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      In the Manhattan D.A. Race, Arguing for a Fresh Point of View

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      [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Tuesday. Weather: Clearing as the day goes on, but periods of showers or storms. High around 80. Alternate-side parking: In effect until Saturday (Juneteenth). Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesOne of the candidates for Manhattan district attorney, Eliza Orlins, has been a public defender for at least a decade. Another candidate, Tahanie Aboushi (above, center), has been a civil rights lawyer. A third candidate, Dan Quart, is a state assemblyman.None of the three has any experience being a prosecutor. And that, they say, is a good thing.Ms. Orlins, Ms. Aboushi and Mr. Quart have argued that true change in the criminal justice system — making it less punitive, for example, or less racist — can only come from someone who hasn’t been tainted by the establishment.But they are having trouble raising money, and distinguishing themselves from one another and even other candidates with prosecutorial backgrounds.[Over the past 45 years, the two men who have led the Manhattan district attorney’s office have come from the establishment. Some candidates say such experience is a bad thing.]The raceThere are eight Democratic candidates vying to replace Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney, who is not running for re-election. Aside from Ms. Orlins, Ms. Aboushi and Mr. Quart, they are all former prosecutors.Among the leading candidates, Alvin Bragg has been a prosecutor in the state attorney general’s office, and Tali Farhadian Weinstein has been a federal prosecutor and general counsel for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.Mr. Bragg has pledged to reform the Manhattan district attorney’s office, saying he will work on reducing the number of people behind bars, create a unit to investigate police misconduct and overhaul the sex crimes unit. While Ms. Weinstein has staked out more moderate positions than other candidates, she has championed changes including forming a specialized unit to address gender-based violence.The outsider candidatesMs. Orlins and Ms. Aboushi have both said they will cut the size of the district attorney’s office in half and decline to prosecute many low-level crimes.Ms. Orlins has also spoken in favor of decriminalizing the buying and selling of sex. (Mr. Vance stopped prosecuting prostitution this spring.)Mr. Quart has taken a more moderate position and recently emphasized his commitment to public safety.From The TimesIs Bill de Blasio Secretly Backing Eric Adams for Mayor?Adams Attacks Garcia as Poll Shows They Lead Mayoral FieldYou Can’t Find a Cab. Uber Prices Are Soaring. Here’s Why.A Brooklyn Landmark Holds Its Head High Again‘C Is for Code Switching’ and Other LessonsWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingA dead black bear with a large open wound was found in a parking lot on Staten Island, which has no known population of wild bears. [ABC 7]People who had been moved from homeless shelters into hotels during the pandemic are protesting a return to the status quo. [Gothamist]Eight years after Maya Wiley was tapped by Mayor Bill de Blasio to bring broadband to low-income neighborhoods, the program is still struggling. [The City]And finally: A trove of art in a humble apartmentThe Times’s Sandra E. Garcia reports:Observers of the art market have referred to the rising demand for work by contemporary African American artists in recent years as, among other things, a “furor” or “surging,” and the work itself as “a hot commodity.” Ten years ago, it was relatively rare to see a Black artist’s work set a record at auction.Now, such sales are routine, boosted by numerous high-profile lots, perhaps most famously Kerry James Marshall’s 1997 painting “Past Times” (purchased by the rapper and music producer Sean Combs for $21.1 million at a Sotheby’s sale in 2018) and, more recently, Jean Michel-Basquiat’s “In This Case” (1983), which sold at Christie’s in May for $93.1 million — an astronomical price, but still only the second-highest ever paid for a Basquiat.Given the hype surrounding such figures, it’s surprising that one of the more interesting collections of contemporary African American art is housed inside a fairly humble Manhattan two-bedroom apartment on Madison Avenue.It belongs to Alvin Hall, 68, a broadcaster, financial educator and author who, through good timing, taste and a bit of luck began collecting in the 1980s and has been able to buy masterpieces by artists whose work is now worth much more. At a time when art — and Black art in particular — has been inflated and commodified to the point of a quasi bank transaction, Hall is a model of best practices for non-billionaires hoping to amass a world-class collection. His apartment also illustrates some of the realities of how to live with art when you only have a minimal amount of space: He owns 377 works, 342 of which are in storage.It’s Tuesday — stop and look.Metropolitan Diary: Hardware Dear Diary:Walking up University Place toward Union Square, I saw a man coming out of a hardware store.As I walked by, a gray-haired woman holding a dog approached the man and asked whether he worked there.He tapped a cigarette out of a pack and nodded.“If I brought in a machete,” she said, “Could you sharpen it?”— Cindy AugustineNew 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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      NYC Mayoral Race: Poll Shows Adams in First, Garcia Second

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      With early voting underway, the candidates are making their final cases to voters, and they are attacking their closest rivals.The front-runner in the race for mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, took aim at his rival Kathryn Garcia on Monday as the campaign entered its final week and a new poll showed that the two candidates were the leading contenders.Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, clearly sees Ms. Garcia as a threat: He held a news conference with sanitation workers on Monday to draw attention to allegations that women and minority workers at the city agency received unequal pay. Ms. Garcia ran the Sanitation Department until last year, when she resigned to run for mayor.Ms. Garcia, for her part, declared the mayoral contest a two-person race and defended her record.“I guess the mudslinging has started,” she said at a senior center in Manhattan. “So I guess he knows that we’re in a two-person race.”She said she had left the Department of Sanitation more equitable than she had found it.“I increased the number of chiefs and leaders in the department who are people of color by 50 percent,” she said.Mr. Adams leads with 24 percent support, according to the latest poll.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesEarly voting began in New York City over the weekend ahead of the primary election on June 22.In the poll, conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, Mr. Adams had 24 percent support, followed by Ms. Garcia with 17 percent and Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, with 15 percent. Andrew Yang, a 2020 presidential candidate who had once been considered the front-runner, fell to fourth place with 13 percent.Under the city’s new ranked-choice voting system, Mr. Adams would win with 56 percent after 12 rounds, while Ms. Garcia was second with 44 percent. The poll was conducted between June 3 and June 9 and had a margin of error of 3.8 percent.At Mr. Adams’s news conference, held near a sanitation enforcement facility on Flushing Avenue in Queens, he criticized Ms. Garcia’s management of the city’s sanitation system and stood with employees from the department who criticized her for pay equity issues.