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    Treasurer for Little-Known Brooklyn Candidate Is Charged in Fraud Scheme

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    Erlene King sent thousands of dollars to associates and told them to distribute the funds to others who would then donate to the campaign she worked for, federal prosecutors said.The treasurer of an ill-fated 2021 campaign for Brooklyn borough president was charged Wednesday with organizing a fraudulent donation scheme in an attempt to access at least $400,000 in public matching funds.Federal prosecutors said the treasurer, Erlene King, 71, had sent thousands of dollars to associates over roughly two and a half years in an effort to skirt campaign finance rules and boost the campaign of Anthony Jones, who would go on to lose the election after receiving roughly 3 percent of the vote. Mr. Jones has not been accused of wrongdoing.Ms. King pleaded not guilty to wire fraud in federal court on Wednesday after she opted to waive her right to have the charges presented to a grand jury.A lawyer representing Ms. King, John S. Wallenstein, said that he and his client were “discussing potential resolutions” with prosecutors. If found guilty, Ms. King could face up to 20 years in prison.New York City’s public campaign financing program provides funds for campaigns that meet certain fund-raising thresholds. During the 2021 campaign for Brooklyn borough president, the Campaign Finance Board offered to pay campaigns up to $8 for every $1 raised, but only if a campaign first received donations from a minimum number of contributors and raised a total of $50,000 in eligible contributions on its own.In an effort to meet that threshold, Ms. King organized at least $25,000 in fraudulent contributions to Mr. Jones’s campaign, according to prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York. Donations that do not originate with the person whose name appears on fund-raising records are often called “straw” donations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Eric Adams, the Likely N.Y.C. Mayor, Has The Times's Endorsement

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      Barring political cataclysm, Eric Leroy Adams, a former police captain turned Democratic politician, will become New York City’s next mayor.For Mr. Adams, Brooklyn’s charismatic borough president and the Democratic nominee for mayor, winning the general election on Tuesday is likely to be the easy part. Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York City nearly seven to one. The real challenge comes in January, when the new mayor will begin setting the pandemic-scarred city back on its feet.If he is elected, Mr. Adams will enter City Hall with very few of the advantages that Bill de Blasio enjoyed eight years ago. He may have to guide the city’s recovery without the same generous surpluses and steady economy, for example. Unlike Mr. de Blasio, Mr. Adams only barely won the Democratic primary. To govern effectively, he will also have to find a way to reassure those who didn’t vote for him — which includes a large portion of voters in his own party — that he will be a mayor for all New Yorkers.Since the Democratic primary, a great deal of the mayoral race has focused on crime. Mr. Adams has staked his campaign in large part around law and order, while also supporting police reform. That may seem strange for a Democratic politician in liberal New York City. Coming from Mr. Adams — who served in the Police Department for 22 years, rising through the ranks to become a captain, even as he publicly fought to reform the department — it is more complicated.Photo Illustration by Mark Peterson/Redux for The New York TimesIn many ways, Mr. Adams, who is Black and grew up in South Jamaica, Queens, represents the unaddressed hunger of Black communities for both safer streets and better policing. If Mr. Adams can better protect communities that bear the burden of gun violence while also bringing accountability and reform to the city’s Police Department, as he has promised to do, that will be a triumph.The city is also facing other, arguably even greater, challenges.The top priorities for the next administration ought to include ensuring that the city’s roughly one million public school students recover from a year of lost learning in the pandemic, particularly the 600,000 students who learned remotely last year. Even as the pandemic recedes, the city’s public school system needs significant help: more aid for some 100,000 homeless students in the city, sweeping reforms to improve schools in low-income communities and progress in integrating some of the nation’s most segregated schools.Photo Illustration by Mark Peterson/Redux for The New York TimesPhoto Illustration by Mark Peterson/Redux for The New York TimesIn order to fund better schools and all the rest of the good that the administration is capable of doing, it is vital that New York regains a solid financial footing. That means working with businesses large and small to restart the economic engine that can power progress.That progress should include building far more affordable housing, especially in wealthy areas with good transit where less city subsidy is needed to create units for poor and middle-income New Yorkers.The city should speed its plodding march toward reclaiming its streets from cars for pedestrians, restaurants and cyclists. Of course, ultimate success there depends on getting the beleaguered subway system back on its feet. That means maintaining a good relationship with the governor, who holds the real power over the city’s transit system. The