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      Ray McGuire Has It All. He Still Wants to Be NYC Mayor

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }N.Y.C. Mayoral RaceWho’s Running?11 Candidates’ N.Y.C. MomentsA Look at the Race5 Takeaways From the DebateAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Upper Crust Has Its Candidate. Don’t Call Him ‘the Black Bloomberg.’Raymond McGuire has lived a grand New York life, conquering Wall Street and kibitzing with Steve Martin. But in his campaign for mayor, he is eager to reach beyond his wealthy supporters.Raymond J. McGuire at his home in Manhattan.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesThe New York City mayoral race is one of the most consequential political contests in a generation, with immense challenges awaiting the winner. This is the first in a series of profiles of the major candidates.Feb. 10, 2021At last, Raymond J. McGuire was among friends.“I see my crew from Citi!” he called out to his Zoom gathering, midway through a virtual fund-raiser for his mayoral campaign, its grid of video feeds looking like a chapter meeting of the 1 percent: grand libraries and fire-warmed living rooms, Steve Martin in a smart white button-down, a Tisch, a Seinfeld, a Knick.“I see my crew from Citi!”Mr. McGuire sounded almost giddy to be in such company. It had been an uneven couple of weeks for his candidacy, driven by an audacious if unproven idea: that the times demand a trailblazing Black businessman with nearly 40 years of experience on Wall Street and none in government, pledging to deploy his prolific contact list in service of his city.While Mr. McGuire, 64, had raised more than $5 million in the three months since announcing his run, propelling him to the race’s upper tier, he also often looked the part of a first-time campaigner.Opponents chafed at his repurposing the tagline of Shirley Chisholm (“unbought and unbossed!”), observing that the former congresswoman declared such independence because she lacked ruling-class connections, not because she had too much money to care. Reporters started asking about Mr. McGuire’s past business ties to the Koch brothers and to the government of Saudi Arabia while at Citigroup. And when pressed in public forums, Mr. McGuire occasionally wobbled, defaulting to the slight pique and projected self-assurance (“Let’s go! I’m good!”) of someone not used to being challenged.Mr. McGuire is trying to create a coalition that includes affluent Manhattanites and lower-income residents of the other boroughs. Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesBut the fund-raiser, at least, was a safe space — for Mr. McGuire, yes, but also for a most devoted constituency: masters of the universe who feel like pariahs in the New York City of Mayor Bill de Blasio.Mr. de Blasio is the first mayor in at least a generation who has not been openly solicitous of the city’s business elite, which was uniquely spoiled by 12 years with one of its own, Michael R. Bloomberg, at the controls. In Mr. McGuire’s bid, New York’s upper crust sees a prospective return to the civic influence and unquestioned relevance they long assumed. It just so happens that they are projecting these visions onto a man who rejects comparisons to Mr. Bloomberg as reductive and racially ignorant, no matter how many admirers call him “the Black Bloomberg” out of earshot.Both Mr. McGuire and his most powerful supporters recognize that the path to City Hall runs through neighborhoods far from his duplex in the famed San Remo building on Central Park West. And so his team is working to stitch together an unusual Democratic coalition, crafting appeals to affluent Manhattanites — aggrieved by Mr. de Blasio’s snubs — and to lower-income, predominantly nonwhite voters in the other boroughs.The cold math of off-year elections with an unwieldy, divided field makes this theory of the case more than plausible: The winner of the primary might need to persuade perhaps a few hundred thousand people — if that — a total slightly greater than the population of the Upper West Side.For now, that is the slice of the city that probably knows Mr. McGuire best. Presiding over his fund-raiser from his home office, surrounded by leatherbound volumes of Shakespeare and Faulkner and an exhaustive collection of African and African-American art, Mr. McGuire gazed upon the pixelated faces of success.In one virtual window, the academic Henry Louis Gates Jr. sipped a drink while muted. In another, Jessica Seinfeld, the cookbook author and wife of Jerry Seinfeld, sporadically replaced her video feed with an away-screen headshot of her regal-looking cat, Javier.At one point, a businesswoman spoke up to assure Mr. McGuire that her husband, a financial news anchor, covertly supported the cause but was not attending “because of journalism.”Others waited for Mr. McGuire to address them directly:“Bewkes! My man!” (That would be Jeff Bewkes, the former chief executive of Time Warner.)“Charles Oakley in the house!” (The retired Knicks great nodded from his rectangle.)“Peter Malkin in the house!” (Mr. Malkin’s Zoom window was blank. His portfolio is not: The Malkin family controls the Empire State Building.)This is the Mr. McGuire, loose but in command, whom friends hope the city will come to see: the world-straddling overachiever from Dayton, Ohio, studying his way out of trying financial circumstances in his youth; the savvy dealmaker who rose to vice chairman at Citi, after stints at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch; the man who would be mayor, if only the city would start listening to its highest earners again.“He’s very popular,” said William J. Bratton, the former police commissioner and veteran Manhattan schmoozer. “Even watching him at the Harvard Club, it took him a while to get to his seat, saying hello to people.”Mr. McGuire is “very popular,” said William J. Bratton, the former police commissioner. Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesWhile Mr. McGuire wears his high status openly, never known to lean on the faux modest “school in Cambridge” construction like some classmates, he has resisted analogies to Mr. Bloomberg, for reasons difficult to refute: Mr. Bloomberg did not grow up Black and scraping, across from paper mills so pungent that a blast from an open refrigerator door was sometimes the surest way to find fresh air. Mr. Bloomberg was never mistaken for the security guard or the bathroom attendant as he climbed. Mr. Bloomberg does not know what it means to be profiled still, no matter his assets, when he steps out from the comforts of his tony address.It happened again just a few months ago, Mr. McGuire recalled: He joined a driver, also Black, in a waiting car, set to ferry him to a film shoot for his introductory campaign video, which was narrated by Spike Lee. Within a few blocks, police sirens howled.“Driving while Black,” Mr. McGuire said in an interview. “There are occurrences like this that help shape how you think about the world, right?”Yet in a signal of the disparate support bases that the campaign plans to court, Mr. McGuire declined twice to answer whether Mr. Bloomberg had been a good mayor. (A campaign spokeswoman, Lupe Todd-Medina, said Mr. McGuire “does not recall” ever voting for Mr. Bloomberg but remembers supporting his Democratic opponent, William C. Thompson Jr., in 2009.)Mr. McGuire noted the damage that stop-and-frisk policing had inflicted upon nonwhite New Yorkers under Mr. Bloomberg but added that the former mayor had “managed the city the right way.” Mr. Bloomberg himself has stayed out of the race publicly but is said to have a fondness for Shaun Donovan, his former housing commissioner.In some ways, Mr. McGuire seems to be moving against some of the city’s prevailing Democratic winds. He is a supercapitalist without apology, betting on the sort of center-leftism that ascendant progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shun.Mr. McGuire has sought to position himself as the jobs-focused candidate, a budget-minded realist who laments inequality but questions some left-wing proposals for shrinking it, like a universal basic income program. He has called for wage subsidies at small businesses and a yearlong post-Covid “comeback festival” to boost tourism and nightlife, emphasizing the need for federal aid and speaking mostly euphemistically so far about any politically painful crisis remedies.Possible cuts? Mr. McGuire says he would “review inefficiencies and spending levels.”Tax hikes? He says leaders must “consider tax increases on those who can afford it,” as he can, and is quick to label himself a progressive despite any suggestion to the contrary.