“I’m not throwing dirt on anyone,” Mr. Adams said. “We are running to be the chief executive of this city, and the question must be asked of those of us who have previous experience in government, previous experience in other professions, are you going to run the city the way you have actually carried out your actions in your other profession?”Mr. Adams also criticized Ms. Garcia’s leadership of the New York City Housing Authority, the city’s public housing agency.“If you’re a New Yorker that states you are pleased with how NYCHA has been run over the years, then she’s the type of manager you want,” he said. “If you believe you are pleased with the cleanliness of our city, then she’s the type of manager that you want.”Philip Seelig, an attorney for the Sanitation Department enforcement agents, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in February and plans to file a class-action lawsuit. The agents, who are mostly women and nonwhite, receive less pay and lower pension benefits than the mostly white and male sanitation police, Mr. Seelig said.“She can’t turn a blind eye to what happened in her agency when she was running it, and she can’t expect to be a better mayor than she was a lousy commissioner,” he said.Earlier Monday, Ms. Garcia visited a senior center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Asked how she would frame the choice for voters between herself and Mr. Adams, Ms. Garcia cast herself as a seasoned public servant rather than a politician and implied that Mr. Adams owed payback for political favors.“This is about experience: When you look at the borough president, he runs a hundred-person shop,” she said. “I run a 10,000-person shop and deliver services every day to New Yorkers.”“He’s been making deals and getting favors,” she added. “You know, I’ve just been serving the city and showing up.”Later in the day, Ms. Garcia, who is vying to become New York City’s first female mayor, commented on the poll as she greeted shop owners on Avenue P in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.“This confirms it,” she said. “We’re in it to win it, and it’s time for a woman.”Ms. Wiley, who has gained momentum after endorsements from progressive groups and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, voted on Monday at Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn, with her longtime partner, Harlan Mandel..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;}“This is an extremely emotional moment for me,” Ms. Wiley told reporters afterward, standing in front of a group of campaign supporters who had marched behind her to the polling place.“I’ve never run for public office before,” she added, “and to go in and walk into the high school where my partner’s father went to school and to see my name on the ballot is an experience that is very hard to describe. And it was very moving.”Mr. Yang held an event in front of City Hall on Monday to announce he had been endorsed by the Captains Endowment Association, the union that represents police captains. Mr. Adams is a former police captain, and Mr. Yang said it was significant that those who had worked with Mr. Adams for years chose Mr. Yang instead.“This to me should tell New Yorkers all that they need to know about Eric Adams and his leadership,” Mr. Yang said.Mr. Yang said it was important for the mayor to have a relationship with the police, in contrast to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has struggled to get along with officers.“This city needs the police,” Mr. Yang said, adding that he would also rebuild trust between the police and communities of color.At the Adams news conference, Ydanis Rodriguez, a city councilman and supporter, emphasized that Mr. Adams would be the city’s second Black mayor and said Mr. Adams would ensure that streets in the “poorest neighborhood are as clean as Park Avenue and 75th Street.”Mr. Rodriguez also said several times — in English and Spanish — that Ms. Garcia was not Latina, in spite of her last name.“Kathryn Garcia no es una Latina,” Mr. Rodriguez said.Ms. Garcia is white and does not claim to be Latina, though her ex-husband is of Puerto Rican descent and she has referenced the fact that her children are half Puerto Rican.After the news conference ended, Mr. Adams returned to clarify to a reporter that he did not say that Ms. Garcia was not Latina.“I want to be clear that it is not my quote that Kathryn is not Latino,” Mr. Adams said.Katie Glueck, Michael Gold and Anne Barnard contributed reporting. 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      Is Bill de Blasio Secretly Backing Eric Adams for Mayor?

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      The mayor is not making a public endorsement in the primary race, but he is believed to favor Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president.It was one of the more memorable moments in the New York City mayor’s race: Eight Democratic candidates were asked at a debate earlier this month if they would accept an endorsement from Mayor Bill de Blasio.Only one, Andrew Yang, raised his hand.When the candidates each gave the mayor a letter grade, their consensus was that Mr. de Blasio had failed on a variety of subjects, including solving the city’s homelessness crisis and his handling of protests against police brutality last year.After eight tumultuous years in office, Mr. de Blasio is indeed loathed in many corners of the city. But some of his policies like universal prekindergarten are popular, and he has maintained support among Black voters — a critical constituency that helped him capture the mayoralty in 2013.With a week before the June 22 primary, Mr. de Blasio has not made an endorsement and has no apparent plans to do so.But several people close to the mayor say that he favors Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, and has worked behind the scenes to persuade others to endorse him.In February, Mr. de Blasio held a meeting at Gracie Mansion with leaders of three unions to discuss the mayor’s race and told them that he preferred Mr. Adams, according to two people who were familiar with the conversations.All the unions at the meeting — the Hotel Trades Council, District Council 37 and 32BJ SEIU — endorsed Mr. Adams a short time later in March.An official from one of those unions who asked for anonymity to protect his relationship with the mayor said that Mr. de Blasio had not only later lobbied his union to support Mr. Adams, but that he had witnessed the mayor try to persuade others to back him. The Gracie Mansion gathering was reported by Politico New York.“We’ve had many conversations. He is supporting Eric, and he’s pushing for Eric,” the union official said.The mayor and Mr. Adams have been allies over their long political careers, rose in the same Brooklyn political circles and share many of the same supporters. People close to the mayor said that Mr. de Blasio also believes that Mr. Adams shares his passion for reducing poverty and is best positioned to protect his progressive legacy.When Mr. Adams was criticized for his support of the Police Department’s limited use of the stop-and-frisk tactic, and questioned whether he was being truthful about where he lived, Mr. de Blasio defended him.“Here’s a guy who, you know, born and raised in New York City,” the mayor said last week. “We know his personal story. He overcame adversity, became a police officer, served for 20-plus years, became an elected official, has served Brooklyn for a long time. I just don’t see an issue here. Clearly a New Yorker, clearly a Brooklynite.”The mayor also asserted last month that Mr. Adams had been “a strong voice for police reform and against police brutality for decades.”Bill Neidhardt, the mayor’s press secretary, insisted that Mr. de Blasio has not made a final choice for mayor.“The mayor has spoken favorably about multiple candidates to unions and political leaders across the city,” Mr. Neidhardt said on Monday. “The mayor views this as an incredibly fluid race, and has not decided who he will rank first on his ballot, let alone whether he will endorse in the race.”Mr. de Blasio has been sparing in his praise of Maya Wiley, his former counsel, and Kathryn Garcia, his former sanitation commissioner.Ms. Wiley, in particular, would seem more philosophically aligned with Mr. de Blasio than Mr. Adams or Ms. Garcia, who are more moderate in many of their stances. But Ms. Wiley and Ms. Garcia have tried to distance themselves from Mr. de Blasio, criticizing his tenure at almost every opportunity.