endless cycle of fruitless bickering between the former governor and current mayor helped no one.The next administration will also need to work alongside the state government to close the jail complex on Rikers Island, holding fast to reforms that prioritize mental health services and modernize detention facilities, while still keeping the city safe.All this work must be done while continuing to shore up this waterfront city against the rising tides of climate change.There are also several policy areas in which we hope Mr. Adams will change his mind over the next four years from promises made on the campaign trail. We hope he will take a greater interest in racially integrating the city’s public schools. We also hope he will adopt a tougher approach to ensuring that ultra-Orthodox yeshivas that have been the subject of serious complaints from parents and former students actually meet basic state education standards.If the polls and history are any indication, Mr. Adams has little competition at the ballot box Tuesday in Curtis Sliwa, a Republican and the founder of the Guardian Angels who has laid out few detailed proposals for what he would do in office. Voters intent on differentiating the two need look no further than the fact that Mr. Adams supports the city mandates requiring thousands of city workers to get vaccinated. Mr. Sliwa not only does not support the mandate, but recently marched alongside workers protesting the policy.Mr. Adams has our endorsement.We’re encouraged by the passion Mr. Adams shows for championing the needs of working-class New Yorkers, who have for too long been left out of the city’s success. Some of Mr. Adams’s most thoughtful ideas include straightforward policies and changes that stem from his own personal experiences. His promise to create universal screening for dyslexia — a learning disability Mr. Adams dealt with as a child — is an encouraging example of how he viscerally understands the role city government can play in a child’s life.Photo Illustration by Mark Peterson/Redux for The New York TimesSeveral years ago, Mr. Adams overhauled his diet and is now a vegan. For plenty of politicians, that would be a biographical detail. Mr. Adams has parlayed the story into a call to arms (as well as a cookbook), and a poignant example of the connection between racism and health for Black Americans. He has said he is determined to improve the quality of food in schools, jails and shelters.“When we feed people, we should only feed them healthy food,” he told Times Opinion’s Ezra Klein. “They go to the government because they don’t have any other choices. So it’s almost a betrayal when you know someone has no other choice but to eat what you give them, and you’re giving them food that feeds their chronic diseases.”For some voters, this may be a distant priority. But there are millions of New Yorkers who need a mayor who so clearly understands the impact of municipal government on their everyday lives.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      How to Vote Early in New York City

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      It’s Friday. We’ll look at the election in New York City, where early voting begins tomorrow, a prelude to Election Day on Nov. 2. Karsten Moran for The New York TimesThis is a week for election rituals: the candidates for mayor faced off in a debate on Wednesday, and tomorrow, early voting begins in New York City. Here is a guide to navigating the 11 days between now and Election Day on Nov. 2.Where can I vote early, and when?You can early vote on any of nine consecutive days starting tomorrow. Your early voting polling place may be different from your Election Day polling place: Only 106 will be open for early voting, not quite 9 percent of the 1,220 that will be open across the city on Nov. 2.This poll site locator from the Board of Elections will tell you where you can vote early and when, because the hours for early voting begin earlier some days than others.The locator also tells you where your Election Day polling place will be, along with enough numbers to call a play at the Meadowlands: your assembly district, your City Council district, your election district and your judicial district, among others.You don’t need to take identification to vote — unless you are a first-time voter and did not register in person.Will there be long lines, as there were last year?Maybe, maybe not. “The nature of the election event this year is different from last year,” said Jarret Berg, a voting rights advocate and a co-founder of the group VoteEarlyNY. “In a year after the presidential, we just won’t see the same volume.”And many races, like the contest for mayor, were largely decided in the June primary, because registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the city by nearly seven to one. The Democratic nominee for mayor, Eric Adams, is considered the clear front-runner against the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa.There are two other citywide races (for public advocate and comptroller); a borough president’s race in each borough; and City Council races in each district.There are no national races, as there were last year. Nor are there congressional races.But there are five ballot proposals this time around. You can give your thumbs-up or thumbs-down to same-day voter registration (which could allow registration less than the current 10 days before Election Day) and to no-excuse absentee voting (which would mean that you could vote by mail without having to say you cannot vote in person because you are out of town, ill or physically disabled).Will there be