“My definition,” he said, “is I have a life of progressing through the system as a Black person in a 99.9 percent majority world.”Making his case on the mostly virtual campaign trail, Mr. McGuire describes his considerable means with a blunt accounting that can bear little resemblance to typical political messaging.Absent governing credentials, he has argued that his philanthropy should count for something.“Health care, long before Covid, I helped fix it — not too far away, at the nurses’ station, emergency room, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, 168th Street,” he said in Harlem last month. “You go there, look above that nurses’ station and see whose name is there.”Questioned by activists at a recent forum about his commitment to social justice, Mr. McGuire said he had given money to the mother of a 1-year-old named Davell Gardner Jr. who was shot and killed in Brooklyn last summer.“Who put furniture in that apartment?” Mr. McGuire demanded. “Who furnished it?”The Rev. Al Sharpton, whose National Action Network has benefited from Mr. McGuire’s largess, said the candidate’s focus on his own wealth — and how he has used it — had a way of connecting with Black voters.“There’s something that resonates, particularly in our community,” Mr. Sharpton said, “when you are who you are.”Mr. McGuire’s commitment to candor is not absolute. He declined to discuss his wealth in detail or ballpark his starting salary in finance, characterizing it as “enough” and stressing that he grasps the realities of poverty because of his own humble origins.For his more senior posts, like helping to lead Citigroup’s corporate and investment banking, those familiar with the industry said annual pay for managers in equivalent positions could generally range from the high single-digit millions to the teens.Mr. McGuire’s most sustained relationship to the city’s civic life has come through the arts, with board or executive committee roles at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Lincoln Center, among other institutions.Mr. McGuire’s home on Central Park West features museum-quality art works.  Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesMr. McGuire’s book collection in his home in Manhattan. Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesHe is an avid art collector whose pieces include a Kuba cup.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesHis apartment has doubled as a museum unto itself through the years, shared with his wife, Crystal, an author and filmmaker; their two children from her prior marriage: Cole, 20, now a guard for the N.B.A.’s Orlando Magic, and Ella, 18; and the couple’s 8-year-old son, Leo.The space’s front rooms greet guests with masterworks by Henry Ossawa Tanner, a renowned African-American painter; a sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett, an African-American and Mexican artist, of a reclining woman poised across a marble table; and an array of ancient African masks and other objects dating to 300 B.C.“Kuba cup, man,” Mr. McGuire said, giving a tour recently, approaching a treasured piece. “That’s the cup of kings.”Then there are the books of kings: the Bard (“you see the Shakespeare collection?”), the Romantics (“these are my guys here, Keats and Shelley!”), a memoir by Susan Rice (“good friend”).Mr. McGuire, schooled in English literature, refers to his academic history as “the 4H club”: the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut; then three degrees from Harvard, for undergraduate, business and law.David Paterson, the former New York governor who has known Mr. McGuire since the 1970s, marveled at the social circle his friend had built from Manhattan to Bridgehampton, N.Y., where the McGuires also own a home.“I’ve run for a few things,” Mr. Paterson said. “Spike Lee never made a video for my campaign.”Taking stock of his feats and contacts, Mr. McGuire can often sound enthralled by his own arc, wondering aloud if Hollywood could dream up anything quite so unlikely.“Even with your big brain, you can’t imagine anything like that — you can’t imagine writing anything like that,” he said of his path. “Who else has got anything like that? Who else?”During a recent afternoon at his home, Mr. McGuire handed over four stapled pages of accomplishments that included board leadership roles at Hotchkiss and the San Remo Tenants Corporation. (Residents over the years have included Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton and Mary Tyler Moore; Madonna was once rejected by the co-op board.)He pulled out a book of art that featured “Springtime in Washington” by Alma Thomas, before revealing the work on the wall of his dining room: “You may see some similarities between this and that.”Later, word came that the author Malcolm Gladwell had praised his candidacy during a talk, a surprise to the campaign. Mr. McGuire was asked if they knew each other.“Malcolm?” he said, eyes flickering in semi-offense. Of course he knew him. He knows everyone.Mr. McGuire talks with Marta Castro, a resident of the Melrose Houses, during a visit to the South Bronx.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesAnd where he does not, Mr. McGuire is moving to catch up, convening with current and former officials in a crash course to find his municipal bearings.Several people who spoke to Mr. McGuire as he considered a run this past year described him as a conspicuous novice in city policy and politics. He said he had filled stacks of notebooks beside his desk in the interim, with a particular focus on New York’s turbulent 1970s.“Talked to Dick Ravitch,” Mr. McGuire volunteered, citing the former New York lieutenant governor with deep experience weathering fiscal calamity in government.In an interview, Mr. Ravitch called the candidate a “fast learner” with a skill set to meet the moment. He added some caveats.“He doesn’t know a thing about the city government,” Mr. Ravitch said, preceding “thing” with an expletive, before adding: “Do I think Ray would be the best of the candidates? Yes.”Gale Brewer, the Manhattan borough president and another government long-timer with whom Mr. McGuire has spoken, said diplomatically that there was only so much she could convey in a phone call.“It’s a hard city,” she said.Mr. McGuire has said that voters should prize executive experience over government résumés. On this score, some former colleagues at Citi report mixed returns. In interviews, they appraised Mr. McGuire as an approachable leader and willing mentor, particularly to younger Black talent, but also as an image-conscious manager who could struggle with indecision if a looming choice seemed destined to upset someone.Allies have framed such qualities as an instinct for defusing conflict, noting that the candidate even tried to play peacemaker between Mr. de Blasio and his wealthy antagonists: In 2015, Mr. McGuire hosted a reception for the mayor and his wife, Chirlane McCray, hoping they might grow closer to assorted business titans. (It didn’t take.)Some competitors have moved quickly to attach the political stench of banking to Mr. McGuire, whose rivals include Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president; Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller; and Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate.Operatives for other campaigns have focused especially on Mr. McGuire’s business dealings with figures unpalatable to Democrats, like the Koch brothers.Friends say that this, too, speaks well of him.“We are investment bankers!” said William M. Lewis Jr., a co-chairman of investment banking at Lazard who has known Mr. McGuire since their time at Harvard. “We get paid a lot of money to help bridge differences. People should view it as a compliment that somebody, who is as different at their core as Ray, would look to Ray to try to help them get something done.”Mr. McGuire, who has no background in city government, visited the South Bronx with a City Council member, Rafael Salamanca.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesFor those eager to hasten the cleanest break from the de Blasio era, the attraction to Mr. McGuire often seems as much about attention as ideology — about being seen, and heard, and seen being heard.Mr. McGuire has been adamant that personal relationships would confer no special treatment at his City Hall. In fact, he has turned the implication on its head, accusing the current mayor of operating an “exclusive government, not an inclusive government.”And don’t the successful care about the city, too?“Let’s face it: Anybody that lives above 57th Street doesn’t feel that Mayor de Blasio has been attentive,” Mr. Bratton said. “The next person in, they want to be able to have access.”

