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      Andrew Cuomo’s Complicated Legacy in New York City

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      Mr. Cuomo, the front-runner in the mayoral race and former governor, has a long — and, his critics say, mixed — record handling important issues in the city.As Andrew M. Cuomo runs for mayor of New York City, his prevailing argument to voters has focused on his experience in government, including his nearly 11 years as governor.Mr. Cuomo has highlighted the infrastructure projects he championed as governor, like LaGuardia Airport and the Second Avenue subway, and his role in raising the minimum wage and approving gay marriage.But his tenure, which ended in 2021 after he resigned following a series of sexual harassment allegations that he denies, also included decisions that critics say hurt the city.They contend that Mr. Cuomo was vindictive toward the city as part of his bitter feud with Mayor Bill de Blasio, and that he should have done more to protect the city, especially its lower-income residents, from budget cuts and the pandemic.Here is how Mr. Cuomo handled five key issues.Many New Yorkers blamed Mr. Cuomo for policies that they believe worsened mass transit, even though he helped usher in the new Second Avenue subway line.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesA Beleaguered Transit SystemWhen subway delays began to soar in 2017, Mr. Cuomo remained mostly silent even though he was responsible for the system through his control of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.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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      An Actor, a Bookseller and a Chef Walk Into a Voting Booth

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      We asked scores of well-known New Yorkers from a broad spectrum of the city to give us their ranked-choice ballots for mayor. Here’s what some told us.Graydon Carter, the longtime chronicler of New York City’s glamorous set, is just looking for “somebody who can make the pipes work.”Sarah McNally, one of the city’s top booksellers, said her employees would “hate” whom she was ranking first.And Sonia Manzano, who spent 44 years on “Sesame Street” as Maria, understands her candidate has no charisma. That’s just the way she likes it.With the June 24 Democratic primary just days away, the race for mayor has consumed New Yorkers and divided them into camps. Our famous neighbors, it turns out, are no exception.The New York Times asked dozens of them to share their ranked-choice ballots. The results are not scientific and they diverge from polls of likely primary voters. But they illuminate how some of the people who write Broadway hits, run celebrated kitchens, fill television screens and shape the skyline view the city’s challenges and the crop of 11 Democrats vying to lead it.Many chose not to tip their hands, invoking the principle of the secret ballot, or another sacrosanct New York rule: Do not risk offending the powerful.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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      In Final Push for Mayor, Lander Appears With 2 Cuomo Accusers

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      The campaign event by Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller running for mayor, came as Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner, appeared with the mother of a murder victim.On the last Saturday before Democratic voters pick their standard-bearer in the New York City mayor’s race, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo stood with the mother of a teenager murdered with knives and machetes in a 2018 act of violence that shocked the city.“One of the top priorities has to be public safety,” said Mr. Cuomo, who has promised to add 5,000 more officers to the police force. “If people don’t feel safe in the city, nothing else really matters.”He spoke in front of signs displaying years-old social media posts from his chief rival, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, that called for the defunding of the police, a stance he no longer holds.Earlier that day, Mr. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, rebounded from a Saturday night, seven-and-a-half-hour, top-to-bottom hike of Manhattan with a rally in Sunnyside, Queens.And, in Manhattan, was Comptroller Brad Lander, whose mayoral campaign gained national attention after federal agents arrested him while he was accompanying a migrant at immigration court last week. At his “closing argument” for the mayoralty in the voter-rich precincts of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Mr. Lander sought further attention by inviting the first two women to accuse Mr. Cuomo of sexual harassment.Their accusations, which Mr. Cuomo denies, set the stage for other women to come forward, ultimately prompting his 2021 resignation from office. A supporter held up a sign that read “Don’t Rank Creepy Cuomo.”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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      Mamdani and Lander Will Cross-Endorse Each Other in N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race