ranked-choice voting, as in the June primary?No, except in two special elections — and it won’t matter in one, because only one candidate is running.That is in the Bronx, where Yudelka Tapia is running for the remaining year of Assemblyman Victor Pichardo’s term. Pichardo, a Democrat, resigned last month. Tapia lost a bid for the City Council in June.Three candidates are on the ballot in the other special election, to fill the State Senate seat vacated when Gov. Kathy Hochul picked Brian Benjamin to be lieutenant governor.Will my absentee ballot be counted?So far, this election does not look like a rerun of last year — when the Board of Election sent out nearly 100,000 ballot packages with the wrong names and addresses — or the June primary, when the board accidentally released incorrect vote totals for the mayoral primary. (It had to retract and recount.)“Our lovely Board of Elections — let’s hope they get it right this time,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday. He has long complained about the Board of Elections, going back at least to problems with voting machines in the 2010 primary.John Kaehny, the executive director of the watchdog group Reinvent Albany, said there had been “no early warning signs of hurricane-type election failure.” But he said the board had had trouble recruiting people to work at the polls. Understaffing could cause problems once voting begins, he said.Is Curtis Sliwa the only member of his household running for office?No. His wife, Nancy, is the Republican candidate for City Council in a district on the Upper West Side. The Democratic candidate is Gale Brewer, the Manhattan borough president, who could not run for a third term because of term limits.The district is heavily Democratic, but Nancy Sliwa said during a debate with Brewer that she was not “a traditional Republican” and had once supported Senator Bernie Sanders.The debate was conducted remotely, and as she spoke two cats leapt onto a ledge behind her in the 320-square-foot apartment where the Sliwas live with more than a dozen cats. In 2018, when she ran for state attorney general, Newsday and The New York Post said that her platform revolved around animal rights.WeatherIt’s a mostly sunny fall day, New York — cooler than yesterday, with temps only reaching the 60s. They will drop to the mid-50s on a mostly cloudy evening. Watch out for a chance of showers over the weekend.alternate-side parkingIn effect until Nov. 1 (All Saints Day).The latest New York newsMiss the mayoral debate on Wednesday? Need a refresher before early voting begins? Here are five takeaways.A former pain doctor faces federal charges in New York and state charges in both New York and New Jersey for illegal sexual activity over the course of 15 years.Lev Parnas appeared to parlay donations to Republican candidates into influence and access — and money from a Russian tycoon.What we’re readingThe New York Post reported on why a $100 million Staten Island Ferry boat, the first new ship in 16 years, is docked without a crew.Bleach-cracked hands, second jobs and takeout service: Grub Street looked into how one Bushwick restaurant stayed afloat during the pandemic.What we’re watching: Alvin Bragg, former federal prosecutor and now Manhattan’s potential first Black D.A., will discuss the challenges he’ll face and his plans for Day 1 in office on “The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts.” The show airs on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. [CUNY TV] METROPOLITAN diaryLittle pink teapotsDear Diary:In the mid-2000s, I worked for a company with offices on Park Avenue. I lived in Denver then and would fly to New York for meetings several times a year, staying at the company’s suites at the Waldorf Towers.I often had breakfast at the hotel’s Coffee House, at 50th Street on the Lexington Avenue side. My usual order was tea and toast. The tea was served in a small pink teapot with a silver rim, a Waldorf signature.The little teapots became a comforting morning staple on these trips. I was served by the same waitress over a period of years, and I often mentioned to her how I loved the teapots.In October 2014, I read that the Waldorf had been sold. Then, while on my next trip to New York, I was notified that my company would be merging my division with one in Fort Worth and that I, along with 300 others, would be laid off. The trip would be my last.The next morning I had my usual breakfast at the Coffee House. My waitress had also been told that she would soon be laid off. I said I would miss her and, of course, my little pink teapots.It was my last morning at the hotel and I had already checked out. My travel bag was open on the floor next to the booth where I was sitting. I stepped away for a few minutes, returned, tipped the waitress and left for the last time. It was a sad morning.When I got home to Denver and unpacked my bag, I found a little pink teapot wrapped in a hotel napkin along with a note. It said all of the old Waldorf china and silver was to be sold and that this was a souvenir from my many breakfasts there, compliments of a longtime friend.— Mary F. CookIllustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.Glad we could get together here. See you on Monday. — J.B.P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.Melissa Guerrero, Isabella Paoletto, Rick Martinez and Olivia Parker contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com.Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. More

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      Eric Adams Won Big Outside Manhattan in Mayoral Primary

