The Sprint for City HallWe’re four weeks out from the critical Nov. 4 election for New York City mayor.
Good afternoon. I’m Katie Glueck and I’m happy to welcome you back to The Sprint for City Hall. We’re less than a month away from the New York City mayoral election, and early voting starts even sooner, on Oct. 25. Thanks for following along with us in the homestretch. In this edition, we’ll look at how war in the Middle East continues to shape the mayor’s race and provide the latest on how the election is influencing other contests across the United States. Plus, a movie recommendation from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. We’ll start with the news.
CATCH UP QUICK How Oct. 7 is shaping the mayor’s race, two years laterThe Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the taking of hostages, as well as the subsequent Gaza war and all of the conflict’s painful reverberations, have shaped the New York City mayor’s race to an extraordinary degree. Mamdani, whose path to politics is rooted in pro-Palestinian activism, has been a sharp critic of Israel since long before the war began. He criticized the Israeli government in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 and has remained outspoken throughout the general election this year. In many ways, his success so far illustrates how drastically the politics of the conflict have changed in the Democratic Party amid growing outrage over Israel’s stewardship of the war. Some of Mamdani’s positions — like pledging to order the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to New York — are well outside the mainstream of Democratic elected officials. But a New York Times/Siena University poll conducted last month, before Adams dropped out, found that 39 percent of registered voters in the city believed that Mamdani had best addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the campaign, more than the other three candidates at the time combined. Other polls show a sea change in public opinion more broadly, with Democrats and Americans in general far less sympathetic to Israel now than they were two years ago. Tensions around the war and how it is discussed in the mayor’s race are ripping through a Jewish community that is on edge about its safety and struggling with where to draw the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism. There are plenty of Jewish New Yorkers who agree with Mamdani’s stance toward Israel, or at a minimum tolerate it, and some disapproved of what they saw as Cuomo trying to politicize genuine concerns about antisemitism. But Mamdani’s position was still a source of anguished High Holy Day sermons and fodder for endless social media debates, with some more moderate and more observant Jews and community leaders viewing it as disqualifying. Cuomo and, to some extent, Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, are attempting to appeal directly to the voters who are most anxious or angry about Mamdani’s stance on the Middle East. Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for the Mamdani campaign, said that he planned to attend an event later on Tuesday “to honor the lives lost on Oct. 7.” Mamdani also spent time on Sunday meeting with Palestinian New Yorkers. Cuomo was expected at an Oct. 7 remembrance in Manhattan later Tuesday, said his spokesman, Rich Azzopardi. In a statement, Sliwa lamented the “dark day” of the attack and “the death and destruction that have followed,” and said that as mayor he would confront “all forms of hate.” The national viewIt may be a municipal election, but the New York City mayor’s race is reverberating from Portland, Ore., to Port Washington on Long Island, as two great stories from this weekend vividly showed. Kellen Browning looked at what happened in Portland, where democratic socialists — like Mamdani — are in charge. Some of them, he writes, “speak glowingly of Mr. Mamdani and display posters with his face and the phrase ‘Hot Commie Summer’ at their offices.” More broadly, both progressive and moderate Democrats have praised his emphasis on affordability, and some can’t resist referring to various candidates as the “Mamdani of [insert city here.]” See: Minneapolis, Seattle. But other Democrats are keeping their distance, as Maya King reported with a story that assessed how Mamdani was playing in the New York City suburbs (spoiler: not well), and what that could mean for the midterms. Last week, I also checked in about the race with Republicans and Democrats across the country — you can catch up on that here.
What we’re watchingWith 18 days to go before early voting begins, Cuomo — currently polling a distant second — is running short on time to cut into Mamdani’s lead. Emma G. Fitzsimmons, who leads coverage of City Hall for The Times, is watching to see whether any of the former governor’s attacks are breaking through with new voters: Cuomo told us in a recent interview that his path to victory relied on highlighting Mamdani’s more divisive positions. He has been hammering the assemblyman on several fronts, including Mamdani’s comments last week about wanting to end the city’s gifted program for kindergarten students, which sparked a backlash among some parents, as well as his positions on Israel and his closeness with the Democratic Socialists of America. Are any of those attacks resonating beyond Cuomo’s existing base? QUIZ What is the best movie about New York City, according to Andrew Cuomo?
Scroll to the bottom to see the answer. KEY DATES TO REMEMBER Oct. 16: First general election debate (7 p.m., WNBC). Oct. 22: Leading contenders general election debate (7 p.m., NY1). Oct. 25: The last day to register to vote in person or online. Applications to register by mail must be received by this date. Oct. 25 to Nov. 2: Early voting. Nov. 4: Election Day. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. We want to hear from youIf you’re an undecided voter — or still deciding whether to vote — what are you weighing? What does the race look like in your neighborhood? I’m at katie.glueck@nytimes.com — please be in touch!
The answer to today’s quiz question is “Gangs of New York,” according to a recent interview Cuomo did with The Times. Mamdani told us the best movie about New York City was “Do the Right Thing,” while Sliwa’s vote was for “Goodfellas.” Thank you for reading today’s edition of The Sprint for City Hall. Look for the next edition in your inbox on Saturday. Want to catch up on previous newsletters? Read here. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please recommend it to others. They can sign up here.
|