“He gets an F when it comes to what happened this past summer with police accountability,” Ms. Wiley, who also led the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which reviews police misconduct, said of the mayor at a recent debate.Maya Wiley has served Mr. de Blasio as his legal counsel and as the head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board.Nicole Bengiveno/The New York TimesThose close to the mayor said he could live with Ms. Wiley or Ms. Garcia as mayor, even though he has been annoyed by a few of the attacks, including criticism from Ms. Garcia over the ThriveNYC program, the mental health initiative that Mr. de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, has overseen.Stacy R. Lynch, a City Council candidate in West Harlem and the mayor’s former deputy director of intergovernmental affairs, said she suspected that Mr. de Blasio was hurt by criticism from the candidates.“He loves being mayor, but he may love politics more than being mayor,” Ms. Lynch said. “When you are the kid on the bench that nobody wants to select to be on their team, that has to be painful.”.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;}To be sure, Mr. de Blasio is accustomed to criticism. He watched the second Democratic debate — where the candidates rejected his endorsement — at Gracie Mansion with Ms. McCray, over a meal of chicken parmigiana and ziti with red wine. He sent observations to friends, comparing the event to a student government debate, according to an aide.Mr. de Blasio recently told an aide that other incumbents were unpopular after years in office, including Ed Koch, who ran for a fourth term in 1989 and lost in the Democratic primary to David N. Dinkins; Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose approval rating sagged before the Sept. 11 attacks; and Michael R. Bloomberg, whose record Mr. de Blasio ran against in 2013.Given his unpopularity, Mr. de Blasio might understandably be somewhat reluctant to issue a hearty endorsement, for fear it could backfire.Even Mr. Adams would not necessarily rank Mr. de Blasio very highly. When he was asked about the best mayor in his lifetime, he named Mr. Dinkins and Mr. Bloomberg. Mr. Adams said in an interview that he liked Mr. Bloomberg’s practical approach of using technology in policing, but criticized his abuse of stop and frisk.He insisted that he was indifferent to whether he had the mayor’s support.“I have not sought his endorsement,” Mr. Adams said at a campaign stop last week, distancing himself from the mayor when asked about their relationship. “I speak with him about issues that impact the city: public safety, education, housing.”Still, some people argue that Mr. Adams should be viewed as a natural successor to Mr. de Blasio.Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a state assemblywoman and the chairwoman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, was one of two elected officials in the city to endorse Mr. de Blasio when he ran for president in 2019. She endorsed Mr. Adams for mayor and sees many similarities between the two men.“He’s the natural successor,” she said of Mr. Adams. “Both of them fought for Black people. Both of them fought for Latino people. They are both fighting for people who are suffering in New York.”Of the leading contenders in the race, the mayor is perhaps most opposed to Mr. Yang, even though he was the only candidate who said he would welcome Mr. de Blasio’s endorsement. The union official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the mayor was “clearly and strictly against Yang.”Mr. de Blasio has emphasized that the next mayor should have experience in government.The day after the recent debate, Mr. Yang, a 2020 presidential candidate, tried to criticize the mayor outside of the Y.M.C.A. in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where Mr. de Blasio has held his late-morning workouts to great ridicule. But Mr. Yang, a centrist whose campaign is led by veterans of the Bloomberg administration, was furiously heckled and had to abandon the stunt.Kathryn Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner under Mr. de Blasio, also filled a variety of roles in the administration.Todd Heisler/The New York Times“That’s just a politician being a politician,” Mr. de Blasio said when asked about Mr. Yang’s failed attempt at trolling him. “I’d much rather people talk about what they’re going to do for New Yorkers and show they actually have some knowledge of this city and how it works.”Mr. Yang’s campaign has argued that Mr. de Blasio is working behind the scenes to help Mr. Adams, who is considered the race’s front-runner. The mayor has denied the accusation.Mr. de Blasio has discussed the race with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who considered whether to back one of three leading Black candidates — Mr. Adams, Ms. Wiley or Raymond J. McGuire, a Wall Street executive — and ultimately decided not to make an endorsement and to focus instead on voter turnout. Mr. Sharpton said he and Mr. de Blasio had talked about the importance of the city electing its second Black mayor.“We’ve discussed that and we both share that view, particularly since he worked for David Dinkins,” Mr. Sharpton said in an interview.Sean Piccoli contributed reporting. More

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      Garcia Rakes in Donations: 5 Takeaways From the N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race

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      Eric Adams takes heat for a comment on schools, while Curtis Sliwa gets Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement for the Republican nomination.Early voting in the mayoral primary began Saturday, but given how few New Yorkers have so far shown up at their polling sites, it looks like the candidates still have time to get their messages out before 9 p.m. on June 22.For all of those invested in a healthy turnout, the early numbers do not bode particularly well. Just 16,867 voters showed up on Saturday, according to the Board of Election’s unofficial tally.Every New Yorker who has yet to cast a vote is still theoretically persuadable. And the candidates are sparing no expense in trying to reach them.Garcia out-raises field, and Adams outspends itIn the final weeks of the mayor’s race, donations have poured in to the campaign of Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner who has risen from long shot to viable leading candidate.In the three weeks ending June 7, Ms. Garcia raised $703,000, more than in the prior two months combined. She narrowly edged out Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, who raised $618,000, and far surpassed the former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s haul of $437,000. Her donors included the cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld and the real estate developer Hal Fetner, who worked with Ms. Garcia when she was the interim chair of the New York City Housing Authority.“It means that we will have the resources we need in this final push to the end to make sure we’re getting our message out,” said Ms. Garcia, when reached by phone on Sunday.She said much of the money would go toward ads on TV, a medium now saturated with political messaging.Since January, politicians and their affiliated super PACs have spent more than $49 million on TV, radio and digital advertising, according to Ad Impact, an advertising analytics firm.After the super PAC supporting the former federal housing secretary Shaun Donovan, which is largely funded by his father, the highest spenders on advertising have been the campaigns of Mr. Adams and Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller. In the filing period that concluded last week, the biggest spender for all things, advertising included, was the Adams campaign, which spent $5.9 million over three weeks. Next was the Yang campaign, which spent $3.4 million.Evan Thies, a spokesman the Adams campaign, said that Mr. Adams had already raised as much as he could under city campaign finance limits, and there was no reason to hold back.