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      Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, held a strong lead on Wednesday, the day after the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City — but the race was far from over.Mr. Adams gave a triumphant speech on Tuesday night and thanked a long list of supporters who were part of a coalition that included Black and Latino voters, unions and a broad swath of the city outside Manhattan.He had more than 31 percent of first-choice votes among the nearly 800,000 Democratic votes reported so far. In cities with ranked-choice elections, the candidate who is leading in the first round of voting usually prevails.The Most Detailed Map of New York City Mayoral Primary ResultsSee neighborhood-level election results from the first round of the mayoral race.But his closest competitors, Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, had their own corridors of support. Ms. Wiley performed well in some predominately Black neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and in Astoria and Long Island City in Queens. Ms. Garcia had strong support in Manhattan and parts of Brownstone Brooklyn.If Mr. Adams wins in the coming weeks after absentee ballots and ranked choices are tabulated, his victory could challenge the momentum of the progressive movement in New York City and reinforce the notion that public safety has become the top issue for voters.“Adams used his approach on policing of saying we need justice and safety simultaneously to fuse together that traditional coalition,” said Bruce Gyory, a veteran Democratic strategist.Ms. Wiley told her supporters on Tuesday night that the race was not over.“Fifty percent of the votes are about to be recalculated,” she said to cheers.Indeed, many voters ranked Ms. Wiley and Ms. Garcia in the first two spots on their ballots, and it is possible that one of them could capture many of the other’s supporters. They are both vying to be the city’s first female mayor, and that was a central message of their campaigns.Mr. Adams ran as a working-class underdog and focused on communities that were hit hard by the pandemic — a message he touched on during his election night speech, said Christina Greer, an associate professor of political science at Fordham University.“There are so many communities feeling left out and Adams, as his authentic self, seemed just as angry and hurt and inspired as those communities,” Ms. Greer said. More

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      A Full Guide to Voting in NYC's Mayoral Primary

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      What you should know about casting your ballot if you still want to do it early or are heading to the polls on Tuesday.After a campaign season full of Zoom forums, television ads and fliers stuffed in mailboxes, voting in New York City’s municipal primary has begun.Here’s what you should know before you cast your vote.When is Primary Day again?This is a good place to start! It’s Tuesday, June 22. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (If the date seems unusually early to you, it’s probably because the primary used to be in September.)Can I vote early?You sure can. Early voting started June 12 and runs through Sunday. Voting hours vary depending on the day.This year is the first time that New York City voters have been able to vote early in a mayoral election. Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWhere do I go to vote?You can check your polling place on the Board of Elections website. Read carefully: Where you cast your ballot for early voting may differ from where you’re supposed to go on Election Day.Is it too late to register?Yes. Check to see if you’re already registered. Remember: You need to be registered with a political party to vote in a primary in New York.Can I vote absentee?Yes. If you still need an absentee ballot, you can apply in person at a county board of elections office until Monday.If you’re mailing in an absentee ballot, it needs to be postmarked on or before Monday. You can also drop absentee ballots off at a polling place or a Board of Elections office on Tuesday.Miriam Centeno, a poll worker, in the Bronx this month. This year’s primary will be the first to use a ranked-choice voting system. Desiree Rios for The New York TimesWho are the main candidates for mayor?The mayor’s race is the most important one on the primary ballot. Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans are running.Out of the baker’s dozen, eight Democrats have emerged as leading candidates and have taken part in official debates. They are:Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough presidentShaun Donovan, a former federal housing secretaryKathryn Garcia, a former city sanitation commissionerRaymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executiveDianne Morales, a former nonprofit executiveScott M. Stringer, the city comptrollerMaya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de BlasioAndrew Yang, a former presidential candidateIn the Republican primary, the candidates are Fernando Mateo, a restaurateur, and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, a street patrol group.Where do the candidates stand on the issues?That’s a bit complex for this guide. But we interviewed the eight leading Democratic contenders and asked them their views on the issues of concern to New Yorkers.We’ve also published articles examining the candidates’ opinions on policing, affordable housing and public transportation.What else is on the ballot?Most voters in the city should expect a long list of races.There are citywide elections for comptroller and public advocate, and voters in each borough will elect a borough president.There are also primary races in most City Council districts; in many cases, the races are stuffed with candidates. Democratic voters in Manhattan will also choose a nominee to become the next district attorney..