Garcia, Kathryn

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      Whether Maya Wiley or Kathryn Garcia, a Woman Mayor Could Save N.Y.C.

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      Last week I wrote about why I thought Eric Adams is very marginally preferable to Andrew Yang in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. Yang is likable, and I can see why people have gravitated to his sunny vision of a vibrant, business-friendly city. But electing a totally inexperienced mayor buoyed by hedge fund billionaires and singularly focused on public order seems potentially calamitous. Not because public order isn’t important — everyone wants a safe city — but because it has to be balanced with a commitment to justice. More

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      Scenes From the Final Day of Early Voting

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      [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Monday. Weather: Partly sunny, with a high around 90. Scattered storms beginning this evening. Alternate-side parking: In effect until July 4 (Independence Day). Clockwise from top left: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times; James Estrin/The New York Times; Hilary Swift for The New York Times; Andrew Seng for The New York TimesThe last day of early voting saw the top Democratic mayoral candidates fanning out across the city to make their final pitch to voters before Primary Day on Tuesday.[A swirl of activity was marked by creative politicking and deepening acrimony between Eric Adams and the rest of the field.]Here are a few scenes from Sunday:Garcia and Yang go for a walk in ChinatownKathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, and Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, appeared together in Chinatown ahead of a get-out-the-vote rally focused on attacks against people of Asian descent. It was the second display of unity between the rivals this weekend.Mr. Yang has encouraged his supporters to mark Ms. Garcia as their second choice on the ranked-choice ballots. But despite the apparent solidarity, Ms. Garcia has not returned the favor, saying she will not tell her supporters how to rank their ballots.Adams talks street violenceEric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president and presumed front-runner, denounced gun violence by returning to a Bronx street where a masked man had nearly shot two young children while attacking another man. “We need to get him,” Mr. Adams said of the gunman, his voice rising in anger. “He needs to be off our streets.”Stringer and family canvass the Lower East SideScott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, and his wife and two sons canvassed the Lower East Side of Manhattan, stopping to talk to voters, many of whom greeted the candidate warmly. At one point, a neighborhood resident asked Mr. Stringer for a photo.“That’ll cost you a first-place vote,” Mr. Stringer joked.Maya Wiley goes to church and then hula-hoopsMaya Wiley, a former MSNBC analyst and counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, spent Sunday morning at two Black churches in Harlem and Brooklyn. Later in the day, she was seen hula-hooping at the Tompkins Avenue Merchants Association Festival.More on the mayor’s race:Why We May Not Know Who Won the Mayoral Primary for WeeksWho Do the Billionaires Want for Mayor? Follow Their Money.From The TimesNew York Faces Lasting Economic Toll Even as Pandemic PassesNew York City Lost 900,000 Jobs. Here’s How Many Have Come Back.‘It Hurts’: Season Is Over Before Nets See How Good Big Three Can BeWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingEight candidates running to be the next city comptroller took part in a televised debate Sunday morning. [Gothamist]New York City’s building sector remains 25,000 jobs below its prepandemic peak — a warning sign for the construction industry. [The City]Service cuts on the B, D, N, Q and R lines are likely to continue through November 2022. [Daily News].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;}And finally: New York reopens, but normalcy is elusive The Times’s Troy Closson writes:The lives of New Yorkers were marked by solitude and alarm during the worst months of the pandemic: Tens of thousands died, thousands of businesses closed and the city’s regular tempo screeched to a halt. But as vaccination rates have climbed, the city’s long hibernation has begun to end.When some capacity restrictions and mask mandates fell away, neighbors, for the first time in months, greeted one other with bright smiles, no longer struggling to recognize the person behind the mask. Family members and friends reunited with long-sought embraces. Still, some parts of pandemic life — temperature checks and socially distanced lunch tables — remained.Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s order last week to lift almost all virus restrictions on businesses and social gatherings represented one of the final steps in the city’s reopening. The governor said the new guidance represented a “return to life as we know it.”But for some, the news was only a symbolic triumph, as the most stringent restrictions had been removed weeks ago. And the decision over whether to do away with precautions lies with individuals and business owners, many of whom said the governor’s announcement would not spur immediate change.“We’re not back to normal,” said Sedonia Croom, a longtime worker at Croom Boutique Salon & Spa, a family-run business in the Crotona area of the Bronx. The shop, she said, has no immediate plans to throw out its face-covering or capacity guidelines.“You still got to protect yourself and your clients,” Ms. Croom said. “You have no other choice.”It’s Monday — start anew.Metropolitan Diary: Playing hookyDear Diary:As a teenager, I lived along the Hudson River near the Croton-Harmon train station. During my senior year in the high school, I would cut class, take the train to New York City and use my babysitting money to go to museums.I knew when all the free and discount days for students were, and I would bring a book of my father’s that listed cheap and interesting restaurants where I could go for lunch. I would get back to school in time to take the bus home (or at least to make it look like I had).One time, I was headed home on the train and I spotted my father. (I found out later that he had left work early because he was sick.)I moved up a couple of cars and hid in the bathroom the rest of the way.I never told my parents.— Cheryl MayrsohnNew 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. More