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      Shaun Donovan's First TV Ad Campaign Features Obama

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }N.Y.C. Mayoral RaceWho’s Running?11 Candidates’ N.Y.C. MomentsA Look at the Race5 Takeaways From the DebateAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyFirst Ad Blitz in N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race Has an Unlikely Star: ObamaShaun Donovan, a former White House budget director, is rolling out his TV ad campaign and hoping his background in Washington will help him emerge from a crowded pack of candidates.Shaun Donovan, center, with then-President Barack Obama in 2014. Mr. Donovan also worked for former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, running New York City’s housing department.Credit…Stephen Crowley/The New York TimesFeb. 8, 2021Updated 6:53 p.m. ETWith the pandemic transforming New York City’s mayoral race into a mostly virtual affair, the best way to connect directly with voters would seem to be through television ads. Yet so far, the airwaves have been silent.That will change on Tuesday, when Shaun Donovan, the former Obama and Bloomberg administration official, kicks off the first television ad campaign of any significance in the contest.By being first out of the gate, Mr. Donovan is trying to gain attention and seize a narrative advantage, an opportunity that will diminish over time as his better-funded rivals, with presumably bigger advertising budgets, join the television fray. Still, this is the race’s first television advertising purchase, according to AdImpact, an advertising analytics firm.As of Monday afternoon, the campaign had reserved $75,000 worth of cable advertising space for the week of Feb. 9, according to AdImpact. The ads will run on CNN, MSNBC and NY1.The airing of the first ad will cost six figures, according to the campaign, which hopes to spend more than $1 million on television advertising by the June 22 primary. The ad’s timing, more than four months before that primary, is not coincidental.“It doesn’t quite smack of desperation yet, but it’s clearly motivated by the fact that he’s in real danger of being marginalized as a second-tier candidate quickly,” said Neal Kwatra, a Democratic political consultant who is unaffiliated with any of the candidates. “And that matters a lot in a race that is so compressed and is such a sprint.”The race is certainly far different from the campaigns New York City is accustomed to. Meeting voters face-to-face is a risky endeavor; candidates now must jockey for attention in a seemingly endless series of livestreamed forums and fund-raisers. At least three of the race’s more than 30 candidates have already been sidelined by quarantine. One of those three candidates is recovering from the coronavirus.Still, for Mr. Donovan, being first out of the gate on television could carry some risk.By the January filing deadline, Mr. Donovan had yet to raise enough money to quality for the city’s generous matching funds system. Should he spend down his campaign funds too early, he risks running low on cash during the pivotal weeks before the primary, when New York voters will presumably pay the closest attention to the race.Nor is this tactic without historical precedent. Six months before the scheduled 2001 mayoral primary, Alan G. Hevesi, then the city comptroller, launched the race’s first television ads to try to gain early traction. The effort failed: Mr. Hevesi did not win enough votes to qualify for the Democratic runoff between Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer, which took place against the backdrop of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Today, New York City also faces profound crises. Mr. Donovan, a Democrat who served in the Obama administration as budget director and housing secretary, has sought to focus voter attention on his experience in Washington and his ability to wrest meaningful aid from the Biden administration.His first ad campaign hits that theme, beginning with former President Barack Obama extolling Mr. Donovan’s virtues after he nominated him as the White House budget director in 2014.“Shaun’s just one of those people where he sees a problem, and he will work to solve it,” Mr. Obama said then.The 30-second ad then progresses through images of President Biden warmly embracing Mr. Donovan, and Mr. Donovan meeting with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.Throughout his campaign, Mr. Donovan has seemed to distance himself from former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, for whom he ran the city’s housing department. The commercial continues in the same vein, with Mr. Bloomberg making a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.Part of Mr. Bloomberg’s face can be seen in an image of Mr. Donovan on Marine One with Mr. Obama and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as they respond to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy.Mr. Donovan’s ad, produced by the Win Company, will run on cable television in all five boroughs.Katie Hill, a spokeswoman for Mr. Obama, heaped praise on Mr. Donovan in a statement, even as she said the former president was unlikely to endorse in the mayoral race.“Secretary Donovan helped lead our country out of the 2008 housing crisis, and later, as the director of O.M.B., he steered top policy priorities like health care access, climate change, inequality and public health, including pandemic preparedness and response,” Ms. Hill said. “President Obama is always heartened when alumni of his administration answer the call to run for office, but he does not typically weigh in on primaries and believes that the voters of N.Y.C. should make this decision for themselves.”Mr. Donovan has yet to break through to the front of the pack in this year’s race. He has about $900,000 in cash on hand, according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board. The Brooklyn borough president, Eric Adams, has $6.7 million on hand; the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, has $5.8 million on hand; and the former Citi executive Raymond J. McGuire has $3.8 million at his disposal.“I represent real change,” Mr. Donovan says, speaking to the camera from in front of a row of brownstones in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Prospect Lefferts Gardens, about three miles from his Boerum Hill home. “But the change candidate usually has the least experience. I actually have the most.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      No More Playing Nice: 5 Highlights From the Mayor’s Race