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      Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, the two leading progressive candidates in the race, hope their partnership will help them leverage the ranked-choice voting system to defeat Andrew M. Cuomo.Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, the leading progressive candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, will cross-endorse each other on Friday, creating a late-stage partnership designed to help one of them surpass former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in ranked-choice balloting.The candidates, who are second and third in the polls behind Mr. Cuomo, will encourage their supporters to rank them in the top two spots on their ballots. The city’s ranked-choice voting system allows primary voters to list up to five candidates in order of preference.If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of New Yorkers’ first-choice votes, ranked-choice tabulations will begin. When voters’ top choices are eliminated during that process, their support will get transferred to candidates who are lower on their ballots.The partnership, which is being announced one day before early voting begins, would effectively turn Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman, and Mr. Lander, the city comptroller, into something of a joint entry. They hope that one of them will eventually accumulate many of the other’s votes as a result.Mr. Mamdani, who has steadily risen in the polls and is running second behind Mr. Cuomo, said in a statement that at Thursday night’s debate, he and Mr. Lander had exposed Mr. Cuomo as “a relic of the broken politics of the past.”“I am proud to rank our principled and progressive comptroller No. 2 on my ballot because we are both fighting for a city every New Yorker can afford,” Mr. Mamdani said.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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      5 Takeaways From the Debate for N.Y.C. Mayor

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      The two front-runners in the New York City mayor’s race, Andrew M. Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, traded barbs over their records, immigration and a host of other issues.In the final Democratic debate in the primary for mayor of New York City, seven candidates sparred over immigration, affordability and President Trump’s policies. But more often, the debate on Thursday devolved into sharp personal attacks.The most pointed exchanges involved former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the two front-runners in polls.Mr. Cuomo pummeled Mr. Mamdani, arguing that his inexperience was dangerous. Mr. Mamdani criticized the former governor as out-of-touch and beholden to the same special interests that support Mr. Trump.Other candidates often entered the fray. Brad Lander, the city comptroller, drew attention to Mr. Cuomo’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic and the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation as governor in 2021.The debate was the candidates’ best and possibly last chance to grab attention ahead of the start of early voting on Saturday. The primary will be held June 24.Here are five takeaways from the debate.Ganging up on CuomoMr. Cuomo is still clearly viewed as the front-runner based on the attacks he faced from his rivals. Several of the candidates mentioned the sexual harassment allegations, which he denied.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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      Gina Ortiz Jones, a Progressive, Is Elected San Antonio’s Mayor

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      Ms. Jones, a former under secretary of the Air Force under the Biden administration, prevailed over Rolando Pablos, a conservative with ties with to Gov. Greg Abbott.Gina Ortiz Jones, a Filipino American who served as under secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration, won a runoff election on Saturday to become the mayor of San Antonio, making her the first openly gay leader of the seventh-largest city in the country.Ms. Jones, 44, defeated Rolando Pablos, 57, a Mexican immigrant and former Texas secretary of state known for his close ties to Gov. Greg Abbott, a conservative Republican.“San Antonio showed up and showed out,” Ms. Jones told a group of supporters Saturday night, and then referring to voters she added. “We reminded them that our city is about compassion and it’s about leading with everybody in mind.”“So I look forward to being a mayor for all.”The election was a test of Latino sentiment after the dramatic shift of Hispanic voters toward Donald J. Trump in 2024. Kamala Harris handily won San Antonio, a Latino-majority city and Democratic stronghold, but Mr. Trump made significant gains in the city on his way to a 14-percentage-point victory in Texas.On Saturday night, Mr. Pablos conceded. “We tried. It was a very tough race.”Though technically nonpartisan, Mr. Pablos did not downplay his ties to Republican leaders in Texas, nor did Ms. Jones shy from her longstanding Democratic connections. Heading into Saturday, she was seen as the front-runner, having earned the largest portion of the voting bloc in a crowded, 27-candidate election in May. Then, she won 27 percent of the vote to Mr. Pablos’s 17 percent.She was also closely aligned with the politics of the outgoing mayor, Ron Nirenberg, who was first elected in 2017 and is term limited after four consecutive wins.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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      In N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race, Mamdani Responds to a Call for His Deportation