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      Who Are the Billionaires’ Picks for New York Mayor? Follow the Money.

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      Ultrawealthy donors have given $16 million to super PACs dedicated to the New York City mayor’s race. Half of that money has gone to three moderate candidates.More than seven years after one of the nation’s wealthiest men stepped down as New York City’s mayor and was replaced by a successor who shunned the rich, billionaires have re-emerged as a potent force in the mayor’s race.Together, billionaires have spent more than $16 million this year on super PACs that are primarily focused on the mayoral primary campaign that ends on Tuesday — the first mayoral election in the city’s history to feature such loosely regulated organizations devoted to individual candidates.Overall, super PAC spending in the mayor’s race has exceeded $24 million, according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, making up roughly 30 percent of the $79 million spent on the campaign.The impact has been dramatic: a deluge of campaign mailers and political ads on radio, television and the internet, especially in recent weeks, as the unusually large field of Democratic candidates vied to win over an electorate distracted by the pandemic.Dedicated super PACs exist for all but one of the eight major Democratic candidates, but half of the billionaires’ spending has benefited just three of the field’s more moderate contenders: Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president who is considered the front-runner; Andrew Yang, the 2020 presidential candidate and a top rival; and Raymond J. McGuire, a former Citigroup executive who trails in the polls.At least 14 individuals that Forbes magazine has identified as billionaires have donated to mayoral-related super PACs. Several run companies that are headquartered in New York City, while others have interests that would benefit from a good relationship with City Hall, and they are hedging their bets in an apparent effort to improve their chances of backing the winner.Steven A. Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire who owns the Mets, donated $500,000 to Mr. Yang’s super PAC and $500,000 to Mr. Adams’s in mid-May, when the two candidates were leading the polls. But as Mr. Yang’s support appeared to wane and Mr. Adams’s grew, Mr. Cohen cut off Mr. Yang and donated another $1 million to Mr. Adams.A similar trajectory characterizes the giving patterns of Daniel S. Loeb, another hedge fund billionaire and an outspoken supporter of charter schools and former chairman of Success Academy Charter Schools. He donated $500,000 to Mr. Adams’s super PAC and $500,000 to Mr. Yang’s super PAC in mid-May. Three weeks later, as Mr. Adams was cementing his front-runner status, Mr. Loeb gave Mr. Adams’s super PAC another $500,000.Both Mr. Adams and Mr. Yang have expressed support for charter schools. Ray McGuire’s super PAC has raised roughly $7 million from donors like Kenneth Langone, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot.James Estrin/The New York TimesThe flood of money — which has also affected other key contests like the Manhattan district attorney’s race — comes as the pandemic has illuminated the stark differences between the city’s have and have-nots even as the mayor’s race has been more focused on gun crime and public safety than on inequality.The super PACs also threaten to undermine New York City’s campaign finance system, which is designed to combat the power of big money in politics by using city funds to match small donations.This year, the city rolled out an enhanced version of that system, offering richer rewards for small donations, and has thus far handed out more than $39 million to the mayoral candidates. But it is far from clear that New York City’s campaign finance system — considered a national model — can withstand the big-money onslaught wrought by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision of 2010, which allowed outside groups to spend an unlimited amount of money in elections.A super PAC played a small role in the last competitive mayoral primary in 2013, when an animal rights group helped fund a super PAC that attacked Christine Quinn, then the City Council speaker who had been a favorite in the race, because of her support for horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.The following year, the courts struck down a state cap on the size of contributions to super PACs.“Now in 2021, New York City has a term-limited Democratic incumbent with no heir apparent, which has led to a wide open mayoral race run with campaigns run by consultants with deep experience using candidate super PACs in federal campaigns,” said John Kaehny, the executive director of Reinvent Albany. Super PACs are theoretically independent of the political campaigns, and their spending is not supposed to be coordinated with individual candidates. But questions of the funds’ independence emerged in April, when New York City’s Campaign Finance Board withheld the release of public matching funds to the campaign of Shaun Donovan, who served as the Obama administration’s housing secretary and budget director.The board wanted to delve into the relationship between Mr. Donovan’s campaign and the super PAC supporting him, New Start N.Y.C., which is largely funded by his father. The board eventually released the matching funds.