UP TO YOU: In New York City, Trump is on the ballot
Journalist Nate Schweber hits the streets across New York City's five boroughs to find out what New Yorkers really want from their next mayor
Journalist and author Nate Schweber continues his coverage of the New York City mayoral race, this week turning his attention to the voters. This weekend, he visited neighborhoods across the five boroughs and asked New Yorkers what they want from their next mayor. Are they looking for a fighter who’ll take on the White House, or a dealmaker who’ll try to work with Donald Trump to get favorable terms for the city? A progressive or a centrist? A veteran administrator, or an outsider looking to change things up? Read on for their answers.
By Nate Schweber
The New York City mayor’s race turns out to be a microcosm of how national Democrats are struggling to counter Donald Trump, and even to define what kind of leader is best equipped to do it. With their choice, New York’s Democratic voters will send a message — not just about the direction of the party, but about how much Trump’s purported priorities, especially law and order and curbing migration, resonate with a liberal city’s voters. Recent polling suggests the top issues on New York City voters’ minds are safety, housing, immigration, and health care, but Trump remains at the center of this race.
Do voters want a fresh leader who stands in stark contrast to Trump? Or someone with demonstrated effectiveness as a top executive, however tarnished they may be? The primary pits a pair of scandal-plagued centrists — former Governor Andrew Cuomo and incumbent mayor Eric Adams — against a slate of eight mostly more progressive Democratic challengers. The numbers so far suggest voters’ feelings are mixed, with an edge given to the candidates they feel are most willing and able to stand up to the White House: the latest polls give Cuomo a big lead over Adams, but dark horse progressive Zohran Mamdani has risen to second among the field.
We wanted to hear from actual New York voters, so we got on the subway, rode buses, and took the Staten Island Ferry, visiting three different neighborhoods in each of the five boroughs. In each place, we had conversations that began with an open-ended question: Of the issues that the next person sworn in as mayor will face, what are the most important to you? We then asked their opinions, if any, on specific candidates (acknowledging that voting is still months away): Who are you considering? Who have you ruled out? Finally, considering his threats against New York City, from withholding money to sending in ICE agents, we asked how each person felt the next mayor should deal with Trump.
This is not a scientific survey. Think of it as a thermometer, waved around the city, taking the political temperature. We hope the reading we’ve taken might help provide some perspective on everything else you read on the issue.
Brooklyn
Friday, 8:38 a.m., McCarran Park, Williamsburg. “Getting Eric Adams out of office is my number one issue,” said Sam Lopane, 30, a food scientist. “Obviously he’s not there to serve the public good.” After turning the page on Adams, housing costs are Lopane’s top concern. Because of his affordable housing plan, Lopane’s favorite candidate is Brad Lander. He is also interested in Zohran Mamdani because of his ideas on freezing rents. As for the next mayor’s posture toward Trump, Lopane criticized Adams for self-dealing and Senator Chuck Schumer for so quickly voting for Trump’s budget. He praised Governor Kathy Hochul for better striking the “delicate balance” with Trump to protect federal funding and New Yorkers’ rights. He hopes the next mayor is similarly strategic.
Friday, 9:46 a.m., along Rockaway Parkway, Canarsie. Improving roads and public transit is the city’s most pressing issue, said Lindon Charles, 61. A taxi driver for more than 30 years, Charles described the city’s streets as “no good,” and he said the subways need to be cleaned and made more punctual and safer. He does not necessarily want the next mayor to oppose Trump. “Give him a chance,” said Charles, who cast his last mayoral vote for Eric Adams. Crediting Andrew Cuomo with fixing La Guardia Airport, the Kosciusko Bridge, and subways, Charles is excited to vote for him for mayor. “Cuomo all the way,” he said.
Friday, 10:55 a.m., along 86th Street, Bay Ridge. Reversing the influx of migrants to New York City should be the next mayor’s top priority, said Nedy Estioco, 69, who retired after a career as a nurse at NewYork-Presbyterian Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. Estioco wants the next mayor to cooperate with Trump. She doesn’t believe Adams has helped Trump enough. Beyond that, she would like to see the city cleaned better, especially of graffiti. “It’s so disgusting,” she said. “A lot of tourists come to the city; it should be presentable.” A Republican, she intends to vote for radio host and former Guardian Angels head Curtis Sliwa.