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}You can look at a sample ballot for your district before you head to the polls.What is ranked-choice voting?New York City has introduced a ranked-choice voting system this year for all citywide primary races and special elections. Instead of simply picking one favorite candidate, voters choose up to five, ranking them in order of preference.The rankings come into play if no one candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes after the initial tally. Here’s how it works and how it might affect the mayor’s race.The Manhattan district attorney’s race will not use ranked-choice voting, because district attorney is a state office.When will we know who won?It will probably take a while.After the polls close on Tuesday, the Board of Elections will release a preliminary tally of votes cast during the early voting period and on Primary Day. The count will not include absentee ballots, and will only reflect first-choice picks in the ranked-voting races.With so many candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor, it is unlikely that anyone will get more than 50 percent of the votes in the first-round. The Board of Elections has said it will begin to run the ranked-choice voting system a week later, on June 29, and provide unofficial results as the process continues.The unofficial counts will still not include absentee votes. New York State has laws governing absentee ballots that will delay a full, official accounting until sometime in July. More

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      N.Y.C. Mayoral Primary: How and Where to Vote, Early Voting and More

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      What you should know about casting your ballot if you still want to do it early or are heading to the polls on Tuesday.After a campaign season full of Zoom forums, television ads and fliers stuffed in mailboxes, voting in New York City’s municipal primary has begun.Here’s what you should know before you cast your vote.When is Primary Day again?This is a good place to start! It’s Tuesday, June 22. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (If the date seems unusually early to you, it’s probably because the primary used to in September.)Can I vote early?You sure can. Early voting started June 12 and runs through Sunday. Voting hours vary depending on the day.This year is the first time that New York City voters have been able to vote early in a mayoral election. Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWhere do I go to vote?You can check your polling place on the Board of Elections website. Read carefully: Where you cast your ballot for early voting may differ from where you’re supposed to go on Election Day.Is it too late to register?Yes. Check to see if you’re already registered. Remember: You need to be registered with a political party to vote in a primary in New York.Can I vote absentee?Yes. If you still need an absentee ballot, you can apply in person at a county board of elections office until Monday.If you’re mailing in an absentee ballot, it needs to be postmarked on or before Monday. You can also drop absentee ballots off at a polling place or a Board of Elections office on Tuesday.Miriam Centeno, a poll worker, in the Bronx this month. This year’s primary will be the first to use a ranked-choice voting system. Desiree Rios for The New York TimesWho are the main candidates for mayor?The mayor’s race is the most important one on the primary ballot. Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans are running.Out of the baker’s dozen, eight Democrats have emerged as leading candidates and have taken part in official debates. They are:Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough presidentShaun Donovan, a former federal housing secretaryKathryn Garcia, a former city sanitation commissionerRaymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executiveDianne Morales, a former nonprofit executiveScott M. Stringer, the city comptrollerMaya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de BlasioAndrew Yang, a former presidential candidateIn the Republican primary, the candidates are Fernando Mateo, a restaurateur, and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, a street patrol group.Where do the candidates stand on the issues?That’s a bit complex for this guide. But we interviewed the eight leading Democratic contenders and asked them their views on the issues of concern to New Yorkers.We’ve also published articles examining the candidates’ opinions on policing, affordable housing and public transportation.What else is on the ballot?Most voters in the city should expect a long list of races.There are citywide elections for comptroller and public advocate, and voters in each borough will elect a borough president.There are also primary races in most City Council districts; in many cases, the races are stuffed with candidates. Democratic voters in Manhattan will also choose a nominee to become the next district attorney..