“Who’s going to be mayor matters to a lot of people with a lot of money,” said Lawrence Norden, the director of the electoral reform program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “You have to ask yourself when people are spending tens of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a candidate, why are they doing it and what do they hope to get out of it?”Some billionaire donors who had supported a super PAC behind Andrew Yang have switched financial allegiances to Eric Adams.Andrew Seng for The New York TimesOne thing some may hope to get is an expansion of charter schools in the city. Other billionaires financing super PACs in this primary include four investors who support charter schools, a favored cause of financiers skeptical of district public schools: Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones, who donated $500,000 and $600,000, respectively, to the Adams super PAC; Kenneth Griffin, another hedge fund manager, who has donated $750,000 to both the Adams and Yang super PACs; and Pennsylvania investor Jeffrey Yass, who donated $500,000 to Mr. Yang’s super PAC.As it happens, the president of Mr. Adams’s super PAC is Jenny Sedlis, who is on leave from a charter school advocacy group, Students First NY, and co-founded Success Academy, which has received direct financial support from Mr. Griffin.Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, has been critical of some charter school practices, which helped earn him the endorsement of the United Federation of Teachers. NY4Kids, a teachers’ union-backed super PAC supporting Mr. Stringer, reported raising nearly $6 million, with about $4.2 million raised and spent for the mayor’s race, a spokesman said.Mr. Stringer’s campaign has struggled following accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances decades ago, which he has denied. Cassie Prugh, the treasurer of the organization, said the group had focused on using their budget to make relatively early investments for Mr. Stringer. Various corporate entities controlled by the Dolan family, which owns Madison Square Garden, have put roughly $6 million into another super PAC, the Coalition to Restore New York, which highlights the same quality of life issues that have been central to the campaigns of Mr. Yang, Mr. Adams and Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner. The super PAC has asked mayoral candidates, as well as candidates for other city offices, how they would fight crime, reignite tourism and stop the “exodus” of New Yorkers from the city.“The Coalition to Restore New York is candidate-agnostic and is not supporting or opposing anyone for office in 2021,” said Rich Constable, an executive vice president at Madison Square Garden.State and city records indicate the super PACs for Mr. Donovan, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Adams each raised about $7 million, and the two super PACs for Mr. Yang together raised more than $4 million. The super PAC for Ms. Garcia, another leading moderate, started late in the race and has raised $306,000..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;}Those who donated to the super PAC supporting Mr. McGuire may not get much of a return. Mr. McGuire, the only major candidate who is not participating in the city’s matching funds program, continues to poll in the single digits. Four individuals that Forbes considers billionaires have nevertheless supported the super PAC backing him, including the Home Depot co-founder, Kenneth Langone; the Loews Corporation heiress, Laurie Tisch; the Estee Lauder heir, Leonard Lauder; and William Ackman, an investor.Two super PACS supporting Maya Wiley, the leading left-wing candidate, have reported raising $1 million.Jonah Markowitz for The New York TimesMaya Wiley, the former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, is considered the leading left-wing candidate, and she has the support of two super PACs; one is affiliated with Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union and the other with the Working Families Party.The billionaire investor George Soros has committed $500,000 to each. The Working Families Party will use that funding to make phone calls and knock on doors in support of Ms. Wiley and its other candidates in the primary, targeting New Yorkers who voted on the party’s line last year.“Right wing hedge fund billionaires think they can buy this city, spending millions on Eric Adams and Andrew Yang,” the Working Families Party national director, Maurice Mitchell, said in a statement.Billionaire interest has also extended to City Council races and the race for Manhattan district attorney, where one candidate, Tali Farhadian Weinstein — a multimillionaire herself — has garnered support from several wealthy donors, including Mr. Griffin and Mr. Ackman. Ms. Farhadian Weinstein has said that the donations will not influence her.In recent weeks, Ms. Farhadian Weinstein gave her own campaign $8.2 million, drawing anger from some of her competitors.Mr. Norden of the Brennan Center said that such giving was not without precedent in New York politics, comparing it to the self-funding in the mayoral campaigns of the billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg.“The trouble is that money shouldn’t be determining who has a shot at being on the ballot and getting their message out to voters,” he said.Mr. Soros also pledged $1 million to the super PAC Color of Change, aimed at helping another district attorney candidate, Alvin Bragg. A spokeswoman for the super PAC said that nearly $500,000 had been spent on Mr. Bragg’s behalf as of Friday.The billionaire with arguably the longest-standing interest in the mayor’s race, the Hudson Yards developer Stephen M. Ross, is also funding a super PAC, but is not backing a particular candidate. Rather, the Related Companies chairman is trying to sway the election toward the center by sending mailers to New Yorkers who only recently registered as Democrats — a tactic that dovetailed with another super PAC, sponsored by a Related executive’s wife, created to persuade Republicans to switch parties.“Remember, who you vote for is private, but whether or not you vote is a matter of public record,” one such mailer reads. “We’ll be checking the voter rolls after Election Day on June 22 and hope to see your name among those who have voted.” More