“He no longer needs to keep raising money,” Mr. Thies said.Giuliani backs SliwaFormer Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani waded into the Republican mayoral primary last week, endorsing Curtis Sliwa in a race that has divided the party’s leaders and voters.In a robocall, the former mayor called Mr. Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, my “great friend” going back to the 1990s.“When I ran for mayor,” Mr. Giuliani said, “Curtis and the Guardian Angels were there to help me win, and then they were there to help me reduce crime and make our city livable again.”Curtis Sliwa was endorsed by Rudolph W. Giuliani.Andrew Seng for The New York TimesMr. Sliwa is running in a bitterly fought primary against Fernando Mateo, an entrepreneur who was recently endorsed by Michael T. Flynn, a former national security adviser to President Donald J. Trump.The race appears to be close. Mr. Sliwa had 33 percent support and Mr. Mateo had 27 percent, while 40 percent were undecided, according to a recent poll by Pix 11 and Emerson College.Party leaders are split as well. Republican leaders in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx endorsed Mr. Mateo. The Staten Island and Brooklyn parties backed Mr. Sliwa.There are 13 candidates on the Democratic ballot, but Republican voters only have two choices, and Mr. Sliwa jokingly offered a simple guide: He told voters to mark the dot next to the name Sliwa, not “Mr. Irrelevant.”Old Adams video causes kerfuffleIn February, Mr. Adams said something that would come back to haunt him four months later.During an interview with the Citizens Budget Commission, Mr. Adams was talking about some of his spending proposals, like year-around school, and how he might find efficiencies in government to help pay for them, when he turned to the potential of remote learning.“If you do a full-year school year by using the new technology of remote learning, you don’t need children to be in a school building with a number of teachers,” he said, echoing comments he also made to Bloomberg. “It’s just the opposite. You could have one great teacher that’s in one of our specialized high schools to teach three to four hundred students who are struggling in math, with the skillful way that they’re able to teach.”Eric Adams drew criticism for comments he made four months ago.Jordan Gale for The New York TimesMr. Adams appeared to be just spitballing. But on Friday, an ardent Yang supporter who goes by @ZachandMattShow on Twitter posted a cut of the video and a paraphrasing of Mr. Adam’s comments that did not mention elite high schools or particularly skillful teachers.The tweet went viral, sparking condemnation from the Yang campaign, as well as from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is backing Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, and suggested that Mr. Adams wanted to defund schools.Ms. Wiley chimed in, too.“All I can say is, Eric Adams, what did we not understand before Covid about our digital divide?” asked Ms. Wiley, during a campaign appearance. “We’ve been talking about it for decades.”Asked for comment, Mr. Thies, the Adams spokesman, said the Brooklyn borough president’s quotes were taken out of context and improperly transcribed on Twitter.“All of this is a massive distraction from the truth, which is that Eric has never supported requiring students to attend 100-plus person classes online, and would never require that as mayor,” Mr. Thies said. “Nor would he require teachers to teach large classes.”.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;}Rather, he added, “He has said that high school students could have the option to learn in larger online seminars taught by the city’s best teachers if they so choose, and, if those teachers are willing to teach those courses.”Second to someRepresentatives Hakeem Jeffries, Gregory W. Meeks and Ritchie Torres all chose people other than Mr. Adams as their top pick for mayor, but he gladly accepted second-choice rankings last week from the three important New York congressmen.For the first time, New York City voters can rank up to five choices for mayor in the June 22 primary. Mr. Torres picked Mr. Yang as his first choice, while Mr. Jeffries went with Ms. Wiley. Mr. Meeks backed Raymond J. McGuire, a former Citi executive.“In a ranked-choice election, twos can be as valuable as ones,” Mr. Thies said.Other members of Congress who have ranked candidates for mayor include Adriano Espaillat, who chose Mr. Adams as his first choice and Ms. Wiley as his second; Grace Meng, who ranked Mr. Yang first and Ms. Garcia second; and Nydia M. Velázquez; who selected Ms. Wiley as her first choice and Ms. Garcia as her second.Last year, a group of Black elected officials filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to stop ranked-choice voting from being implemented in this election, citing what they called a lack of voter education and a fear that Black voters would be disenfranchised. Mr. Adams and Mr. McGuire both voiced support for the suit.On Twitter, Mr. Torres said he wanted to send a “united message” about the importance of ranking more than one candidate, and Mr. Jeffries encouraged voters of color to rank more than one candidate.“If voters of color don’t rank multiple candidates then voters of color are effectively staying home,” Mr. Jeffries wrote.One member of Congress who has yet to announce a second choice for mayor is Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.“T.B.A.” — to be announced — said Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.A missing topic: ClimateAt least five mayoral candidates — Ms. Garcia, Mr. Stringer, Ms. Wiley, Mr. Donovan and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit director — have pitched plans to tackle the rising water levels, extreme temperatures and intensifying storms that the climate crisis is bringing to New York.It is an existential problem for the city, and an animating issue for many voters, especially younger ones. Yet in three debates, the candidates have not been asked a single question that would force them to compare and defend their positions on climate.Voters have taken to social media to complain.On Friday, Mr. Stringer — the first to unveil a comprehensive climate plan, one that echoes many demands of key climate groups — demanded a debate dedicated to the issue.Mr. Stringer is seeking to refocus the campaign on one of his strengths after losing several key progressive endorsements over allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies. Ms. Wiley has also said the issue needs more attention.Both candidates support versions of the Green New Deal concept, which calls for New Deal-level public spending to address the climate crisis, create jobs and redress economic and racial inequalities. More

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      Candidates’ Blueprints for Easing the Housing Crisis