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}You can look at a sample ballot for your district before you head to the polls.What is ranked-choice voting?New York City has introduced a ranked-choice voting system this year for all citywide primary races and special elections. Instead of simply picking one favorite candidate, voters choose up to five, ranking them in order of preference.The rankings come into play if no one candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes after the initial tally. Here’s how it works and how it might affect the mayor’s race.The Manhattan district attorney’s race will not use ranked-choice voting, because district attorney is a state office.When will we know who won?It will probably take a while.After the polls close on Tuesday, the Board of Elections will release a preliminary tally of votes cast during the early voting period and on Primary Day. The count will not include absentee ballots, and will only reflect first-choice picks in the ranked-voting races.With so many candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor, it is unlikely that anyone will get more than 50 percent of the votes in the first-round. The Board of Elections has said it will begin to run the ranked-choice voting system a week later, on June 29, and provide unofficial results as the process continues.The unofficial counts will still not include absentee votes. New York State has laws governing absentee ballots that will delay a full, official accounting until sometime in July. More

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      Ranked-Choice Voting for N.Y.C. Mayor: What to Know

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      [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Friday. Weather: The sun will be out today with a high in the mid-60s and skies will be clear tonight. It will be mostly sunny on Saturday but then clouds will move in during the evening. Expect a rainy Sunday. Alternate-side parking: In effect until April 29 (Holy Thursday, Orthodox). Amr Alfiky/The New York TimesThe June 22 primary is fast approaching.But voters will find a different type of ballot when they select their party’s nominee: For the first time, the city will use ranked-choice voting for primary elections. That means New Yorkers can select a set number of candidates in order of preference — up to five total.[Read more tips for using ranked-choice voting and the latest news on the race.]Here’s what you need to know about the new system:So how does this work?Ranked-choice voting is like voting in rounds: If one candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes in the first round, they win. But if no one does, the last-place candidate will be eliminated, and all other candidates move to the next round.Votes for the eliminated candidate are then reallocated to whichever candidate those voters ranked second — and votes are retabulated. Rounds of elimination will continue until two candidates remain.On top of the mayor’s race, you’ll be ranking candidates for borough president, comptroller, public advocate and City Council.Wait … what does this actually mean for me?You’ll mark your preferences by filling in a numbered bubble next to each candidate’s name. You can rank as many candidates as the ballot allows, just one candidate, or anything in between — though ranking more than one won’t hurt your favorite.You’re still ultimately casting one vote for one person: Just think of your vote as transferable. If your first choice is eliminated, then your vote transfers over to your next choice.Proponents say the system allows people to more fully express their preferences: You don’t have to choose between a candidate you love and one you’re just OK with but you think has a better chance of winning.What’s the strategy if there’s a candidate I really don’t want to win?Don’t vote for them! Vote for the person you most want to see in office.You could also give high ranks to the candidates you believe are most likely to take down your least-favorite option to pull power away from them.Can I mail in my ballot or vote early?Yes. The last day to request an absentee ballot is June 15 and ballots must be postmarked or delivered to the Board of Elections by June 22.In-person early voting lasts from June 12 to June 20.From The TimesHow New York’s Mayoral Hopefuls Would Change the N.Y.P.D.Andrew Yang, Looking for Endorsement, Offends Gay Democratic ClubSomeone Threw Acid in Her Face. A Month Later, the Family Has No Answers.Councilman Pleads Guilty to $82,000 Tax Fraud. He Has No Plans to Quit.Port Authority Bomber Is Sentenced to Life in PrisonWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingThe Open Streets program helped struggling stores and shops in the pandemic’s earliest months. But some business owners say a lack of financial support has put Open Streets at risk. [The City]New York City’s mask mandate will remain in place through June at minimum, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. [NBC 4 New York]What we’re watching: The Times’s Metro reporters J. David Goodman and Matthew Haag discuss New York City’s economy and recovery from the pandemic on “The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts.” The show airs on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. [CUNY TV]And finally: Your virtual social weekend The Times’s Melissa Guerrero writes:Although many performance spaces, museums and community centers are closed, people are finding creative ways to connect through virtual events and programs. Here are suggestions for maintaining a New York social life this weekend while keeping a safe distance from other people.Book talk: ‘Glamour’s Women of the Year’On Friday at 7 p.m., join a conversation about the book “Glamour: 30 Years of Women Who Have Reshaped the World,” with the editor in chief of Glamour magazine, Samantha Barry.R.S.V.P. for free on the event page.Webinar: Legendary female jazz