New York mayoral competition has no ideal choice

This year’s Mayor’s Competition has been a strange, frustrating exercise so far. The Democratic primary (usually certainty) looks like a race between two candidates who are not guaranteed to win in November: former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, a democrat who served in the state legislature for four years. Resigned for only a few years in the face of enormous sexual harassment and abuse of power scandal. Another was a decade removed from the university. The city’s political trajectory is indeed to be snatched. And no one feels too confident about it.

On Thursday night (a few days before the early voting began), Cuomo, Mamdani and five of the remaining nine candidates were faced during a television debate on the John Jay College campus near Columbus Circle. In two hours, just a few blocks from the glittering towers where the billionaire strolls, the field discusses the city’s housing and affordability crisis, policing and its impact on crime, New York’s relationship with Donald Trump, Israel and Palestine, e-cyclists, New York, and other issues. Overall, candidates are serious people, with serious things to say about the city’s overlapping crisis, although no one is ignoring the modern politics demand for clip-on-ready Zingers on stage. “To be honest, experience is important, Andrew Cuomo has experience,” said the former auditor-general Scott Stringer. “But the vision is important, and Mandani … you have vision, you have expressed that during the campaign.” Stringer turned from a competitor to face the audience, adding, “The problem is, we need someone who can do it at the same time.”

In a recent poll, Mamdani ranked second and took Cuomo, whose opponents began to see him as the leader. Mamdani’s campaign, even him It is said that Doubt about when it started last year, with the promise of liberals and various stripes on the left catching fire. He proposed raising taxes to the wealthiest New Yorkers and corporations to pay for new public programs, including free buses, and freeze rents for apartments regulated by the city’s rent. “The name is Mamdani, Mamdani,” he said sharply on Thursday, after Cuomo mistakenly said it, the twitching grew louder as polls tightened over the past few weeks. In the first question in Thursday’s debate, one of the hosts, Spectrum NY1 host Errol LouisWhen asked about Mamdani’s youth and relative inexperience, he could assure New Yorkers that he could oversee a billion-dollar public budget and a public workforce of three thousand people. “I never left shame behind,” Mandani said in her reply. “I have never hunted 13 women who reliably accuse me of sexual harassment.”

Since participating in the competition, Cuomo’s escape, gas and refusal to be responsible for the bad behavior that led to his failure four years ago, which performed well. “Five district attorneys have studied this,” Cuomo said. “Absolutely nothing.” His argument seems to be that thirteen women independently raised the idea of ​​accusing him of sexual harassment, with little personal damage. (As Cuomo likes to point out, no civil lawsuit against him has been successful.) However, the former governor’s political skills and power have also been on display for the past few weeks ago. He has gained recognition from many elected officials who were excited about their resignation not long ago, as well as influential black pastors, prominent Jewish community leaders, and leaders of many large urban unions. While discussing the city’s education funding, Cuomo Breaking In said other candidates’ arguments about the restrictions on new and expensive state public school level are wrong. “The state has to pay,” Cuomo said, and he said that if Albany wants to impose a mandate in the city, it needs to be backed up in US dollars. “Let’s be realistic.” Here’s a good answer: New York State should cough up more money to ensure working-class city kids don’t get packed with packed classrooms. However, no one doubts Cuomo’s knowledge of the government’s functioning. These questions are about motivation, calculations, and why he should be trusted after so many governors.

Of all the candidates on the stage, Brad Lander, the city’s auditor-general and Brooklyn’s progress seemed the happiest. Earlier in the day eraPreviously announced his intention to break the long-term practice rather than recognition in this year’s local elections, he published Lander’s accurate list, Products of investigation The opinions of this article are conducted in part by famous New Yorkers. Seven of the 15 respondents (including political scientist, conservative think tank president, party strategist and restaurateur Danny Meyer) showed that Landner was the best candidate in the field. No other candidates received more than two respondents to support them. “His record and responsible leadership as a consensus builder made him the first choice for the incomplete field of democracy,” the editor of the opinion section wrote. Rand was a little lost in previous television debates. On the stage of John Jay, era Compliments, he seemed to step further into himself, shooting several direct shots at Cuomo, who stood on a podium to the right.

“Andrew, this is Peter Arbeeny,” Rand said, pointing to a person sitting in the audience, in the “cross-question” part of the debate, when each candidate was allowed to raise a direct question directly from an opponent. Peter Arbeeny’s father, Norman Arbeeny, died Coronavirus-19 pandemic. Peter and the rest of the Albin family have been critics of Cuomo’s controversial order forced nursing home accept Coronavirus-19 patients discharged from the hospital. Lander’s question to Cuomo: “Did you finally apologize to Peter?” When Lander said this, Cuomo looked down at his podium, avoiding eye contact with the audience. He grimaced like he couldn’t believe Lander’s bile. Cuomo said: “Maybe you’re from St. Louis, the facts don’t matter, but they really don’t matter here. Then he seems to remember Alberni. Cuomo said: “Mr. Alberni lost his father.” I’m very, very sorry for this. ” “He filed a legal case against the state. The legal case was dismissed. ”

The challenges in the game are real. A group of candidates obviously don’t like Cuomo’s personal experience or feel pain at Mamdani’s precocious and talent for social media. When the candidate and host took a short break in about half the time Thursday, Cuomo turned to his right and approached City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who patted her in the back as she smiled tightly. Cuomo rotates and approaches Mamdani. The two men shook hands and Mamdani slipped away and looked very serious. Earlier in the day, it was reported pac Backing Cuomo prepares an attack email using a photo filter to make Mamdani’s beard look darker, bushes-Mamdani is condemned for inflammation and Islamophobia. Cuomo eventually lingers in front of the stage, waving to someone in the audience for the rest of his break. (Probably not Arbeeny.)