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      [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Monday. Weather: Watch out for showers and thunderstorms. High around 70. Alternate-side parking: In effect until Saturday (Juneteenth). Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWhen Bill de Blasio ran for mayor in 2013, he made addressing New York’s affordable-housing shortage a central part of his campaign.More than seven years later, despite significant investments under Mr. de Blasio, the Democratic candidates vying to succeed him confront a problem that may have worsened during the pandemic.“The housing crisis facing the next mayor is really one of unprecedented proportions,” said Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, a policy and advocacy nonprofit.She said the next mayor will be the “driver of housing policy in New York City, and whatever they are doing in this first housing plan is really going to set the course for the next decade at least.”[The plans and proposals from the Democratic candidates for mayor have a lot of overlap, but they differ in some of the solutions that they emphasize the most.]The contextEven before the pandemic, about half of the city’s households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent, according to an analysis by New York University’s Furman Center.The pandemic has made the situation even more dire. Renters’ arrears have risen to hundreds of millions of dollars, putting them at risk of losing their homes once a moratorium on evictions ends.Housing advocates and experts have pushed for the candidates to adopt robust plans to address the crisis.The plansThe candidates’ plans overlap in many ways: nearly every candidate expressed support for legalizing basement apartments, which the city has already begun to explore, and building housing on the remaining parcels of vacant city-owned land.But they also differ in some of the solutions they emphasize.Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, and Raymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executive, have made the creation of tens of thousands of new homes for the poorest New Yorkers a top objective. Maya Wiley, a civil rights lawyer and former counsel to Mr. de Blasio, and Shaun Donovan, who was housing secretary under President Barack Obama and also has served as a city housing commissioner, say they would steer hundreds of millions of dollars to struggling renters.Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, is calling for a hefty increase in the number of affordable units the city requires in big new residential buildings. Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, wants wealthy neighborhoods to make way for more affordable units. Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, have keyed in on converting hotels to housing.More on the mayor’s race:Early Voting Begins in Wide-Open Race for New York MayorGarcia Rakes in Donations: 5 Takeaways From the N.Y.C. Mayor’s RaceFrom The TimesWith Cuomo Weakened, N.Y. Lawmakers End Session With Flex of PowerWestminster Dog Show 2021: Wasabi the Pekingese Wins Best in ShowWhy The New Yorker’s Stars Didn’t Join Its UnionThey Fought to Make ‘In the Heights’ Both Dreamlike and AuthenticWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingAt least two people were killed and 19 others wounded in shootings across New York City this weekend, police said. [N.Y. Post]Fire marshals arrested four people and seized more than $8,000 worth of illegal fireworks, officials said. [ABC 7]Less than 1 percent of the independent venues, like clubs and theaters, that applied for a special federal pandemic aid program have received it. [Gothamist].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: A march for Black trans youthThe Times’s Michael Gold writes:When thousands gathered in Brooklyn last summer to take part in a march for Black trans lives, Shéár Avory was at home, helping take care of her family in the middle of the pandemic. But Mx. Avory, who is transgender and nonbinary, was heartened by what she saw online: images and videos of thousands of people in a sea of white, rallying for their community.“I remember being so connected to community, even virtually,” Mx. Avory, 22, said. “And just feeling this overwhelming sense of ‘Well, we did that.’”On Sunday, a crowd gathered on the grounds of the Brooklyn Museum for the Brooklyn Liberation March. This time, Mx. Avory was speaking in front of them, at a rally meant specifically to center the concerns of Black trans and gender-nonconforming youth.The thousands who convened in white garb and marched en masse were drawn together to show support for transgender youth at a particularly tumultuous moment for them. In state legislatures across the United States, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to limit the participation of transgender children in sports and hinder their access to gender-affirming or transition-related medical care.At the same time, the pandemic has exacerbated inequities that put people of color and trans people at severe economic disadvantages. And persistent violence against transgender people has not abated. At least 28 transgender or gender-nonconforming people have been fatally shot or killed this year.Organizers said they wanted to give this year’s spotlight to younger voices, those who would be the next generation of activists and leaders, and whose formative experiences were different from theirs. “We are ready for this new generation of youth who are coming up and defining themselves by things that are much more complex and much more deep,” said Ianne Fields Stewart, an activist and performer.It’s Monday — speak up.Metropolitan Diary: Small bouquet Dear Diary:I had a social work internship in Queens near the City Clerk’s office. Every morning, I would pass photographers and merchants loaded with flowers and balloons, waiting for a newly wed couple to come out after getting married there.One day, I was walking to the subway after work and I found myself alongside a middle-age man who was holding a small bouquet of roses. He had on a worn blue hoodie and jeans. I can only describe the expression on his face as a combination of wonder, disbelief and joy.He glanced at me. I smiled.“I bought her flowers,” he said, half to me and half to himself. “I’m about to meet up with her and I’ve never bought her flowers before, but today I bought her flowers!” He shook his head in amazement.“I’m sure she’ll love them,” I said.We took one more step together before he turned and went into a McDonald’s.— Audrey ChaoNew 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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      New York Has a Housing Crisis. How Would the Mayoral Candidates Fix It?

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      New York City’s affordability problems were laid bare by the pandemic. Mayoral candidates offer solutions, but steep political and logistical obstacles remain.New York City’s leaders have been vexed for decades by a problem that has helped turn the city into a worldwide symbol of inequality: As years of prosperity gave rise to soaring luxury apartment towers, public housing crumbled and affordable neighborhoods vanished.The current mayor, Bill de Blasio, had made addressing the city’s housing crisis an imperative during his tenure. But now, the Democratic candidates vying to succeed him next year are confronting a crisis that may be even more severe as a result of the pandemic.All the leading candidates agree that housing is a top issue with huge implications for New York’s future, and each has offered a sweeping plan to tackle the problem. While their proposals overlap in many ways — every contender wants to spend more on public housing, for example — the candidates differ in the solutions and strategies they emphasize most.Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, and Raymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executive, have made the creation of tens of thousands of new homes for the poorest New Yorkers a top objective. Maya Wiley, a civil rights lawyer and former counsel to Mr. de Blasio, and Shaun Donovan, a former housing secretary under President Barack Obama and a onetime city housing commissioner, say they would steer hundreds of millions of dollars to struggling renters to help keep them in their homes.Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, is taking aim at private developers by calling for a hefty increase in the number of affordable units the city requires in big new residential buildings. Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, wants wealthy neighborhoods to make way for more affordable units. Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, have keyed in on converting hotels to housing.Many of the plans face steep political and financial hurdles. But experts and housing advocates say that a failure by the next mayor to address the crisis in a meaningful way could jeopardize New York’s cultural fabric and stunt its economic comeback by making the city even more unaffordable for low-wage workers and residents of color.