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }N.Y.C. Mayoral RaceWho’s Running?11 Candidates’ N.Y.C. MomentsA Look at the Race5 Takeaways From the DebateAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyNo More Playing Nice: 5 Highlights From the Mayor’s RaceThe candidates make stronger attacks against one another, as a Republican enters the race hoping to court Hispanic voters.Maya Wiley criticized Andrew Yang over his campaign’s use of nondisclosure agreements.Credit…Jose A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York TimesEmma G. Fitzsimmons, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Katie Glueck, Jeffery C. Mays and Feb. 8, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ETWhen New Yorkers vote in the June mayoral primaries, they will get to pick up to five candidates, in ranked order of preference.No one knows exactly how the system, known as ranked-choice voting, might affect the outcome, but plenty of voters were still confused about how it worked when it was used in a special City Council election in Queens last week.The new approach to voting was expected to make candidates refrain from attacks, but the friendly sheen among them is starting to wear off. They are more directly criticizing one another at forums, seeking to highlight their differences.And a new Republican candidate joined the fray. Here are some key developments in the race:The candidates began to take the gloves offScott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, suggested that some of his rivals should exercise better judgment while campaigning during the pandemic.Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesThe conventional wisdom around ranked-choice voting is that candidates should avoid insulting their opponents for fear of alienating those opponents’ supporters. After all, voters’ second choices could be critical.But now, less than five months before Primary Day, several of the mayoral candidates appear to be making a more straightforward calculation: The time for sharper contrasts has arrived.Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, laced into Andrew Yang over his campaign’s use of nondisclosure agreements, which he said had been discontinued, and highlighted complaints about the culture on his presidential campaign. Shaun Donovan pointedly raised Raymond J. McGuire’s Wall Street background. Mr. McGuire shot back by calling Mr. Donovan “Shaun Obama,” a dig at the former federal housing secretary’s regular mentions that he worked under President Barack Obama. Scott M. Stringer issued barely veiled rebukes of Eric Adams and Mr. Yang over their in-person campaigning during the coronavirus pandemic.And at a candidate forum on homelessness, Dianne Morales contrasted her experience with Mr. Stringer’s, calling him out by name.“Unlike Scott, I’ve actually been talking to the people that are homeless for the last 15 years,” Ms. Morales said. “I’ve been doing the work.”In the scheme of American political discourse, these were, at most, mild exchanges. But they reflect a growing recognition that there is limited time to break out of the pack — and that candidates cannot count on anyone else to negatively define their chief rivals for them.On Sunday, though, advisers to two top candidates certainly tried: Aides to Mr. Yang and Mr. Stringer broke into a sharply personal Twitter exchange tied to the issue of support from the real estate industry.The first ranked-choice election confused votersIt was the debut that wasn’t.A little-known special election in Queens became the testing ground for New York City’s ranked-choice voting system last week, the first time the new system was used ahead of the mayoral primary.How would voters welcome the ability to rank up to five candidates instead of picking just one? Would the system, which could trigger multiple rounds of vote tabulations, be a stumbling block for the traditionally dysfunctional Board of Elections?In the end, however, one candidate, the former councilman James Gennaro, seemed poised to receive more than 50 percent of the vote, making him the likely winner in the City Council’s 24th District. Were he to receive less than 50 percent, the last-place candidate would be eliminated, and that candidate’s votes would be redistributed to the second choices listed on the ballots of voters who favored the eliminated candidate. The process would be repeated until one candidate reached a majority of the vote.Still, the election served as a dry run for a new voting method that will require significant public education.Some voters said they were unfamiliar with exactly how ranked-choice worked, despite being contacted by the campaigns or receiving mailers explaining it.“It didn’t really quite sink in, and I really liked one candidate, so I just voted for him,” said Kanan Roberts, 71, who voted for Mr. Gennaro. Other voters were more aware of its intricacies and appreciative of the ability to vote for several candidates.“If you want to take a risk on a candidate that you don’t know whether they have a realistic shot of winning, but they’re your candidate of choice, they don’t have to be a spoiler anymore under ranked-choice voting,” said Peter Sullivan, 39. “You can pick them first, then pick the safer, ‘electable’ candidates second and third.”Could the city’s first Hispanic mayor be a Republican?Fernando Mateo in December, before he shaved his head last week during his mayoral launch.Credit…Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesA key question in the mayor’s race is which Democratic candidate will win support from the city’s sizable Hispanic community. Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president who is of Puerto Rican heritage, was viewed as a top contender before he dropped out of the race last year.But what if that candidate turned out to be a Republican?Fernando Mateo, who was born in the Dominican Republic, announced his mayoral campaign in an unusual video on Facebook last week where he shaved his head — a nod to new beginnings as New Yorkers look forward to the end of the pandemic.“I wanted to show my beauty,” he said in an interview. “I’m the cutest candidate in the race.”Mr. Mateo runs a restaurant, Zona de Cuba, in the Bronx and has led trade groups for livery drivers and bodega owners. He has been involved in politics for years but was also linked to a scandal over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fund-raising.His campaign website boasts that he was once named “One of the Five Most Influential People in the Country” by The New York Times. That article, in 1994, reflected the results of a survey of senior executives shortly after Mr. Mateo had created a program to trade guns for toys.Mr. Mateo said he wants to to revisit bail reform, keep the jail on Rikers Island open and “re-fund the police” — instead of defunding the department. He distanced himself from former President Donald J. Trump and said he was embarrassed by the riot at the U.S. Capitol.“That’s not what the Republican Party is all about — that’s not what we’re about,” he said. “I’m an urban Republican. I believe in cities and immigration. I don’t believe in hatred.”There has been some debate over whether the city has already had a Hispanic mayor. John Purroy Mitchel, who was mayor from 1914 to 1917, was descended from Spanish nobility.A homeless expert on homelessness grills the candidatesShams DaBaron won praise for his aggressive questioning as a moderator at a mayoral forum on homelessness.Credit…Amr Alfiky/The New York TimesTen mayoral candidates took part in a Zoom forum on homelessness Thursday night, but the standout speaker was one of the moderators: a homeless man who goes by the name Shams DaBaron.Mr. DaBaron, 51, who emerged last fall as the self-appointed spokesman for homeless men battling to remain in the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side over objections from neighbors, demonstrated a grasp of the issues that comes from having lived them.When the candidates were asked if they would disband the police unit that tries to move homeless people from street to shelter, one of them, Loree Sutton, said she would not, and that she would “team up police with peer-to-peer counselors.”Mr. DaBaron explained to her how “outreach” is practiced by the police. “Where they were telling me they were going to help me, and I submitted to the help, I ended up in handcuffs,” he said. “They brought me to a police station, made me take off my sneakers and threw me into a cell and then threatened to give me a ticket unless I entered the shelter system.”In response to a question about plans for the unsheltered people the city has placed in hotels during the pandemic, Shaun Donovan, a longtime government official, offered a mini-filibuster touting his college volunteering, his work with veterans under Mr. Obama and the importance of “reimagining the right to shelter as a right to housing.”Mr. DaBaron asked his co-moderator, Corinne Low of UWS Open Hearts, an organization that supports shelters on the Upper West Side, to pose the question to Mr. Donovan again, suggesting that the candidate had not really answered it.Mr. DaBaron, who tweets as Da Homeless Hero, garnered some raves on Twitter.One person praised him for “not letting any candidate talk about anything other than the content of the questions”; another suggested he might consider running for office.“@homeless_hero for mayor!” the user @SoBendito wrote.Maya Wiley chose Gracie Mansion over her own TV showTwo candidates had to abandon high-profile jobs as television pundits to run for mayor: Ms. Wiley, a legal analyst at MSNBC, and, Mr. Yang, a commentator at CNN.But for Ms. Wiley, the sacrifice might have been more substantial. Speaking to more than 170 women on a “Black Women for Maya” virtual event on Wednesday, Ms. Wiley said she had an opportunity to audition to replace Joy Reid’s weekend talk show “AM Joy” as Ms. Reid was being promoted to host her own prime-time show.Ms. Wiley, a civil rights lawyer, said that she “loved MSNBC” because “it felt like a family” and that she was proud of being a Black woman who was being paid to deliver legal analysis.After Ms. Reid “broke a Black glass ceiling” and received her own prime time show, “MSNBC knew one thing; They’d better put somebody Black in that seat, they knew it,” Ms. Wiley told the audience.She said that she decided not to take the network’s offer of an audition, because “as much joy and as big a paycheck as that MSNBC slot would have been, I knew we had so many treasures that could fill that seat.” She ultimately decided that “in this moment, to me, the greatest gift and privilege would be making people’s lives better.”Mr. Yang said he made a similar deliberation when deciding to leave his position at CNN.“I was very appreciative of my time at CNN. I made a lot of friends,” Mr. Yang said. “But I’m someone who is looking to help people at scale, and New York City is in a lot of pain right now. I’m more of a doer than an analyst.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘The Pressure Is On’: Will Schumer Satisfy the Left?

