Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll look at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to endorse Zohran Mamdani. We’ll also look at the decision by Long Island Rail Road unions to avoid a strike for now.
The endorsements for Zohran Mamdani continue. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced after months of deliberation that she was backing him. As my colleagues Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Nicholas Fandos noted, it is the latest sign that some Democratic leaders who were skeptical of Mamdani have coalesced around him. Two who have not, at least so far, are Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leaders in the U.S. Senate and House. But Hochul’s endorsement could mean that establishment Democrats have decided that they can work with Mamdani, a democratic socialist who stunned the political universe when he won the Democratic primary in June. I asked Emma to assess what Hochul’s announcement is likely to mean for the race — and for Mamdani’s ambitious agenda. Is there any way that Mamdani won’t be the next mayor? Is there any way now that he could lose on Nov. 4? Mamdani has a strong lead in the polls, but this is New York City politics. Anything can happen in the 50 days between now and the election. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a strong lead in the polls before the Democratic primary, and Mamdani beat him by more than 12 percentage points. And Mamdani has many advantages now that he didn’t have then, including other endorsements besides Hochul’s. Cuomo is trying to drive up negative perceptions of him, saying he is too far to the left and too inexperienced to run City Hall. Cuomo has also been drawing attention to Mamdani’s past comments like calling to defund the police. Mamdani has been trying to make inroads with the police. He said last week that he would apologize to police officers for saying in 2020 that the Police Department was racist and homophobic. Mamdani is consolidating support among Democrats, his campaign has raised a lot of money and his army of canvassers is out knocking on doors. He also benefits from a divided field with Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams running as independents and Curtis Sliwa as the Republican candidate. What surprised you about Hochul’s endorsement? I had heard they were having productive conversations, so the endorsement didn’t come as a complete surprise. But they are an interesting duo. She is a moderate; he’s a progressive. She’s from Buffalo; he’s from Manhattan. She’s from the baby boomer generation; he’s a millennial. I think their conversations made her feel comfortable that he was a pragmatist and would not be overly hostile toward her as mayor. Hochul said that she and Mamdani still had disagreements, even after months of conversations. But she also referred to the “Happy Warrior, can-do spirit” that she sees in Mamdani — a reference to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Does she really mean it? I think they have found common ground. Both do care about affordability. Mamdani wants to implement universal child care in the city. My younger son just finished two years of free preschool — a policy implemented by former Mayor Bill de Blasio — and it helped our family afford to stay in the city. Hochul is a mother and grandmother and understands that families are struggling. At the same time, she was drawing a parallel between her upbeat, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude and Mamdani’s optimism. It will be very interesting to see how they work together — or not — if he wins. He will need her to turn some of his campaign promises into reality. Was there ever a moment after Mamdani won the Democratic primary when Hochul could have endorsed Cuomo? After all, she became governor when Cuomo resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal, and for the six years before that, when she was lieutenant governor, he largely sidelined her. I don’t think she would have endorsed Cuomo — she called his behavior “repulsive” after the state attorney general found that he had sexually harassed 11 women. But she could have stayed out of the race. Cuomo has been highly critical of Hochul as governor. He told The New York Times in an interview in June that he regretted resigning in 2021 and that very little had gotten done since he left. Cuomo talked with you and several of our colleagues on Monday. What did he say about Hochul’s endorsement? Cuomo said that Hochul had made a political decision, and he argued that endorsements were not that important. He was more positive about Hochul than in the past and said that she was a good governor. But he also said that Hochul had no major big-ticket accomplishments to show for her time as governor, unlike him. He pointed to his efforts to legalize same-sex marriage and raise the minimum wage. How could endorsing Mamdani help Hochul? She’s facing a potentially difficult re-election campaign next year if Representative Elise Stefanik decides to run against her. Many Democrats in New York are excited about Mamdani. He brought out younger people, progressives and Muslim voters. She will need their support when she runs next year. Endorsing Mamdani could help her fend off a primary challenge from her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who is 48 and making a similar case for generational change. But Hochul’s alliance with Mamdani could be a liability in the general election with Stefanik, who has argued that Mamdani is too far to the left. Stefanik said on Sunday that Hochul must now own “every radical position” held by Mamdani. WEATHER Today will be sunny with a breeze and a high around 75. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a chance of showers, and the temperature will dip to the low 60s. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Sept. 23 and 24 (Rosh Hashana). The latest New York news
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Unions that had been threatening a strike against the Long Island Rail Road took the unusual step of asking the White House for help with negotiations. That headed off a strike that could have begun as soon as Thursday. Representatives of five L.I.R.R. unions representing more than 3,000 railroad workers — including engineers, machinists and signalmen — asked the president to set up a panel known as a presidential emergency board. The unions asked the White House to step in after a federal mediation agency that had been overseeing negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the L.I.R.R., said that the unions could proceed with a strike. The M.T.A. announced a contingency plan involving limited shuttle buses, but said that it did not have the capacity to match the service that the sprawling commuter line provides. METROPOLITAN DIARY Sheet Cake
Dear Diary: I rushed down the stairs at my Midtown subway stop and onto a downtown 6 train. The doors closed immediately behind me. The car was packed. Sweat was dripping from my brow in the oppressively humid air. Every seat was taken, so I held on to the closest metal pole. As I took a deep breath and got my bearings, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a man in overalls and work boots devouring a large sheet cake straight from a pink cardboard box. He was using a plastic fork and knife. Apparently oblivious to his fellow riders, he was relishing each bite. Every so often he took a big, restorative swig from the half gallon of milk by his side. He was still gobbling up his cake when the train got to my stop. As I got off, I had one thing, and one thing only, on my mind: a hefty slice of moist cake. — Kayvan Gabbay Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Sarah Goodman, Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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