“If we want to see New York City actually recover, start with housing,” said Annetta Seecharran, the executive director of the Chhaya Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit group based in Jackson Heights, Queens, that advocates the creation of affordable housing. “If we don’t do housing, we’ll be spinning our wheels for decades.”By several measures, the situation is dire. Even before the pandemic, about half of the city’s households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent, according to an analysis by New York University’s Furman Center. The New York City Housing Authority — the largest public housing entity in the United States, with more than 400,000 tenants — estimates that it needs $40 billion to fix leaky roofs, dilapidated heating systems and other problems.The pandemic has added a troubling layer of uncertainty. Federal aid is on the way, and a moratorium on evictions is in place. But renters’ arrears have risen to hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite the moratorium, landlords have been allowed to file new cases that could lead to the eviction of tens of thousands of residents — particularly in Black and Latino neighborhoods — once the moratorium ends. A spike in homelessness could follow.The winner of the Democratic primary is almost certain to become the city’s next mayor. And while the leading candidates have indicated with their plans that they would build on Mr. de Blasio’s strategies, they have also criticized the mayor, implicitly and explicitly, for not providing enough financial support to the poorest New Yorkers.In a report released this year, the Community Service Society, an anti-poverty group, said Mr. de Blasio’s administration had significantly expanded investment in affordable housing. But most of the efforts, the group found, were directed toward those who earned at least $53,700 for a family of three, equivalent to half of the area’s median income — when the need was greatest among those who earned less.Ms. Garcia said that she would borrow and use state incentives and federal money to help build or preserve 50,000 rent-stabilized housing units that would be affordable to people making less than half the area’s median income, as well as 10,000 housing units that incorporated social services for homeless people. She did not offer a price for her plan, but the money would be used to build new apartments, buy existing buildings, or offer subsidies and incentives to nonprofit or private developers.Mr. McGuire said he would borrow $2.5 billion a year over eight years, which would help finance the construction of more than 350,000 housing units. Most of that money would be earmarked for subsidies and incentives for developers to include rent-stabilized units in mixed-income developments that are affordable to those making less than half the median income. He said he would spend up to $500 million to create about 3,000 affordable units for older people with little income.“It is a departure from what we have built for the past few years,” he said.Mr. Yang and Mr. Donovan said they would spend billions of dollars a year to build or preserve 30,000 units meant for families in a range of incomes.Ms. Wiley is focused on distributing more than $1.5 billion in subsidies to New Yorkers who make less than half the median income to ensure they do not pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent. Initially, she said, federal coronavirus aid would cover the subsidies.She said the program would help keep people from becoming homeless, freeing up money that would have gone to shelters to finance the subsidies instead.Mr. Donovan has proposed something similar, a rental-assistance program that he said could be paid for partly with $330 million that would otherwise be spent on shelters.“Although building allows you to provide affordable housing, solving the affordability crisis has more to do with income and rent subsidy than development,” he said.For many candidates, investing in the housing authority, or NYCHA, is crucial to helping the poorest New Yorkers. Ms. Wiley and Mr. Donovan said they would borrow and spend $2 billion a year in city money to improve public housing; Mr. McGuire and Mr. Stringer said they would borrow and spend up to $1.5 billion..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;}Mr. Adams said he planned to raise $8 billion for NYCHA by selling the so-called air rights for some of its properties to private developers, something the authority has already begun to explore.Ms. Garcia said she would push state officials for approval of a complex authority plan that could raise $18 billion to $25 billion, in part by letting a new public benefit corporation manage some buildings. Mr. Yang said he also supported the creation of the new corporation, which could potentially tap into federal funding.Some residents and activists have argued against the plan, asserting that it could open public housing to the influence of private investors at the expense of tenants.Ms. Morales said she would reject the plan, which she characterized as the “privatization of NYCHA,” and would seek state and federal aid instead.Several Democratic candidates said the rules governing development in the city should be overhauled.Mr. Stringer has proposed that every new development with more than 10 units permanently set aside 25 percent of those units for low-income tenants. The proposal would expand the requirements placed on private developers substantially. But the real estate lobby would most likely fight it aggressively, arguing that without significant subsidies from the government, such buildings could reduce profits and thus any incentive to build.“The big real estate developers hate this plan,” Mr. Stringer said. “For me, that’s a badge of honor.”Ms. Garcia, Mr. Yang, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Donovan have said they would move to rezone wealthier neighborhoods and those with more public transit options to accommodate additional affordable housing units. Such a strategy could touch off the kind of fierce local opposition that has torpedoed similar initiatives in the past. Mr. Adams said he would push for wide swaths of Midtown Manhattan, from 42nd Street to 14th Street and from Ninth Avenue to Park Avenue, to be rezoned for more affordable housing.“It is the job of the next mayor to break through the bureaucracy and cynicism to deliver the affordable housing needed to sustain our city,” Mr. Adams said.A core piece of Mr. Yang’s plan involves converting closed hotels and office buildings left unused because of the pandemic into 25,000 units of affordable housing by 2025, with building owners getting grants whose size is tied to how affordable the rents are.“The system is broken, and we need a new way of delivering affordable housing to New Yorkers,” he said.Mr. Adams and Ms. Wiley have also proposed converting hotels and unused offices, and Ms. Morales said she would specifically seek to convert the hotels into housing for 100,000 homeless youth and their families. She did not say how she would pay for it. More

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      Early Voting Begins in Wide-Open Race for New York Mayor

