New York Mayoral Election Breakdown
New York City residents will finally have the chance to oust Mr. Outside-Corruptor General-Fake Vegan-Mayor Eric Adams! We can put someone in place who cares more about the city’s housing crisis, food scarcity, and wealth gap than he does about taking bribes and partying with celebs.
The primary on June 24th (early voting from June 14th-22nd) allows us to decide which candidate will be each party’s nominee for the general election. This time around, rank voting is allowed. You can select your favorite and the 4 others you won’t mind seeing take the seat at City Hall. So, who’s running and what are their platforms? I’ll break it down with my own personal bias.
NYC mayoral candidates (left to right): Adrienne Adams, Michael Blake, Andrew Cuomo, Brad Lander, Curtis Sliwa, Zellnor Myrie, Jessica Ramos, Jim Walden, Scott Stringer, and Whitney Tilson
For the sake of concision, here are 3 of my top picks to lead Gotham:
Zohran Mamdani
You would think that I would start my list with a Black candidate, but with how much I loathe the mayoral incumbent, I’ve chosen to look beyond skin color. Besides, his middle name is Kwame so I’m betting he’s at least Black-adjacent.
Mamdani is a New York State Assembly member and a self-proclaimed “democratic socialist.” His platform, and the reason he is gaining support, is based on keeping New Yorkers in New York. He proposes issuing a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments and doling out harsh punishments for slumlords.
As Mayor, Zohran will put our public dollars to work and triple the City’s production of permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes – constructing 200,000 new units over the next 10 years. ~Zohan for NYC
And for those of you who like to enter through the back door (hmm), he also wants to make NYC buses free so you can enter through the front door with dignity.
Why is he at the top of my list? Mamdani has the best shot to displace former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is currently in the lead. He is also the son of filmmaker Mira Nair who produced Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and my favorite movie, Monsoon Wedding. So yeah. I’m a little biased.
Michael Blake
Of course I’m going to include the Jamaican A-Phi-A chef to my list.
Rev. Michael Blake served as the Iowa deputy political director for Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election, and following his election to the presidency, Blake became the deputy associate director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He is also the President of Next Level Sports and Entertainment – the only Black-owned national tv sports network in the country’s history.
His goal is to educate and empower black and brown folks by democratizing access to capital. He stated that he will implement an Executive Order on Day 1 to address True Cost of Living and Affordability in NYC - since the numbers I’ve seen associated with “affordable” housing and healthcare are completely out of sync with real salaries.
You can head to his website to learn more, but I encourage you to check out this video of him cooking Jamaican food and chatting with Carla Mae in The Bronx.
Adrienne Adams
As a native New Yorker and Queens resident, I’m hoping that this Black woman can really make an impact at City Hall.
Adrienne Eadie Adams (no relation to that other dude) is the Speaker of the New York City Council. She leads the most diverse and the first women-majority Council in New York City history. She is also the first-ever African-American Speaker. Adams started her career in public service on the local community board after a nearly two-decade career in the private sector as an executive trainer and childcare instructional trainer. Under her leadership, the Council passed meaningful reforms that advanced maternal and reproductive health, made housing more affordable, and expanded support for crime victims.
Despite not having the widespread recognition of some of her opponents, she is the outer-borough favorite as she’s presided over a left-leaning city council and is a Black moderate whose district is home to an active Black voter base.
Btw, she’s also a member of Blake’s sister sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha - the oldest Black sorority. Oh, and who’s also a member? Kamala Harris.
While my views are subject to change as more information on the candidates is released, I am excited to finally be moving towards expelling Eric Adams and getting a new mayor. One thing is for sure, I AM NOT voting for Andrew Cuomo.
So who are your favorites? If you say you’ll re-elect Eric Adams, I don’t think we can be friends - because stupidity is contagious.