Staten Island
Friday, 11:20 a.m., Narrows Road and Mosel Avenue, Park Hill. More efficient, safer, and cleaner public transportation is the top issue for Lexi Peralta, 25, a restaurant manager. She rides public transit daily and perceives that it has not improved since crime spiked during Covid. Peralta recently left a job in Manhattan because the ferry was too slow, and car tolls were too high. “Congestion pricing, it’s just been horrible,” she said. Now, Ms. Peralta rides a bus to a new job in Brooklyn. No primary candidate has thus far interested her, and she has likewise tried to tune out national politics. She said she’ll wait to vote until the general election. “There’s nobody specific in my eye right now,” she said. “Definitely not Eric Adams.”
Friday, 1:00 p.m., Annadale Road, Annadale. Crime and homelessness are the top concerns for Angelo Regina, 32, who works at a meat market his family has owned since 1988. “I take the ferry. It’s disgusting now, I don’t feel safe,” he said. He admired Mayor Michael Bloomberg “because he made the city run like a business, that’s how it should be.” The city’s decline, as he pegs it, began in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s second term. Eric Adams didn’t slow it. “The last couple guys were not too good,” he said. He is not looking for a mayor to antagonize Trump. He knows whom he’ll vote for, if reluctantly. “I’m not the biggest fan of Cuomo,” he said. “But at least we know what we’re gonna get.”
Friday, 2:03 p.m., Tompkinsville Park, Tompkinsville. Making subways safer by helping homeless people and standing up to Trump are the two biggest concerns for Ivana Brice, 37, a home health aide. “People are scared of getting on the subway, getting on the bus,” she said. “A lot of crazy people.” However, she wants homeless people to be given shelter and care. Same with migrants, whose scapegoating angers her. “Trump sucks,” she said. “This city is for immigrant people, this whole country is built by immigrants.” Though she knows her key issues, she has yet to pay much attention to the mayoral race, beyond not wanting the winner to be Eric Adams.
Manhattan
Friday, 3:24 p.m., City Hall Park. Having “a voice against Trump” is the top issue for Anne Kurtz, 40, a startup advisor. She is also concerned about homelessness in New York City and about migrants. However, she thinks “immigration issues are being exploited” by Trump. Before the inauguration, she married her longtime partner, an immigrant, out of fear he might be deported. She was hugely disappointed in Eric Adams and how he sought legal absolution from Trump in exchange for the persecution of migrants. “I’d love somebody who is a voice and who won’t bend over,” Kurtz said. “Someone who can really stand up and be vocal and make you feel like you’re being protected.” She has no favorite candidates yet, but expects to follow the race more closely. She approved of Andrew Cuomo’s service, though not his behavior, as governor, and is not opposed to him being mayor.
Friday, 4:06 p.m., Central Park West. Cleaning and improving the subway, cutting crime, and improving sanitation and roads are the top issues for James Motoman, 67, a theater usher. With a grimace, he said he would likely support Andrew Cuomo, adding that, when governor, he had “followed his foibles, his demise and all.” He said he was overwhelmed by (and did not recognize any of) the other candidates now in the race. “Others, I’m sure, are qualified,” he said. “I just don’t know their brands.” He hopes whoever becomes mayor does not “bow down” to Trump and instead puts up a “fight for what’s right, as trite as that sounds.”
Friday, 4:48 p.m., Riverside Park, near Columbia University. “Affordable housing, affordable housing, affordable housing,” are Betsy Ware’s top city concerns. Ware, 43, a casting director who describes herself as “super liberal,” said she wants the next mayor to stand up to real estate interests to drive down prices of commercial and residential properties. Despite living near Columbia University, she doesn’t want the next mayor to focus on its clashes with Trump to the detriment of broader progressive priorities. “Let’s make sure every kid has food in their belly and then we’ll move on to Columbia University,” she said. “Let’s look at the big picture.” Candidates she may consider include New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie and former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. She admits that mayoral election news has been collateral damage in her nationally focused post-election news diet. “Everyone is dissociating because of Trump,” she said, “it bleeds into city politics.”
The Bronx
Friday, 5:58 p.m., Franz Sigel Park, South Bronx. Providing after-school programs and summer jobs for kids is what James McMillan, 45, a mortuary technician, would most like to see the next mayor do. “I think that work will trickle through the city,” he told us. McMillan’s next highest priority is reducing crime and migration. While he rolls his eyes at Eric Adams, he wants the next mayor to work with Trump. “People right now might not like Trump personally, but the average American likes what he has going on,” he said. Because of this, he is considering voting for Cuomo.