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      Voters seem most concerned about quality of life issues and public safety. They are also trying to figure out ranked-choice voting.On the first day of early voting in New York City, Michael and Eunice Collins voted together in Harlem. Both are worried about the city, but they are divided over who is the best person to fix it.Mr. Collins, a transit worker, voted for Eric Adams for mayor. “I think he has a greater sensitivity to some of these hot issues — racial injustice and that kind of thing,” he said.His wife, Ms. Collins, a nurse, wanted a change: “Andrew Yang will bring a fresh perspective to the city.” The couple, both 66, ranked Raymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executive, second on their ballots.This is the first time that New Yorkers can vote early in a mayoral election. Voters were sparse on Saturday and Sunday, and lines at polling stations were much shorter than during the presidential election last year. Early voting will last from June 12 to June 20. The primary election is on June 22.But it is also the first time the city will be using ranked-choice voting — a factor that has added a significant measure of unpredictability into the mayor’s race.Interviews with dozens of voters across the city over the weekend, from the Grand Concourse in the Bronx to Flushing in Queens, revealed that the Democratic primary for mayor was still very much up for grabs, and that most voters were taking advantage of being able to rank up to five candidates out of the field of 13.Michael and Eunice Collins after voting in Harlem on Saturday.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesMany voters named quality of life concerns and public safety as their top issues. Kevin Mancuso, a creative director for a hair care company, said he voted for Mr. Yang, the 2020 presidential candidate, calling him “more of a visionary” than the other candidates and “a newer version” of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.He also said that he was worried about crime, garbage on the streets and an increase of people with mental health problems.“I feel like I’m living in some third world country,” Mr. Mancuso, 65, said after voting in Harlem. “I grew up here — my parents were born here, I was born here. I’ve never seen it so bad.”In southeast Queens, Ayo Olanipekun, 53, a pilot, ranked Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, first, then Mr. McGuire and Maya Wiley.“In my case, crime is the sole big issue,” he said. “So I focused on the candidate that I felt might be best suited to address the issue of crime. And then obviously the situation with bringing jobs back to the city — that was another issue.”New York City has 104 early voting sites, up from 88 for the 2020 presidential election, when there were very long lines. In addition to the Democrats on the ballot for mayor, there are two Republicans, and a host of other important races, from City Council elections to competitive races for city comptroller and Manhattan district attorney.Only about 16,800 people voted on Saturday, compared with 93,800 on the first day of early voting last October during the presidential election, according to the city’s Board of Elections.Political groups are encouraging New Yorkers to vote early to avoid long lines on Election Day. Two mayoral candidates, Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, and Shaun Donovan, the former federal housing secretary, voted on Saturday as did Evelyn Yang, the wife of Mr. Yang.The Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader, held a rally on Saturday with several leading candidates to encourage people to vote early. Mr. Sharpton decided not to make a mayoral endorsement this year, disappointing Mr. Adams who had been pushing hard for his support. Still, on Saturday, Mr. Sharpton defended Mr. Adams regarding questions about his residency, saying that Mr. Adams clearly lived in Brooklyn.Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat in his second term, said he planned to vote on June 22 — after watching the final debate on Wednesday — and was still deciding which candidates to rank.“This has been unlike any election I’ve ever seen,” Mr. de Blasio said on WNYC on Friday. “I think this will be volatile right up to the end. I think people are going to be deciding, you know, many people, day before, day of, or even as they’re walking into the booth.”Bracelets labeled “Voted Early” were handed out at InTech Academy in the Bronx.Desiree Rios for The New York TimesAt Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Trish O’Sullivan, 73, a psychotherapist, voted for Ms. Garcia first and Mr. Adams second. She said that her top issue was homelessness and that she supported Ms. Garcia because of her endorsement from The New York Times’s editorial board and her “solid track record.”“I have faith in Garcia because she knows how to accomplish things,” she said.In Park Slope, Brooklyn, Peter Karp, 63, a software engineer, said he ranked three left-leaning candidates: Ms. Wiley, a former counsel to Mr. de Blasio, first; Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, second; and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, third. He said he cared most about affordable housing, the city’s economic recovery and reopening schools.“I’m very excited about the ranked voting,” he said. “I feel like it’s an ability to really vote for who closest aligns with your views without throwing your vote to the absolute opposite of that.”At the Bronx County Courthouse, Candice Rowser, 40, a college professor of political science and African-American history, said she cared about jobs and the “excessively high cost of living.” She left her apartment in Queens in May because she could no longer afford the rent, which had jumped to $1,400 per month from $1,000 over the years.Ms. Rowser ranked Ms. Wiley first, Mr. Adams second, Ms. Garcia third and Ms. Morales fourth. After years as an independent voter, she decided to register as a Democrat when she heard that Mr. Yang was considering a run for mayor.“When I saw on Twitter that Mr. Yang was filing paperwork to be mayor, I said, ‘hell no,’” Ms. Rowser said. “He has no experience, and he’s clueless.”.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;}Lois M. Williams, a retired teacher in the Bronx, first ranked Mr. Stringer, who was endorsed by the teachers’ union, followed by Mr. Adams and Mr. Yang.“I wasn’t going to leave Eric out of it because I’ve known Eric for years,” she said. “He’s honest and he speaks the truth, whether people like it or not.”In Flushing, Queens, Yu Liu, 69, a retired factory worker from Beijing, said he voted for Mr. Yang. Speaking in Mandarin, Mr. Liu said he was upset by an uptick in anti-Asian bias and people saying things to him like, “You brought the virus.”“It’s important to have a Chinese mayor who can speak for us — so all of us can be treated equally,” he said of Mr. Yang, whose parents are from Taiwan. “Right now, we are not treated equally.”Judy Luong, 47, and her husband, Yuen Wong, 57, also voted for Mr. Yang.“We want a moderate candidate,” Ms. Luong said. “For us, it’s about law and order. Public safety is No. 1.”New Yorkers will use ranked-choice voting for the first time in a mayoral election, choosing five candidates in order of preference, which some observers say might result in increased voting times and longer lines at the polls.Victor J. Blue for The New York TimesBut many voters across the city were skeptical of Mr. Yang, including Carol Berkin, 78, a professor of American history on the Upper West Side. She declined to say who she voted for, but she said that her strategy was to help candidates not named Yang.“I was giving his competition as much support as possible,” she said.In Flatbush, Brooklyn, several voters said crime was their top issue. Vanessa Sanchez, 67, said Mr. Adams was her first choice. Although she understood the ranked-choice voting system, she did not rank any other candidates.“I have followed him through the years, I have seen his work,” she said. “He’s a retired police officer. He’s experienced.”Many voters were disillusioned with Mr. de Blasio. Joe Cangelosi, 44, who considers himself “left of center,” voted in Park Slope for Ms. Garcia first, Mr. Adams second and then Ms. Wiley and Ms. Morales.He said he did not vote for Mr. Yang because the candidate had left the city during the pandemic. Mr. Cangelosi said his family stayed, and he had Covid in March 2020. He had voted for Mr. de Blasio in 2013.“I think he was the best option at the time,” he said. “Am I pleased with the results? No.”Reporting was contributed by More

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      Has New York Hit a Progressive Plateau? The Mayor’s Race Is a Key Test.