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Capitol Riot FalloutTracking the ArrestsVisual TimelineInside the SiegeMurder Charges?The Oath KeepersAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘The Pressure Is On’: Will Schumer Satisfy the Left?As he prepares for an impeachment trial this week, Senator Chuck Schumer is at the height of his political power in Washington. At home in New York, he is taking steps to head off a primary challenge from the left.Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, is presiding over an evenly  divided chamber and faces re-election in 2022.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesFeb. 7, 2021Updated 9:59 a.m. ETOn a recent Sunday evening, about a dozen liberal housing activists from New York gathered for a virtual meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer. Though the newly anointed majority leader had served in Congress for four decades, a number of participants had scarcely interacted with him before, and some regarded him as an uncertain ally.But Mr. Schumer was eager to offer reassurance. At one point, he described himself as a former tenant organizer who was now in a position to deliver on housing issues on a grand scale, several participants recalled.“He had done a bunch of homework and knew everything that we were going to ask about and made a bunch of commitments with us to make it happen,” said Cea Weaver, a strategist for New York’s Housing Justice for All coalition. “He was like: I’m talking to Ilhan Omar, I’m talking to Bernie Sanders, I’m talking to A.O.C.”The January meeting was one in a series of steps Mr. Schumer has taken to win over leaders of the left in New York and Washington ahead of his campaign for re-election in 2022. Armed with a sweeping set of policy promises, he is courting the activists, organizers and next-generation elected officials in New York who would likely make up the backbone of an effort to dethrone him, should one ever arise.He is facing an extraordinary balancing act in the coming days as he seeks simultaneously to forge a massive relief bill to counter the coronavirus pandemic while managing the impeachment of former President Donald J. Trump. Both tasks are seen as urgent, practical and moral imperatives by the Democratic Party’s electoral base.Mr. Schumer, 70, has been attempting to channel his party’s sense of impatient purpose: In recent days, he has publicly urged President Biden to “go big and bold” with his economic policies and executive actions, defying pressure from Republicans and a few centrist Democrats to pare back campaign promises. Over the last week, Mr. Schumer has backed a new push to decriminalize cannabis; signed on to Senator Cory Booker’s Baby Bonds proposal, a plan to address the racial wealth gap; and appeared with Senator Elizabeth Warren and other progressives to call on Mr. Biden to cancel student debt.On impeachment, too, Mr. Schumer has taken an into-the-breach approach, demanding Mr. Trump’s removal from office the morning after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and casting the upcoming trial as a crucial ritual of accountability even if it is highly improbable that two thirds of the Senate will vote for conviction.Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, said Mr. Schumer was emphatic in private conversations that he intends to “get really big things done” despite the daunting Senate math. Mr. Mitchell said he spoke frequently with Mr. Schumer but had not yet discussed the 2022 campaign with him.“He’s going to have to use all the tools at his disposal to keep his caucus together; he gets that, we all get that, it’s not a surprise,” Mr. Mitchell said. “I think he’s also really clear that the alternative is unacceptable — that he absolutely has to deliver.”Mr. Schumer with new Democratic senators last month.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesThe new Senate leader appears to recognize that his political playbook requires updating. A compulsive retail politician and prodigious fund-raiser, Mr. Schumer climbed to power less as a legislative engineer and an author of big ideas than as a campaign tactician with a financial base on Wall Street and a keen eye for finding the political midpoint between liberal New York City and its historically conservative suburbs. David Carlucci, a former state senator from Rockland County who lost a House primary in 2018 to a more progressive candidate, Representative Mondaire Jones, said a diverse new generation was transforming state politics. Mr. Schumer appears relatively secure, he said, but no Democrat should feel immune.“Any politician that’s part of the old guard has to be very concerned about a potential primary,” said Mr. Carlucci.That’s a lesson that progressives delivered to establishment Democrats in the last two election cycles, when losses by Joseph P. Crowley and Eliot L. Engel, two senior House members, marked back-to-back breakthroughs for left-wing politics in downstate New York.Unlike Mr. Crowley and Mr. Engel, the Senate leader remains a ubiquitous presence around New York. But his ability to match the passions of his own party is another question.Mr. Schumer drew periodic complaints from the left throughout the Trump years for taking a generally cautious approach to messaging and campaign strategy, including in key Senate races last year where Mr. Schumer handpicked moderate recruits who eventually lost in states like Maine and North Carolina. There is limited patience now among Democrats for the kind of incremental maneuvering and horse-trading that is traditionally required to pass laws in the Senate.In a statement, Mr. Schumer said he was trying to “do the best job for my constituents and for my country” and acknowledged a shift in the scope of his governing goals.“The world has changed and the needs of families have changed,” he said, “income and racial inequality has worsened, the climate crisis has become more urgent, Trump has attacked our democracy — all of these things require big, bold action and that is what I am fighting to deliver in the Senate.”At the moment, the most serious potential challengers to Mr. Schumer — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chief among them — have not taken steps toward a campaign. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, the 31-year-old Queens lawmaker, has told associates that she has not decided whether to run but that she believes the possibility of a challenge serves as a constructive form of pressure on Mr. Schumer, people who have spoken with her said.Other potential opponents appear more focused on assembling a bid to unseat Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Yet Mr. Schumer seems to want to deter even a quixotic opponent who could become a nettlesome distraction or worse. He has taken to using Twitter and cable-news interviews to demand that Mr. Biden take bold executive actions on matters like student debt and climate change. And as he assumes the expanded powers of the Senate majority, Mr. Schumer is drawing on old and new alliances to help him govern.Starting last spring, Mr. Schumer convened several conference calls to craft pandemic relief plans with some of the big policy minds of the Democratic Party. They included more centrist voices, like the former Treasury Department official Antonio Weiss; progressive economic thinkers like Felicia Wong of the Roosevelt Institute and Stephanie Kelton of Stony Brook University; and liberal think-tank leaders Heather Boushey and Michael Linden, who now serve in the Biden administration.Mr. Schumer’s regular meetings with national liberal advocacy groups have intensified in recent weeks, and he has been spending time with a cohort of New York progressives elected over the last year. In December, he met with State Senator Jabari Brisport, a 33-year-old democratic socialist elected last fall, at a bar in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and stressed his support for addressing climate change.“We joked about me being a socialist in Brooklyn,” Mr. Brisport said, recalling that Mr. Schumer had noted he works well with Mr. Sanders, who is also a socialist from Brooklyn.Mr. Schumer must corral unanimous support for President Biden’s agenda from an eclectic Democratic caucus.Credit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesRepresentative Ritchie Torres, a 32-year-old progressive who captured an open House seat in the Bronx last fall, said Mr. Schumer was the first official to contact him after Mr. Torres won a contentious primary; soon afterward, Mr. Schumer visited his district for a meeting about expanding the federal child tax credit..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-c7gg1r{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:0.875rem;margin-bottom:15px;color:#121212 !important;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-c7gg1r{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{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;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1amoy78{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-1amoy78{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-1amoy78:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-k9atqk{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-k9atqk strong{font-weight:700;}.css-k9atqk em{font-style:italic;}.css-k9atqk a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-k9atqk a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ddd;}.css-k9atqk a:hover{border-bottom:none;}Capitol Riot FalloutFrom Riot to ImpeachmentThe riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and the ongoing fallout:As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the riot.A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.The House voted to impeach the president on charges of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.Mr. Torres said he intended to back Mr. Schumer in any contested primary. “Without a doubt, he deserves to be re-elected,” Mr. Torres said.Should Mr. Schumer struggle to turn his splashy endorsements of bold action into law, or come to be seen as balking at certain clashes with Republicans, a serious challenge could well emerge. Mr. Schumer faces a dense ideological minefield on matters ranging from economic recovery legislation to abolishing the filibuster and achieving statehood for Washington, D.C.“The pressure is on now that he is one of the most powerful politicians in the entire country,” said Assemblyman Ron Kim, a progressive legislator. “If he can’t deliver, it’s not just him — it’s the party that will suffer in two years or four years.”State Senator Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat who in 2018 beat a conservative incumbent in a primary, said she believed Mr. Schumer had been responsive to liberals but that she was waiting to see hard results before endorsing him. She said she had been “disappointed” that Mr. Schumer did not take a harder line in his power-sharing negotiations with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.“We have to stand up to these people who don’t care to put forward legislation that is humane and that takes care of the people of this country.” Ms. Ramos said. Mr. Schumer is seeking to avoid the fate of two senior House Democrats from New York who were defeated in primaries by progressive candidates in recent election cycles.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesPeople who have spoken with Mr. Schumer about a possible primary challenge say he is confident about his chances against Ms. Ocasio Cortez or anyone else; he points to his support in the suburbs and among Black voters in New York City, arguing it would be difficult for an opponent from the left to overcome those advantages. As the first-ever Jewish Senate majority leader, he would likely have considerable strength among an important population of left-leaning whites.But Mr. Schumer surely also knows that coalitions can be fleeting and flexible. He is said to have kept a close watch on Senator Edward Markey’s primary campaign in Massachusetts last year against Joseph P. Kennedy III. Mr. Markey, a fellow septuagenarian, bested his younger and better-known rival by campaigning as an environmental justice champion and aligning himself closely with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and groups like Sunrise.A few days after Mr. Markey won his primary, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, a liberal Manhattan Democrat, spoke briefly with Mr. Schumer at a Sept. 11 memorial event in her district. Frustrated by Mr. Cuomo’s opposition to increasing taxes on the wealthy, Ms. Niou said she appealed to Mr. Schumer for help raising direly needed revenue. He was supportive, she said, but at the time Republicans controlled the Senate.Ms. Niou said she was supportive of Mr. Schumer and believed it was “really important that New York has the majority leader as their member.” But she said she intended to push Mr. Schumer to make the most of the job.“Every single thing I asked for, I’m going to ask for five thousand times harder,” she said.John Washington, a Buffalo-based housing organizer who participated in the January meeting with Mr. Schumer, said he had seen a marked shift in the senator. In the past, he said, Mr. Schumer would seek out support for his own priorities and offer “radio silence” on activist goals.“I think it’s clear to everyone that there is kind of a new age of politics,” he said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Mayoral Candidates Share New York Moments