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      What We Learned From the Final Sunday of Campaigning in Mayor's Race

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      On the last day of early voting before Tuesday’s primary in New York City, the eight leading Democratic candidates sprinted across the boroughs on Sunday, stopping at the usual rally points like churches, parks and barbecues, as they tried to lure more voters. They braved temperatures that hit almost 90 degrees, and canceled Father’s Day plans, to shake hands and even hula hoop with supporters.Here are five takeaways that stood out from the final weekend of campaigning.Garcia and Yang team up, but avoid endorsementsKathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang appeared together in Chinatown, marking the second time in just as many days that the pair came together on the campaign trail. That earned the ire of front-runner Eric Adams. (More on that later.)Mr. Yang has encouraged his supporters to mark Ms. Garcia as their second choice on the ranked-choice ballots. Garcia isn’t returning the favor. She’s praised Mr. Yang, but she isn’t explicitly asking her supporters to cast a vote for Mr. Yang.The show of unity from two of the strongest candidates underscored how ranked-choice voting has complicated the mayor’s race and how rival candidates can band together in a ranked-choice election to stem the momentum of a front-runner. In this case, Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president.Accusations of voter suppressionThat alliance isn’t going unnoticed. Prominent Black leaders, including Representative Gregory W. Meeks of Queens, have echoed comments by Mr. Adams that the alliance is a an attempt at diluting the voice of Black voters. Mr. Adams has said that the show of unity is an attempt to prevent “a person of color” — specifically a Black or Latino person — from becoming mayor. H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller, has also criticized the move, likening it to voter suppression. Both men have said they will rank Mr. Adams either first or second on their ballots.Mr. Yang dismissed the accusation that his alliance with Ms. Garcia was divisive. Maya Wiley disagreed with Mr. Adams that the partnership is intended to weaken the Black vote, saying candidates are going to strategize differently about ranked-choice voting.“I will never play the race card lightly unless I see racism, and I’m not calling this racism,” Ms. Wiley saidDoubts about releasing unofficial talliesMr. Adams has never been a fan of ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to select their top five candidates. Now, he is raising questions about how the Board of Elections plans to release results as his campaign faces growing efforts from opponents to slow his momentum.Mr. Adams, who has declined to say who he would list as No. 2, has said the Board of Elections should not release any results until it has the final tally. The city plans to start releasing partial and unofficial vote totals on Tuesday night, after polls close. And then they will periodically update the tallies until a final count on July 12.If no candidate gets the 50 percent plus one vote required for victory on primary night, the ranked-choice voting tabulation process will begin.Adams disagrees with the process but said he will not fight it. “These are the rules. We have to play by the rules,” he said. “We are going to tell our supporters and voters let’s remain patient.”Early voting on summer’s first dayNew Yorkers didn’t rush to polling sites on Sunday, the last day of early voting. Instead parks and beaches and restaurants and bars were packed across the five boroughs as temperatures almost hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit. That was a reversal from last year when more than a million people waited hours in lines that stretched blocks to vote in November’s presidential election. This time, there were barely any lines, and waits of just 20 minutes at the most congested polling sites.Candidates make it a family affairNeither the heat nor Father’s Day could keep candidates off the campaign trail on Sunday, with some turning their final pitches to voters into a family affair.Scott Stringer, a top contender early on whose candidacy was derailed by allegations of sexual assault, brought his wife and two sons to canvas on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Both sons were handing out pamphlets and wearing Team Stringer T-shirts. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Mr. Stringer said of his Father’s Day.Mr. Yang made campaign stops in Forest Hill, encouraging young New Yorkers and their four-legged siblings to wish their dads a happy Father’s Day.And New Yorkers across the city celebrated Father’s Day with their families, many still carefully considering how they will cast their votes on Tuesday. More