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      Concerns about crime are dominating the Democratic primary, and the party’s left wing has just started to coalesce.A year ago, the left wing of New York’s Democratic Party was ascendant. Deeply progressive candidates triumphed in state legislative primaries and won a congressional upset, activists fueled a movement to rein in the power of the police, and Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to cut the Police Department budget.But for most of the Democratic primary season this spring, nearly every available metric has suggested that the political energy has shifted. The question is, by how much.The June 22 primary contests for mayor and other city offices are critical, if imperfect, tests of the mood of Democratic voters on the cusp of a summer that many experts believe will be marked by high rates of gun violence in cities across the United States.The Democratic race for mayor has in some ways reflected national tensions within the party over how far to the left its leaders should tack, after President Biden won the party’s nomination on the strength of moderate Black voters and older Americans, and Republicans secured surprising down-ballot general election victories.Now, a version of that debate is playing out even in overwhelmingly liberal New York City, where the Democratic primary winner will almost certainly become the next mayor. The primary underscores how the battle for the party’s direction extends far beyond concerns over defeating Republicans.Polls have increasingly shown that combating crime is the top priority among New York Democrats, a sentiment that was evident in interviews with voters across the city in recent months, from Harlem to Kew Gardens Hills, Queens. The debate over what role the police should play in maintaining public safety has become the biggest wedge issue in the mayoral campaign.Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president and former police captain who has recently led in the few available public polls, is a relative moderate on questions of policing and charter schools and in his posture toward business and the real estate industry.In other major contests — most notably, the Manhattan district attorney’s race — there are signs that the contenders who are furthest to the left are struggling to capture the same traction that propelled like-minded candidates in recent years.“The political class, I think, thought that the party, that the voters, had moved very, very far to the left,” Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner and another leading mayoral candidate, said in an interview last month. “That they were at a moment where they wanted to do radical, radical change. I just never believed that that was true.”The party’s left wing still holds extraordinary sway and the mayor’s race, which will be decided by ranked-choice voting, is far from the only test of its power. Progressive lawmakers are a force in the State Legislature and have already triumphed by passing a far-reaching budget agreement. The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which has stayed out of the mayor’s race, is focusing instead on City Council primaries.Some activists say that if the trajectory of the mayor’s race has sometimes been worrisome, it has more to do with controversies surrounding individual candidates than with New Yorkers’ attitudes.“It’s a little taxing with all the drama that has been happening,” said Liat Olenick, a leader of the progressive group Indivisible Nation Brooklyn. “Coalescing is happening. It is really late, so we’ll have to see.”Indeed, even with the primary just over a week away, there is time for progressive leaders to consolidate their support. Maya Wiley is increasingly seen as the left-leaning candidate with the best chance of winning, and many progressives are moving urgently to support her, which could reshape the race in the final stretch.In the last several election cycles, New York Democrats have undeniably moved to the left, galvanized in part by outrage over former President Donald J. Trump. But with Mr. Trump out of office, voters have become more focused on recovering from the pandemic than on politics.And while many Americans consider New York synonymous with coastal liberalism, the city’s voters also elected Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, mayor twice, and the moderate Michael R. Bloomberg three times before electing Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is much more progressive.It was always going to be harder for progressive activists to replicate their legislative victories in a vast metropolis that includes some of the most left-wing voters in the country, but also many moderates.On issues including homelessness, education and especially policing, the most progressive prescriptions have not always been popular, even in heavily Democratic neighborhoods.“More police need to be out here,” Linda Acosta, 50, said as she walked into the Bronx Night Market off Fordham Road on a recent Saturday. “Not to harass. To do their job.”Ms. Wiley, Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, have supported cuts to the police budget. They argue that adding more officers to patrol the subway would not meaningfully reduce violence. Ms. Wiley and others have promoted alternatives, including investments in mental health professionals and in schools.Those positions have been central to a broader competition among the candidates seeking to be the left-wing standard-bearer, even as Mr. Stringer and Ms. Morales have struggled with campaign controversies.Last Saturday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Ms. Wiley for mayor, a potentially race-altering move. The same day, Representative Jamaal Bowman, a left-wing Democrat who beat the longtime incumbent Eliot Engel last summer, said he was supporting Ms. Wiley as well.On Wednesday, Jumaane D. Williams, the city’s public advocate, also endorsed Ms. Wiley.“This moment is being dominated by a loud discussion of whether New York will return to the bad old days,” Mr. Williams said. “For so many of us, those ‘bad old days’ run through Bloomberg and Giuliani” and “the abuses of stop-and-frisk and surveillance.”Eric Adams, a relative centrist among the leading candidates, has led the field in recent polling.Dave Sanders for The New York TimesStill, Mr. Adams has led the mayor’s race in recent surveys, often followed by Andrew Yang and Ms. Garcia, two other relatively centrist candidates. Many strategists said Mr. Adams’s rise was tied to public safety concerns, even as he has begun to attract more scrutiny.All of the leading contenders stress that public safety is not at odds with racial justice, another vital priority for New York Democrats. The candidates who are considered more centrist support reining in officers’ misconduct and making changes to the Police Department, and Mr. Adams worked on those issues as a police officer..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;}But they are also openly skeptical of the “defund the police” movement, and have emphasized a need for more police on the subway. Those views have resonated with some voters.“My No. 1 is safety in the subway,” said Jane Arrendell, 52, after an Adams campaign event in Washington Heights. “I hate working at home but I feel safer.”There was much more violent crime in New York in earlier decades than there is today. But the city has been experiencing a spike in gun violence, along with jarring crimes on the subway and in bias attacks against Asians, Asian-Americans and Jews.The candidates’ talk about crime “has almost driven discussion about any other issues to the back burner,” said Lee M. Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, which is polling the race. “I find that surprising given where New York is coming off of Covid.”“For the other candidates,” he added, “that really cedes that discussion to Adams.”An NY1-Ipsos poll released on Monday found that 46 percent of likely Democratic voters viewed crime and public safety as the top priority for the next mayor. A staggering 72 percent said they somewhat or strongly agreed that the Police Department should put more officers on the street.A quarter of likely voters polled for the survey identified themselves as more progressive than the Democratic Party. Nearly an equal share, 22 percent, said they were more centrist or conservative. Just over half called themselves “generally in line with the Democratic Party,” which has shifted significantly to the left as a whole in recent years.Whatever the primary results, party strategists warn against drawing sweeping conclusions from a post-pandemic Democratic municipal contest that is likely to be a low-turnout affair.Still, city elections in recent years have been important barometers of grass-roots energy, including the 2019 race for Queens district attorney, where Tiffany L. Cabán, who ran as a Democratic Socialist, nearly defeated Melinda Katz, a veteran of New York politics.In this year’s race for Manhattan district attorney, at least three contenders have sought to emulate Ms. Cabán. But the three — Tahanie Aboushi, Eliza Orlins and Dan Quart — have struggled to win support. A more moderate candidate, Tali Farhadian Weinstein, has led in fund-raising, including $8.2 million in contributions that she recently made to her own campaign, and the few available polls.Tensions on the left burst into public view when Zephyr Teachout, a candidate for governor in 2014, argued on Twitter that Mr. Quart, Ms. Orlins and Ms. Aboushi had no path to victory.That drew a sharp response from Cynthia Nixon, who challenged Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo from the left in the 2018 primary and supports Ms. Aboushi. (Ms. Teachout supports Alvin Bragg, a former prosecutor who has also won the backing of progressive groups.)“Your point of view is myopic, privileged, and just plain wrong,” Ms. Nixon wrote.In an interview, Ms. Nixon argued that Ms. Aboushi, who was endorsed on Wednesday by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, was the candidate of the left movement and that others should recognize that.“It’s really nice that the movement has all these people in it and we welcome them and we need them,” she said. “But there’s only going to be one Manhattan D.A.” More