on reporting from Politico, Gothamist, and the Times.
When Adams was asked about his residence at the debate, Wiley and Yang piled on to highlight it as an issue of ethics and honesty.
She turned the discussion of bike lanes and bike licensing toward the need for a holistic plan to make better, more equitable use of open space -- from parks to streets and natural areas -- throughout the city. She would create an office of open space to coordinate that multifaceted issue.
Her fluency in policy issues, particularly those requiring strategic planning, is one reason that she is surging in the polls. She and Yang appear to be tied for second. Or, she’s fourth, behind Adams, Wiley, and Yang.
Ranked choice voting is going to matter. The polling is volatile.
Yang continues to behave like an eager puppy, promising to never leave the city during his first year in office. But he is not eager to implement congestion pricing, something for which we have waited too long already. When Yang anticipated a fruitful relationship with Governor Cuomo, Stringer called him naive. That he is polling in the top three is still shocking to me.
Stringer attacked Wiley, accusing her of corruption. Wiley countered by questioning the political nature of his delayed release of his July 2020 audit of the emergency food program administered by Garcia. Adams and Yang attacked each other. Garcia stood on her record.
Wiley paused to consider a question about taking guns from the NYPD. Following the debate, she shut down the idea that she was considering stripping cops of their guns.
I was sorry I missed the lightning round, which included this:
What city site would you name after former mayor Rudy Giuliani?
Adams: Rikers Island
Wiley: A dump
Yang: An anchor at the bottom of the sea
Garcia: Sewage plant
Stringer: Affordable housing at Trump Tower
Please tell me what I missed that mattered to you.
I like Wiley’s platform better and I believe that Garcia is the most able candidate to lead the city. Apparently, I’m willing to chance a Wiley administration even after a de Blasio administration because I believe that she will reign in police abuse.
I don’t think this race is going to a progressive candidate (although really, what do I know?) and I want Garcia to feel the pressure from the left, especially on policing. If Wiley wins the primary, we will listen to months of hysteria from whichever clown wins the Republican nod. Enough equivocating:
If I had to vote this weekend, I would rank two candidates: #1 Wiley, #2 Garcia.
Please encourage your children and students (if you have them) to participate in the Youth Mock Election with @InOurHandsNYC at 6pm Monday June 14th! Young people may not be eligible to vote, but their voices matter. Teens Take Charge is working to make sure they’re heard.
They can register here: https://bit.ly/youthmockelection2 #ListenToTheYouth
Have a great weekend!
with love,
L