Friday, 6:38 p.m., Fordham Road, Fordham Manor. The price of food is the top issue for Tiffany Johnson, 36, a medical administration student. “Everything’s so expensive, it’s like things that cost 69 cents last year cost five bucks now,” she said. Next on her priorities are reducing crime and improving education by recruiting quality teachers and holding students to higher academic standards. As far as the next mayor’s stance toward Trump, she wants it to be reciprocal. “The next mayor should be ruthless,” she said. “Make it equal again.” Johnson has paid minimal attention to mayoral candidates, and told us that while she has never before voted in a mayoral election, she intends to in this one, because of Trump.
Friday, 7:14 p.m., Woodlawn Heights. “Trying to get people housed — there’s just not enough housing,” Jackie Freeman said when asked her top concern for the city’s next mayor. Freeman, 56, an administrative assistant for a property management company, sees the crisis firsthand. There is barely time to paint vacant apartments before new tenants need to move in. Freeman is accommodating of renters with Section 8 vouchers, a government program, and fears government cuts will exacerbate the crisis. She doesn’t think Eric Adams has dealt with Trump to get the best for the city. She is more hopeful about Andrew Cuomo. “I’d been a fan of his as governor,” she said, “but Jeez-o’-Pete’s he could be guilty of bad manners!” She has not yet paid attention to any other candidates. After housing, the issues of most concern to her are the city employing enough police officers to control crime, and corrections officers to make jails secure and humane.
Queens
Saturday, 1:20 p.m., James A. Bland Playground, Flushing. Keeping his 8-year-old daughter safe from crime is the top issue for Walter Chi, 43, a consultant. “I want her to be able to play in the park without worrying that something bad will happen,” he said. “I want her to be able to come home from school.” His second most important concern is the economy and jobs, which he sees as connected to his first: crime. “If people have good jobs, they are less likely to commit crimes,” he said. “If the new mayor can get this straight.” Though he intends to vote, he said he needs to research the candidates. One thing he is certain of is that he wants the next mayor to have a “productive” relationship with Trump that is “reasonable and fair.” He doesn’t want them “fighting each other,” he said. “We want the mayor to do what’s best for the city.”
Saturday, 2:15 p.m., Hart Playground, Woodside. Housing for families and day care for kids are the biggest concerns for Robin Allen, 50, who cares for her 6-year-old granddaughter. Universal pre-K has been a great boon for her granddaughter, Allen said; more such resources, like increased park space and other open space, or the pedestrians-only streets of the Covid era, would be even better. Adrienne Adams is her preferred candidate, though she could live with “fairly good” Andrew Cuomo. But not “turncoat” Eric Adams, whom she voted for last time. She wants the next mayor to “fight harder” against Trump, especially against Trump’s threats to deport New Yorkers. “Why do you want to deport kids who are born here, are rightfully here?” Allen said. “Trump wants to be Hitler.”
Saturday, 3:00 p.m., Steinway Street, Astoria. Cleaning the streets, ticketing reckless scooter drivers and double-parked cars, and scrapping congestion pricing. These are what the next mayor should prioritize, said Mohamed El Wakeel, a retired general manager for a food company. El Wakeel said he remembered fondly the mayoralities of Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani. “New York used to be clean and beautiful,” he said. With the minimal attention he has paid to the mayoral election, one candidate interests him: “Cuomo, he’s not bad.” El Wakeel voted for Trump but now opposes him “because he started acting crazy.” He wants the next mayor to fight and oppose the president. “Trump, what did he do for New York? Nothing,” El Wakeel said. “We need somebody who is for New York.”
Visit the links below to read previous installments of UP TO YOU:
And watch our interview with candidate Zohran Mamdani:
A programming note: More Live conversation!
Join us again on Thursday, April 3, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, when we’ll be talking with messaging guru and political sage Anat Shenker-Osorio. We hope to see you all there!
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So interesting to hear from a sampling of New Yorkers. Thank you. I look forward to more of these.
Come on NYC! We can do better than Cuomo. No more tarnished men. I like Brad Lander. Affordable housing & child education, amongst other things.