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      Adams Clashes With Rivals on Last Weekend of Mayoral Campaign

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      Eric Adams and Andrew Yang tussled on questions of race in a frenetic day of campaigning, two days before the June 22 primary.The leading candidates for mayor of New York City barreled into a frenzied final day of early voting on Sunday, a swirl of primary campaign activity marked by creative retail politicking and deepening acrimony between the race’s presumed front-runner, Eric Adams, and the rest of the field.While the campaign trail was studded with lighthearted moments — Kathryn Garcia did yoga in Times Square; Maya D. Wiley hula-hooped — there were also serious clashes stemming from Ms. Garcia’s late alliance with Andrew Yang, leading Mr. Adams and his surrogates to question the integrity of the election, with two days until the June 22 primary.Allies of Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, went so far as to baselessly claim that the appearance of an alliance between Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang amounted to voter suppression — even though such alliances are common in elections with ranked-choice voting.This is the first mayoral election in New York City that is using ranked-choice ballots, allowing voters to support up to five candidates in order of preference.Ms. Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, made another appearance with Mr. Yang, a former presidential candidate, on Sunday, but insisted again that did not mean she was backing his campaign.Rather, she suggested, their joint appearances, on campaign literature and in person, were a calculated attempt to get Mr. Yang’s voters to rank her second.Maya Wiley takes a circular diversion on Sunday from a day of campaigning.Hilary Swift for The New York TimesIn contrast to a number of her rivals who began the day in church, Ms. Garcia started with yoga in Times Square, and then visited Zabar’s on the Upper West Side and a greenmarket near Central Park, a schedule that might resonate with many a well-heeled Manhattanite.The schedule reflected the importance of Manhattan to Ms. Garcia’s strategy, but it also underscored her challenge: to draw voters from beyond Manhattan and Brownstone Brooklyn. She has openly acknowledged that her appearances this weekend with Mr. Yang represented one tactic to expand her support. She spent time later Sunday in the Bronx, the borough with the largest Latino population.With early voting winding down Sunday evening in preparation for Tuesday’s primary, voters streamed into polling sites in the five boroughs.As of Sunday evening, 192,000 New Yorkers had participated in early voting.Among them was Tom Werther, a retired police officer who carries a gun and thinks crime is the dominant issue of the day. On Sunday, he turned up to vote at the YMCA in Rockaway, Queens, but his first choice for mayor was not Mr. Adams, a retired police officer who also carries a gun and thinks crime is the dominant issue.It was Ms. Garcia who impressed Mr. Werther as “articulate” during a recent meet-and-greet nearby. He ranked Mr. Yang second, and Mr. Adams third.The final day of early voting happened to coincide with Father’s Day. Mr. Yang, a father of two, could be found tapping into his natural exuberance while posing for selfies on Sunday morning in Forest Hills, Queens.Andrew Yang campaigned in Forest Hills, Queens.Andrew Seng for The New York TimesThroughout his campaign, Mr. Yang has seemed happiest when he has been campaigning in person, surrounded by selfie seekers — a testament to the national name recognition and powerful social-media game that he hoped would drive him to City Hall.But as he withstood the natural scrutiny accorded to front-runners, his standing in the polls diminished, and his tone darkened. In recent weeks, he has spoken ominously about the perils of voting for Mr. Adams, someone whom Mr. Yang considers ethically dubious and who is now leading the polls.On Sunday, Mr. Yang’s original, crowd-pleasing spirit, the one he exhibited while vowing to be New York City’s cheerleader, was again on display.Matthew Rubinstein, 19, attributed his vote for Mr. Yang to that energy.