singersLearn about the life of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan with a discussion by the D.J. and jazz historian Matthew “Fat Cat” Rivera on Friday at 8 p.m.Purchase a ticket ($10) on the event page.Earth Day workshopOn Saturday at 1 p.m., learn how to make a self-watering seed pot for a post-Earth Day celebration.Watch the free Facebook livestream on the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum page.It’s Friday — take a break.Metropolitan Diary: N.Y.P.L. on the UES Dear Diary:I pity the poor encyclopedia,Dreary and dingy and dusty.Does anyone here want to readeeya?Long ago you were tried, true and trusty.Every woman and child and manica,Once pored through your pages, perusedThe treasures inside old Britannica,Now unwanted, unloved and unused.Can’t they see you’re enticing, enjoy’ble?Will they fondle your pages once more?Why is wanting attention a foible,When you’ve knowledge and info galore?There you sit on the shelves; you’re a martyr,And ignorant louts should be warned:No one here among us is smarter,Than the mighty tomes that they’ve scorned.I pity the poor encyclopedia,Suff’ring a silent malaise,Sexy screens and seductive new mediaThat’s what’s on the menu these days.— Lou CraftNew York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.What would you like to see more (or less) of? Email us: nytoday@nytimes.com. More

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      GOP Candidate Leticia Remauro Under Fire for Saying ‘Heil Hitler’ at Virus Protest

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyG.O.P. Candidate Under Fire for Saying ‘Heil Hitler’ at Virus ProtestLeticia Remauro, who is running for Staten Island borough president, has apologized for making a “bad analogy.”Credit…Leticia Remauro, via TwitterJan. 12, 2021Updated 6:50 p.m. ETA Republican political operative who is running for Staten Island borough president apologized on Tuesday after she drew widespread condemnation for saying “Heil Hitler” during a protest against coronavirus restrictions.The politician, Leticia Remauro, made the remark as she was recording a video of herself during a protest on Dec. 2 outside Mac’s Public House, a tavern in Staten Island that has become a rallying point against virus restrictions. The video drew attention after it was sent to a reporter with NY1, who shared it on Twitter on Monday night.In the video, Ms. Remauro expresses support for Mac’s and other small businesses.She then pans to a line of officers outside the tavern, saying that she is there to “stand up for our right, the right to pay taxes so that we can pay the salaries of these good men and women, who yes are only doing their job, but not for nothing, sometimes you’ve got to say ‘Heil Hitler,’ not a good idea to send me here, we’re not going to do it.”Ms. Remauro has been involved in Staten Island politics for some 30 years. In 2000, she headed up the campaign of George W. Bush in New York, and her marketing firm was recently employed by the congressional campaign of Nicole Malliotakis, who unseated a Democrat in November with the help of President Trump.The video, which emerged on Monday, drew widespread outrage on social media from politicians and the public, with many people calling for Ms. Remauro to renounce her candidacy for borough president. Some people also called on Ms. Malliotakis to condemn Ms. Remauro’s words.In a post on Twitter on Tuesday, she said her words were a “VERY BAD ANALOGY likening the actions of the de Blasio & Cuomo against small businesses to those of a Nazi dictator.”In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Ms. Remauro said there was “never an appropriate comparison to be made” to Nazi Germany or Hitler.“What I said is not reflective of anything I feel or think about the horrors of the holocaust or the enduring trauma impacting survivors and subsequent generations, or the vital forever necessity of holocaust education,” Ms. Remauro said.Ms. Remauro lists herself on LinkedIn as the president and chief executive of the Von Agency, a marketing and public relations firm. According to data from the Federal Election Commission, Ms. Malliotakis’s congressional campaign paid the Von Agency $90,158.98 for media consulting from 2019 through 2020.Ms. Remauro’s partner at the Von Agency handled advertising on social media for the campaign, according to Ms. Malliotakis’s congressional office. Ms. Remauro also worked for six months on Ms. Malliotakis’s unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2017.Ms. Malliotakis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in her own post on Twitter, she condemned Ms. Remauro’s words as “shocking and wrong.”“At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across our city and especially on Staten Island, there is no excuse for such words being uttered,” she said.The Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group, reported a record number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2019, more than in any year since the group began keeping track four decades ago.The emergence of the video came days after a violent mob supporting Mr. Trump broke into the U.S. Capitol, drawing heightened scrutiny of neo-Nazis and other white supremacists who were part of the riot and have supported the president. Photographs from last Wednesday’s riot show a man parading the Confederate flag through the Capitol, and another wearing a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Camp Auschwitz.” Social media posts from Ms. Remauro suggest she was present in Washington last week where people broke into the Capitol building. But she told The New York Post that she had been in her hotel room during the rioting and had not participated.In a tweet in September, Ms. Remauro said that “there will be no peaceful inauguration,” no matter the winner, and blamed Antifa.