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      Vickie Paladino, a councilwoman from Queens, called Zohran Mamdani a “radical leftist” who hates America, and warned against “future Zohrans.”In his surprising rise to New York City’s top tier of mayoral hopefuls, Zohran Mamdani has battled opponents’ attacks on his inexperience, his leftward politics and his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.But this week, Mr. Mamdani found himself facing a new attack that was both pointed and illogical, when a Republican city councilwoman from Queens called for him to be deported. (Mr. Mamdani is a U.S. citizen.)The remark by the councilwoman, Vickie Paladino, who is known for her incendiary social media posts, quickly became a talking point in the Democratic mayoral primary race, just a day before the candidates were to face off in their first debate.Ms. Paladino recirculated a 2019 social media post from Mr. Mamdani in which he said he couldn’t vote for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for president in 2016 because he was not a citizen at the time. She was incredulous that Mr. Mamdani was being treated seriously as a mayoral candidate.“Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a U.S. citizen for 10 years — much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about,” Ms. Paladino wrote on X late Monday evening. “Deport.”Mr. Mamdani, who is polling second behind former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the June 24 primary, soon responded.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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      O’Connor Wins Democratic Primary for Pittsburgh Mayor, Defeating Incumbent

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      The outcome is the latest in a string of losses in deep-blue cities that has raised questions about the power of progressive officeholders.Corey O’Connor, the son of a popular former mayor, won the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh mayor on Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press, signaling voters’ dissatisfaction with the city under its current progressive leader, Ed Gainey.Mr. Gainey’s defeat is the latest in a string of losses in deep-blue cities, most notably in San Francisco and Oakland, that have raised the volume on questions about progressive officeholders, as their wing of Democratic Party seeks to wrest control from centrist leaders who have struggled to counter President Trump.Mr. O’Connor, the Allegheny County controller, will face Tony Moreno, the winner of the Republican primary, in the general election in November. But Pittsburgh has not had a Republican mayor since one was appointed in 1932, so winning the Democratic primary has become tantamount to winning the mayoral election.“Your voices and your call for accountable leadership have been heard in this Democratic primary,” Mr. O’Connor said as he greeted a jubilant group of supporters at a victory party on Tuesday night. He added that he was humbled by the opportunity and would work to deliver on what he called a promise of progress.Mr. Gainey’s loss halted the momentum that progressives had enjoyed in this Democratic stronghold of a perpetual swing state.In recent years, Representative Summer Lee, a progressive who represents much of Pittsburgh in Congress, and Sara Innamorato, the Allegheny County executive who started her political career as a socialist candidate, vaulted into elected office. Riding the progressive wave with them was Mr. Gainey, a former state legislator who was elected mayor in 2021 with the backing of the powerful Service Employees International Union.Mr. Gainey, the city’s first Black mayor, made affordable housing — and affordable living — the primary plank of his platform. But his gains in lifting the working class and poor were incremental, and his administration was plagued by persistent missteps.Questions about the constant turnover in police leadership, accusations of fudged budget numbers and complaints about basic services like filling the city’s ubiquitous potholes overshadowed promising economic data and a decrease in crime.Mr. O’Connor — whose father Bob was elected mayor in 2006 and died later that year from cancer — had positioned himself as a pragmatic candidate who would get the city working again while it tried to rebuild a tax base devastated by the pandemic downturn in commercial real estate.In his campaign, Mr. O’Connor, 40, pledged a more conciliatory approach toward powerful institutions like universities and health care companies and real estate developers. He had enjoyed a 3-to-1 fund-raising advantage over Mr. Gainey in recent months. Mr. Gainey, by contrast, regularly chastised leaders of some of those organizations for not contributing more to address the city’s inequalities.A peacemaking approach might well be required now, after a sharp-elbowed campaign between two candidates with few policy differences that split allegiances among city and county political leaders. More