“You see Andrew Yang going here, Andrew Yang going there,” said Mr. Rubinstein, who grew up in Forest Hills. “He’s on my TikTok, he’s on my Instagram. He’s everywhere, you know? He’s just more for the people.”Kathryn Garcia started the day doing yoga in Times Square.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesMr. Adams and his allies continued to voice concern that by aligning their campaigns, Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang were trying to disenfranchise Black and Latino voters.Outside of a church in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Mr. Adams said it was disrespectful for Ms. Garcia and Mr. Yang to campaign together on Juneteenth.“While we were celebrating liberation and freedom from enslavement they sent a message and I thought it was the wrong message to send,” Mr. Adams said. “Yes, Andrew, you are a person of color and the Asian community realizes that I am the strongest voice for people of color in this city.”.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;}At a campaign stop in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, Mr. Adams was asked to respond to the voter disenfranchisement some of his boosters have claimed and he declined, even though his campaign sent out the statements.Mr. Yang and Ms. Garcia both disputed Mr. Adams’s assertion, and so did Ms. Wiley, who is Black. She said that candidates were going to make different decisions about strategy under ranked-choice voting.“I will never play the race card lightly unless I see racism, and I’m not calling this racism,” Ms. Wiley said.She also defended the ranked-choice voting system after Mr. Adams again raised concerns about it. Good-government groups praise the new system as an advance for democracy, by no longer allowing candidates to split the vote and by eliminating the need for costly runoffs. Mr. Adams has long condemned the new system and his allies filed a suit to forestall its implementation that failed in court. Many voters have also expressed confusion about the system.Eric Adams visited with parishioners at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn.James Estrin/The New York TimesMs. Wiley, who supports ranked-choice voting, said Mr. Adams must be afraid of her momentum if he was complaining about the system.“I believe that ranked-choice voting is better for democracy, period — whoever people vote for,” Ms. Wiley said.For his part, Mr. Yang suggested he was in fact campaigning with Ms. Garcia to prevent an Adams victory. He has repeatedly cast doubt on Mr. Adams’s moral probity as the borough president has faced residency questions and scrutiny over tax and real estate disclosures. Later in the day, the central argument of Mr. Adams’s campaign — that the rise in street violence necessitates someone with his level of experience in policing — appeared to hit home in a personal way. The campaign used Twitter to announce that one of its volunteers had been stabbed; a week ago, the campaign said that a handgun was discarded in front of Mr. Adams’s campaign office in Brooklyn after a fight.Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, kept a relatively low profile on Sunday, though he did make an afternoon appearance with his wife and two sons on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and again in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, campaigned in Park Slope with his wife and children in Brooklyn on Sunday.Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesMr. Stringer’s campaign faltered after two women accused him of sexual misconduct from decades ago.Still, as he stopped to talk to voters on Sunday, many of them greeted him enthusiastically, and he sounded optimistic about his path to victory.“As you can see on the streets, the reaction is great,” he said.Reporting was contributed by More

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      Adams and Yang Tussle Over Race in Frantic Last Days of Campaign