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }N.Y.C. Mayoral RaceWho’s Running?11 Candidates’ N.Y.C. MomentsA Look at the Race5 Takeaways From the DebateAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyNew York TodayMayoral Candidates Share New York MomentsFeb. 5, 2021, 5:15 a.m. ET [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Friday. [embedded content]Weather: Mix of rain and snow in the morning; cloudy later, with a high in the low 40s. Saturday: Sunny, high around 40. Sunday: Occasional snow, high in the mid-30s.Alternate-side parking: Suspended today and tomorrow for snow removal. What’s the best way to show that you’re a New Yorker? Perhaps it’s your bagel order. Or your accent. Or your determination to avoid to Times Square.The more than 30 candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring to become the city’s next mayor will inevitably face questions about their New Yorkiness.“The candidates are starting to go after each other a bit more and distinguish themselves over policy proposals and personal narratives,” said my colleague Emma Fitzsimmons, the City Hall bureau chief.[The race to become New York City’s next mayor may be one of the most consequential political contests in a generation. Here are some of the leading candidates.]“I think there are five front-runners among Democrats at this point: Eric Adams, Ray McGuire, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang,” Ms. Fitzsimmons said, naming them in alphabetical order.My colleague Corey Kilgannon recently talked with these front-runners and several other candidates about their New York pedigrees, specifically asking them about their favorite city moments. Here are a few of their responses, accompanied by illustrations from our Metropolitan Diary artist, Agnes Lee.You can also read all 11 responses here.Kathryn Garcia, former sanitation commissionerMs. Garcia was 14 when she and her friends decided to dress up and take the subway from Brooklyn into Manhattan to try getting into Studio 54.“Going into Manhattan was considered cool, and I loved to dance,” she said. She wore “candy red high heels” and stood outside the club, which, in 1984, was past its heyday but still highly selective.Shaun Donovan, former federal housing secretary“When you’re hugging people you never met before, you know something great has happened,” said Mr. Donovan, remembering how he cheered from a grandstand seat at Yankee Stadium the day Reggie Jackson hit three home runs to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 World Series.Carlos Menchaca, city councilman from BrooklynThree years after moving to New York from Texas, Mr. Menchaca was riding the F train to his Brooklyn apartment after having some beers with friends. He fell asleep and missed his stop. A subway worker woke him at the end of the line in Coney Island.Taking the train back, he fell asleep and missed his stop again. He got home at dawn.From The TimesLev Parnas, Giuliani Associate, Faces New Fraud AccusationsDid the Proud Boys Help Coordinate the Capitol Riot? Yes, U.S. Suggests3 Male Guards Charged in Attacks at Notorious Women’s PrisonThe Misogynistic ‘Dating Coach’ Who Was Charged in the Capitol RiotRoss Graham Dies at 93; Tenacious Fighter for New York CityWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingNew York restaurant industry leaders want Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to lift the 10 p.m. dining curfew before Super Bowl weekend. [New York Post]An anonymous note sent to some Long Island residents said, “Take your Christmas lights down! Its Valentines Day!!!!!!” — but one recipient had been busy with funeral arrangements. [NBC New York]What happened to Ample Hills Creamery, Brooklyn’s beloved ice cream company? [Marker]And finally: Your virtual social weekend The Times’s Melissa Guerrero writes:Although many performance spaces, museums and community centers are closed, people are finding creative ways to connect through virtual events and programs. Here are suggestions for maintaining a New York social life this weekend while keeping a safe distance from other people.John Lewis: A Pioneer for JusticeOn Friday at 7 p.m., listen to the actor Alton Fitzgerald White recite one of John Lewis’s speeches as part of Flushing Town Hall’s Black History Trilogy series. A discussion and Q. and A. will follow.R.S.V.P. for the free livestream on the event page.Corky Lee memorialJoin the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club on Friday at 7 p.m. to honor the life of the celebrated photographer Corky Lee.Register for the free livestream on the event page.‘Brown Baby’ book talkOn Saturday at noon, the authors Mira Jacob and Nikesh Shukla will discuss Mr. Shukla’s new memoir “Brown Baby: A Memoir of Race, Family and Home.”R.S.V.P. for the free event on Zoom or watch the livestream on YouTube.It’s Friday — embrace it.Metropolitan Diary: Sketching Dear Diary:I was prone to forgetting at least one important thing — wallet, phone, keys — when I went out, but I always remembered to bring along a notebook and pen.On days when my headphones were what I had left behind, I shortened my long commute to my job as a nanny on the Upper West Side by sneakily sketching my fellow train passengers.Those who were asleep were ideal subjects; those who were awake would inevitably ruin the pose as soon as they become aware of what I was doing.Once, a few years ago, I was on the D train a when I noticed a young man who was sketching an older woman across from him as she snored.Having a clear view of his profile, I took out my supplies and started to draw the artist as he drew. I felt strangely guilty, as if I were violating his invisibility as a fellow train sketcher. Still, I couldn’t resist.With the train pulling into 34th Street, I scrambled to finish sketching his hair while he gathered his things before getting off. As he stepped out onto the platform, I tapped his shoulder and handed him the sketch.There was just enough time to watch him process what he was looking at: the frown from being touched by a stranger to the embarrassed laugh as he saw his face on the page.Then the doors closed, and we pulled away.— Lila EliasNew 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.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      11 Mayoral Candidates Share Their Favorite New York Moments

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      What’s your favorite pizza joint? How do you like your bagel? Do you ride the subway? Shop at bodegas? Mets or Yankees?

      Mayoral campaigns inevitably involve candidates facing questions about their New York pedigree.

      In that vein, we asked 11 mayoral candidates to describe a quintessential moment that shows they are New Yorkers rooted in the city they seek to lead. More

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      Who Wants to Be Mayor of New York City?

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      Eric Adams

      , 60

      Dem

      Brooklyn borough president; former New York City police officer

      Mr. Adams is running as a blue-collar New Yorker with deep ties to the city and experience in government. As a police officer, he was an advocate for reform from within the force, and he is a sharp critic of police brutality but does not embrace the “defund the police” movement. He has proposed that schools be open year-round. His outspoken manner sometimes gets him into trouble, as it did last year when he told gentrifiers to “go back to Iowa.”

      Maya Wiley

      , 57

      Dem

      Former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio; former chairwoman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board; former MSNBC analyst

      Ms. Wiley says it is time for the city to elect its first mayor who is a Black woman. An expert on criminal justice issues and a favorite among progressives from her appearances on MSNBC, she wants to reform the Police Department and focus on inequality. She proposed a “New Deal” for New York that would create 100,000 jobs. Her work in the de Blasio administration may counter her image as an outsider.

      Andrew Yang

      , 46

      Dem

      Former presidential candidate; former nonprofit executive

      Mr. Yang has distinguished his campaign with bold, if unorthodox, ideas. He wants to give 500,000 low-income New Yorkers $2,000 per year — a version of his universal basic income proposal from the 2020 presidential race — and he has proposed building a casino on Governors Island. He has strong name recognition, but has faced scrutiny over moving his family out of the city during the pandemic and the workplace culture at his presidential campaign and businesses.