“This isn’t about getting rid of Trump its about bringing down America,” she said.According to her campaign biography, she served as a community liaison to Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Gov. George E. Pataki, and worked on a diversity program for Goldman Sachs. She has also been the chair of the Staten Island Republican Party.In addition to running for borough president, Ms. Remauro was until recently the chair of the board of the Staten Island Hebrew Public Charter School, according to the school’s website. Jonathan Rosenberg, the president and chief executive of the school, said Ms. Remauro had offered her resignation on Monday night, and the school accepted it.She is also the secretary of the Staten Island Downtown Alliance, a business advocacy group.Ms. Remauro has posted several videos in recent months about the challenges businesses face because of the pandemic. In a video she posted on Facebook in December, she said, “I have no words except I don’t feel like I live in America anymore.”“I feel like we live in some other communist country,” Ms. Remauro said.Azi Paybarah contributed reporting.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Former Aide Accuses Cuomo of Sexual Harassment

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyFormer Aide Accuses Cuomo of Sexual HarassmentLindsey Boylan, who is now running for Manhattan borough president, said the governor would often discuss her physical appearance when she worked for him.Lindsey Boylan has been a frequent critic of Mr. Cuomo and has long hinted on social media at tensions with the governor’s office.Credit…Jeenah Moon/Getty ImagesDana Rubinstein and Dec. 13, 2020, 4:03 p.m. ETA former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday accused him of sexual harassment, asserting that the governor would often discuss her physical appearance, something she said occurred over the course of years.“I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks,” Lindsey Boylan, the former aide, wrote on Twitter. “Or would it be both in the same conversation?”Ms. Boylan declined multiple requests for further comment. She has thus far discussed no specific allegations, nor did she provide any immediate corroboration.“There is simply no truth to these claims,” the governor’s press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, said on Sunday.On Twitter, Ms. Boylan explained her policy of not taking questions from reporters on the topic.“I have no interest in talking to journalists,” she wrote. “I am about validating the experience of countless women and making sure abuse stops. My worst fear is that this continues.“And as @FKAtwigs said yesterday, my second worst fear is having to talk about and relive this,” she said, referring to the musician, who on Friday sued an ex-boyfriend, actor Shia LaBeouf, alleging he physically and emotionally abused her.Ms. Boylan recently launched a campaign for Manhattan borough president, following a failed bid to unseat Representative Jerrold Nadler on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Before running for Congress, Ms. Boylan, 36, worked as a deputy secretary for economic development and as a special adviser to the governor, according to her LinkedIn page.She has been a frequent critic of Mr. Cuomo and has long hinted at tensions with the governor’s office on social media. In 2019, Boylan, whose daughter was 5 at the time, tangled with a former Cuomo aide, Jim Malatras, about the extent to which the office accommodated working parents.Lindsey Boylan has worked as a deputy secretary for economic development and as a special adviser to the governor.Credit…Rob Latour/ShutterstockIn another Twitter thread earlier this month, Ms. Boylan described her experience working for Mr. Cuomo as “beyond toxic” and “endlessly dispiriting.” And on Saturday, after The Associated Press reported that President-elect Joe Biden was considering the governor for attorney general, Ms. Boylan pleaded with Mr. Biden to reconsider.“There are fewer things more scary than giving this man, who exists without ethics, even more control,” she said on Twitter. “I saw how he wielded power for years. He takes advantage of people, including me. I hope ⁦@JoeBiden⁩ & ⁦⁦@KamalaHarris⁩ don’t do this.”In the wake of the national reckoning brought on by the #MeToo movement, Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, signed a series of measures to address sexual harassment in 2018, including mandating standards for sexual harassment training in the state’s workplaces.Mr. Cuomo has also backed other recent measures devoted to combating harassment, including extending the statute of limitations for such claims.But the governor’s approach to the issue has also sometimes seemed awkward. In late 2017, Mr. Cuomo had a testy exchange with a longtime Capitol reporter, Karen DeWitt, after she asked a question about his response to sexual harassment in state government. Another former state employee had accused a former aide to the governor, Sam Hoyt, of sexual harassment and assault.“When you say it’s state government, you do a disservice to women, with all due respect, even though you’re a woman,” the governor told Ms. DeWitt, before clarifying that he meant the conversation around the issue should be more widely discussed.“It’s not government, it’s society,” he said. “It’s not just one person in one area.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More