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      Black leaders continued to raise concerns on Sunday about a new alliance in the New York City mayor’s race between Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang after the front-runner, Eric Adams, argued that the strategy was intended to dilute the voice of Black voters.H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller, called their alliance “an attempt to bring the disgraceful national campaign of voter suppression to New York.” Representative Gregory W. Meeks, chairman of the Queens Democratic Party, said the “stunt reeks of desperation and our community is too engaged to fall for this.” Mr. McCall has endorsed Mr. Adams while Mr. Meeks has said that Mr. Adams will be the second choice on his ranked-choice ballot, after Ray McGuire.Mr. Adams is arguing that Mr. Yang and Ms. Garcia are working together to prevent “a person of color” — specifically a Black or Latino person — from becoming mayor. His supporters have asserted that the alliance could disenfranchise Black voters. (Mr. Yang has responded by saying, “I would tell Eric Adams that I’ve been Asian my entire life.”)In a news conference in Chinatown, Mr. Yang said Mr. Adams was being divisive when he criticized his alliance with Ms. Garcia. “New Yorkers know that we need to come together, that if the next mayor comes into office and we’re still divided, we’re still sniping at each other, we’re never going to overcome the challenges that are getting more serious around us all the time,” he said.Mr. Yang said that he and Ms. Garcia began campaigning together on Saturday in part because he wanted to ensure the city’s next mayor would “stand up for people and families and not be beholden to special interests” or “enter under a cloud of investigation and suspicion.” He declined to say whether he was talking about Mr. Adams.In Chinatown, Mr. Yang sought to give voice to the concerns of Asian-Americans about rising anti-Asian violence, saying “we are vulnerable.” A vote for him, he suggested, would help rebuff the idea that Asian Americans in the city did not belong.“One way to send that message would be to have the first Asian American mayor of the City of New York,” Mr. Yang said.Mr. Yang appeared in Chinatown with Ms. Garcia at a rally against anti-Asian violence. Another candidate, Maya Wiley, also appeared at the event, but separately. Ms. Wiley, who is a Black woman, said she did not agree with Mr. Adams’s assertion that the Yang-Garcia alliance was an attempt to dilute the Black vote. She said that candidates are going to make different decisions about strategy under ranked-choice voting.“I will never play the race card lightly unless I see racism, and I’m not calling this racism,” Ms. Wiley said. Ms. Wiley also defended the ranked-choice system, asserting that Mr. Adams is complaining about it because he is concerned about her momentum. “I believe that ranked-choice voting is better for democracy period — whoever people vote for,” Ms. Wiley said. More

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      Garcia and Yang Campaign Together for Second Day in Mayor's Race

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      Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang appeared together in Chinatown on Sunday ahead of a get-out-the-vote rally focused on attacks against people of Asian descent, the second display of unity between the two Democratic mayoral candidates in as many days.Ms. Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, and Mr. Yang, a former presidential candidate, met with a hug and a handshake at Kim Lau Square before walking together to the nearby rally. Mr. Yang said at a news conference before their meeting that he had long admired Ms. Garcia and that his supporters should include her on their ranked-choice ballots. He said he expected to campaign with Ms. Garcia again before Tuesday’s primary. “New Yorkers know we need to come together,” Mr. Yang said. That two of the leading candidates would appear together days before the vote underscored how ranked-choice voting has complicated the mayor’s race. It also showed how rival candidates can band together in a ranked-choice election to stem the momentum of a front-runner — in this case, Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president.“Andrew Yang No. 1 and Kathryn Garcia No. 2. That’s the way I want your ballots to look,” Mr. Yang said at the rally.But the message has not been equal from both candidates. Ms. Garcia has stopped short of explicitly asking her supporters to rank Mr. Yang — a position she reiterated on Sunday before meeting him in Chinatown.“I want his No. 2’s,” she told a voter before the rally, emphasizing she had not endorsed Mr. Yang. Later, during the rally, Ms. Garcia said voters should fill in all five choices offered on their ballots, and that people could have a “No. 1 and a No. 2.”For his part, Mr. Yang was repeatedly pressed at the news conference about Ms. Garcia’s comments — and whether he had expected an explicit endorsement from her. But he did not answer the question.“I’m thrilled to be campaigning with Kathryn yesterday and today,” he said.For all Ms. Garcia’s ambivalence about Mr. Yang, Ms. Garcia seemed to appreciate the possibility that some of his support would rub off on her.As the two candidates walked together for about two blocks, a crowd of his supporters marched around them. Periodically, they would start chanting Mr. Yang’s name emphatically. After the cheers died down, Ms. Garcia turned to him and said, wryly, “They really love you.”Another leading candidate, Maya Wiley, also attended the rally separately. More