      Scott M. Stringer

      , 60

      Dem

      City comptroller; former Manhattan borough president

      Mr. Stringer has worked in government for years and has suggested that his brand of being a capable, experienced manager is what New York needs. He is a public school parent, focusing his campaign on affordable housing and early childhood education. He has secured endorsements from a diverse set of progressive leaders and is the only candidate who has won citywide office before, but he is also a white man at a time when many Black, Latino and female candidates have been elected in the New York area.

      Raymond J. McGuire

      , 64

      Dem

      Former vice chairman at Citigroup

      Mr. McGuire was recruited to run by members of the city’s business community who feel they have not had a voice at City Hall since Michael R. Bloomberg was mayor from 2002 to 2013; they want someone with a financial background to guide the city’s fiscal recovery. His first major proposal during his campaign was to create 500,000 good-paying jobs, but progressive voters may be wary of any candidate linked to Wall Street.

      Shaun Donovan

      , 55

      Dem

      Former federal housing secretary; former White House budget director

      Mr. Donovan is a veteran of the Obama administration and the Bloomberg administration in New York City, and he has made his ties to the federal government a centerpiece of his campaign. He has released several policy proposals, including one to create “15-minute neighborhoods” to make sure every New Yorker has access to a good school, fresh food, transit and a park within 15 minutes of home.

      Carlos Menchaca

      , 40

      Dem

      City Council member in Brooklyn

      Mr. Menchaca is a progressive councilman who helped defeat a rezoning proposal to expand the Industry City complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He supports the “defund the police” movement, is an avid cyclist and has helped create the municipal identification cards known as IDNYC.

      Dianne Morales

      , 53

      Dem

      Former nonprofit executive

      Ms. Morales has focused her campaign on improving life for poor and working-class New Yorkers. She has called for providing many of those residents with a guaranteed minimum income; cutting half of the $6 billion annual police budget to fund social services; and desegregating public schools.

      Kathryn Garcia

      , 50

      Dem

      Former city sanitation commissioner

      Ms. Garcia is running as an experienced manager who can lead the city during a crisis. She oversaw the city’s huge trash operation and is respected among many in city government. As part of the de Blasio administration, she helped distribute millions of meals to hungry New Yorkers during the pandemic.

      Loree Sutton

      , 61

      Dem

      Retired Army brigadier general; former head of the city’s Department of Veterans’ Services

      Ms. Sutton is a centrist who has not run for office before. She says her leadership experience makes her the best person to help the city recover from the pandemic. She helped reduce homelessness among veterans and wants to address the city’s broader homelessness crisis.

      Paperboy Prince

      , 28

      Dem

      Former candidate for Congress; rapper

      Paperboy Prince, from Brooklyn, is running on a platform of creating a universal basic income, abolishing the police and canceling rent — a campaign to forgive unpaid rent for those who cannot afford it. Last year, the rapper ran to be the first nonbinary member of Congress, but lost to Representative Nydia Velazquez.

      Sara Tirschwell

      , 55

      Rep

      Former Wall Street executive

      She rose to high positions at financial firms like TCW, the giant asset-management company, and filed a prominent sexual harassment complaint against her boss. Ms. Tirschwell is running as a moderate and believes Democrats have moved too far to the left. She wants to reduce burdensome regulations and increase funding for the City University of New York.

      Barbara Kavovit

      , 55

      Dem

      Founder of a construction firm

      Ms. Kavovit is best known for her appearances on the television show “The Real Housewives of New York City.” She is more conservative than some Democrats in the race; she does not want to cut the police budget and has said that Michael R. Bloomberg was her favorite mayor.

      Fernando Mateo

      , 63

      Rep

      Restaurant operator; former leader of a trade group for cabdrivers

      Mr. Mateo has led groups representing livery drivers and bodega workers, and runs a restaurant in the Bronx. He was born in the Dominican Republic and has ties to the city’s Latino community. He has been involved in politics for years and was linked to a scandal over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fund-raising, but was never charged.

      Isaac Wright Jr.

      , 59

      Dem

      Lawyer

      Mr. Wright was wrongfully convicted on drug charges in 1991. The ABC television show “For Life” is based on his story, and he is a producer on the show, along with the rapper 50 Cent. He is calling for city control of the subway and desegregating public schools.

      Art Chang

      , 57

      Dem

      Former managing director at JPMorgan Chase

      He ran a voter outreach program and wants to create universal daycare for all children from age 1, to serve “a city of people who primarily live on the edge.”

      Joycelyn Taylor

      , 54

      Dem

      Chief executive of a general contracting firm

      She is running as a working-class New Yorker who grew up in public housing. She wants to cancel rent for New Yorkers who cannot afford it and convert vacant office buildings into housing for the homeless.

      Aaron Foldenauer

      , 45

      Dem

      Lawyer

      He previously ran for City Council in Lower Manhattan and has several ideas to improve the environment, including a “Bicycle Superhighway” that would run down Third Avenue in Manhattan.

      William Pepitone

      , 53

      Rep

      Former New York City police officer

      He wants to combat “anarchy” in the city by returning to the “broken windows” policing strategy that was first widely used in the 1990s, to target minor violations in an effort to prevent serious crimes. He is a nephew of Joe Pepitone, the colorful ex-New York Yankee.

      Christopher Krietchman

      , 40

      Ind

      Health and wellness leader

      A “futurist” and former bodybuilder, he once ran a meal delivery program. He wants to improve the city by combating greed and “white male privilege,” and allowing New Yorkers to “rent to own” a home.

      Quanda Francis

      , 40

      Dem

      Former New York City crime analyst

      She was a crime analyst for the New York Police Department who has talked about the struggles she faced when she dropped out of high school. She wants to focus on maternal health for women of color after she almost died in childbirth.

      Edward Cullen

      , 34

      Dem

      Entrepreneur

      A founder of the Harlem Tech Summit, he issued a 110-day plan to help the city rebound from the pandemic, with a focus on public-private partnerships. More

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      in Elections

      They Supported ‘Defund the Police.’ Then the Mayoral Campaign Began.

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }N.Y.C. Mayoral RaceA Look at the Race5 Takeaways From the DebateAndrew Yang’s CandidacyWho’s Running?AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThey Supported ‘Defund the Police.’ Then the Mayoral Campaign Began.Most of the leading mayoral candidates have been wary of embracing the “defund the police” movement, which has lost some mainstream political momentum.Many in the Democratic field for mayor have backed away from the defund movement, reframing the issue as a broader need for changes to city policing.Credit…Byron Smith for The New York TimesJeffery C. Mays and Feb. 3, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETNearly eight months ago, Scott M. Stringer stood in Brooklyn before an angry, unsettled gathering to memorialize the death of George Floyd. The best way to honor him, Mr. Stringer said, was to send a clear message to City Hall: “It’s time to defund the N.Y.P.D. now.”But with the New York City mayoral primary looming in June, Mr. Stringer has distanced himself from the defund movement.At a recent mayoral forum, Mr. Stringer was asked if he supported defunding the police, and whether he would commit to slashing the Police Department’s $6 billion budget in half. He responded with a less drastic proposal to cut $1 billion, spread over four years, and said he did not want the city to return to a period of high crime like in the 1970s.“I do remember when the A train was a rolling crime scene, and I don’t want my children or any child to go back to that time and place,” he said. “But I also know that overpolicing in communities of color has got to stop.”His remarks immediately drew fire.“This is not what a progressive would say,” said Lauren Ashcraft, a Democratic Socialist and former congressional candidate in Queens. Other progressives questioned whether several leading Democratic candidates had the courage and commitment to win their support.The escalating tensions over the issue highlight the challenges that Democratic candidates face as they try to cultivate the city’s growing progressive flank without embracing stances that may scare off moderate New Yorkers — especially at a time when shootings and murders have sharply risen.The issue cuts across racial and class lines: Two Black moderate Democratic candidates, Eric Adams and Raymond J. McGuire, have voiced concerns — echoed among other Black lawmakers in the city — that defunding the police would worsen crime in neighborhoods that suffer the most from violence.Maya Wiley, a former top counsel for Mr. de Blasio who gained a national following as an analyst for MSNBC, was often critical of the mayor’s handling of policing. Now she appears to be recalibrating her message to avoid using the defund slogan.“The word means different things to different people,” Ms. Wiley said. “We should focus on the clarity of the demands.”Others in the wide-open Democratic field for mayor have sought to distance themselves from the defund movement and instead speak more of the need to bring meaningful change to the Police Department.The debate over the defund movement has roiled the Democratic Party over concerns that the slogan scared away moderate voters during the election in November. Some Democratic leaders blamed candidates’ embrace of the movement for the party’s losses in the House.President Barack Obama discouraged candidates from using the slogan — arguing you have “lost a big audience the minute you say it” — while leaders on the progressive left like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended it and blamed moderates for running weak campaigns.Even in Minneapolis, where Mr. Floyd was killed by the police, efforts to essentially dismantle the city’s police department collapsed. A far less ambitious move — cutting the police budget by 4.5 percent — was approved in December, disappointing defund supporters.In a survey of the nine leading Democratic mayoral hopefuls, only two said they supported the defund movement: Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, and Carlos Menchaca, a councilman from Brooklyn.Some defund activists are expected to raise their demands and ask that the city cut as much as half of the police budget this summer.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesThe race for mayor this year may be the city’s most consequential in a generation, with New York facing a resurgence of the coronavirus that may prolong and worsen the city’s economic crisis. The pandemic’s effect on the city has overshadowed other issues on the campaign trail, including defunding the police.Many of the campaigns have commissioned polls to measure which issues voters want the next mayor to prioritize, and they have consulted with policing experts about how to tackle reforms. Keeping New Yorkers safe from the pandemic was the top concern in one poll; defunding the police was not among the Top 10 issues, with voters caring more about keeping crime down.“A lot of people, including in communities impacted by policing, bristle at the term,” Barry Friedman, a professor and director of the Policing Project at New York University School of Law, said of the defund slogan. “There are people who are frustrated at how police respond to situations, but don’t think they’re going to be safer without the police.”Still, many left-leaning leaders in New York are committed to trying to keep defund efforts alive. Two advocacy groups and one union — Make the Road Action, Community Voices Heard Power and 1199 Service Employees International Union — plan to unveil an independent expenditure committee to make the defund movement one of the top issues in the mayor’s race.The New York City Democratic Socialists of America, which helped Ms. Ocasio-Cortez win her primary in 2018, intends to make a concerted push to make defunding the police a key issue, according to the group’s co-chairwoman, Sumathy Kumar.Tiffany Cabán, a progressive-backed City Council candidate who nearly scored an upset win in the 2019 Democratic primary for Queens district attorney, wrote a 40-page public safety platform that is expected to be the philosophical basis that defund supporters running for mayor or City Council organize around.Protesters set up camp outside City Hall last year, hoping to pressure the City Council to cut at least $1 billion from the police budget.Credit…Amr Alfiky/The New York TimesMs. Cabán has spoken with Ms. Morales, Ms. Wiley and Mr. Stringer about what proponents of defunding the police want. She said she often had to tell candidates that their positions did not go far enough and believes that will change.“There will be a domino effect,” she said. “One of the big, more forward-facing mayoral candidates is going to release their comprehensive police plan, and everyone else is going to have an answer to it.”Mr. Stringer, who has won endorsement from several progressive leaders who support the defund movement, said that he was “the first elected official to put forth a detailed proposal to reduce the N.Y.P.D.’s budget by $1 billion,” and that his “position on these issues has not changed.”But when asked directly whether he supports defunding the police, Mr. Stringer gave a more indirect answer, saying that he wanted to “make concrete change when it comes to systemic racism and our criminal justice system.” Mr. Stringer will soon release a report that explains his policy ideas to transform policing that he says is more ambitious than his proposal in June. The report, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times, does not mention the word “defund” or cite a dollar figure for budget cuts, but it outlines how he would move certain responsibilities away from the Police Department and identifies specific areas for reinvestment in communities.Most of the other major candidates seemed even less likely to make major cuts to the police budget.Mr. McGuire, who served on the New York City Police Foundation, has called for “better policing with greater accountability, not fewer police officers,” even as he has said that as a Black man he could “easily be the next George Floyd” — a contrast that he does not view as a contradiction.Mr. Adams, a former police officer, said that he does not “support taking resources away from crime fighting — especially in communities of color where shootings and other predatory crimes are on the rise.”Ms. Wiley said at a recent mayoral forum that the Police Department budget was “bloated,” but declined to say how much she would seek to cut police spending.“I don’t have a number for you, but that’s because it has been such a black box,” Ms. Wiley said. “There really is so little transparency about what and how the budget is spent.”Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, has called for “police reform through strict accountability and structural change,” including raising the minimum age of recruits to 25 and holding “police officers accountable for depraved acts with a zero-tolerance policy.”Shaun Donovan, the former federal housing secretary and budget director, called for a reduction in “overpolicing” and reinvestment in “wraparound social services.”Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, said the Police Department needs resources to address rising crime, but he supported shifting some of its funding to other city agencies that could better handle certain issues.“Not every problem requires an armed police officer,” Mr. Yang said.Last year was New York City’s bloodiest in nearly a decade with more than 460 homicides; the number of shooting victims doubled to more than 1,500. Mr. de Blasio and police leaders have blamed the economic losses and upheaval of the pandemic.Murders surged in Black and Latino neighborhoods including East Harlem, East New York in Brooklyn, Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, and areas near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. In the 73rd Precinct in Brooklyn, which includes Brownsville and where about 70 percent of residents are Black, there were 25 murders last year, compared with 11 in 2019.The June 22 Democratic primary will take place just days before the City Council’s deadline to approve the budget for the next fiscal year, all but assuring that the push to defund will be in the public and political discourse.Last June, the defund effort led the city to pass a budget that called for the Police Department to suffer “$1 billion in cuts and cost shifts,” according to the mayor. But an analysis by the Independent Budget Office concluded that a smaller portion of the police budget was actually cut, and some of the losses were spread out over a number of years.Mr. Menchaca voted against that budget because it failed to cut $1 billion from the Police Department; he said he plans to raise the issue during upcoming Council budget negotiations.The defund movement, he said, “is going to be on the ballot.”Ms. Morales said she reached out to the Brooklyn Movement Center last summer to get a sense of what defund advocates expected from the next mayor. She now wants to cut $3 billion from the police budget — a position that has won her support among defund advocates.“We need to take that money and invest it in meeting people’s needs,” she said at a recent mayoral forum.Anthonine Pierre, deputy director of the Brooklyn Movement Center and a member of Communities United for Police Reform, one of the architects of the city’s defund movement, said that she was not surprised that more mainstream candidates have not reached out to her group because they think of “defund the police” as a communications strategy.“Scott Stringer has had over a two-decade career in New York City politics, and never has police accountability been a banner issue for him,” said Ms. Pierre, who worked for Mr. Stringer in 2008 when he was the Manhattan borough president.“There is really a lack of courage from these candidates,” she said, adding that she would welcome discussions with the mayoral field — or a direct message on Twitter.“My DMs are open,” she said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More