Stringer, Scott M
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Why Sexual Misconduct Is Unforgivable but Corruption Is Overlooked
Two candidates in the New York race for mayor have been accused of wrongdoing. One has been urged to drop out of the race; the other is gaining strength.A year ago, if you had asked anyone who has spent time around New York City politics who would next become mayor, you were likely to hear that the election of Scott Stringer was more or less assured. Ranked-choice voting would probably favor him. A lifelong public servant, a son of Washington Heights, a wonk, an advocate — fighting for housing justice and climate justice and all the justices — he seemed like a pot roast on a damp night in midwinter: satisfying, if not abundant in memorable flavor.It was hard to foresee that the kind of candidate who could brag about having “fixed the back office” of the city’s pension fund would find himself engulfed in scandal, and yet here we are. As the city’s comptroller, Mr. Stringer had spent the past seven years rooting around in the mess of bureaucracy, issuing audit after audit, finding waste here and inefficiency there. In 2016, for example, his office uncovered that the city was spending $400,000 a day on hotel rooms for the homeless; two years later, that “a shocking 27 percent of commercial waste vehicles have been issued at least one red light camera violation.” A Stringer mayoralty, as one friend recently remarked, would provide a daily streaming of “competence porn.”Charisma, as the Trump era reiterated, allows people to overlook a litany of political sins. Among contenders in the Democratic mayoral field, Mr. Stringer had already been losing ground to Andrew Yang, he of bodega illiteracy, when a woman came forward late last month with accusations of sexual impropriety.Jean Kim, who volunteered on Mr. Stringer’s unsuccessful campaign for public advocate 20 years ago when she was 30, said that during that time, when both were unmarried, Mr. Stringer kissed her and groped her and tried to pressure her into sleeping with him, exploiting his stature in politics, when she wasn’t interested. Mr. Stringer, in turn, has denied the allegations, arguing that their involvement had been “light” and consensual. Ms. Kim and her many vocal allies view the interactions as assault.Jean Kim, a former intern to Scott Stringer, accused the mayoral candidate of sexual abuse and harrasment at a press conference in April.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesWhatever the truth, the judgment was swift. Mr. Stringer’s eventual defeat began to seem much more of a foregone conclusion, the result of a mind-set among many Democrats, particularly young ones, who regard sexual misdeeds as unparalleled in terms of their severity and demand for obliterating consequence.The most recent mayoral poll, of more than 1,000 Democratic voters, the first to be conducted after Ms. Kim’s allegations, had Mr. Stringer’s support dropping by 5 points, with Mr. Yang in the lead and Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams essentially in second place.A decade ago, when Mr. Adams served in the state legislature, as chairman of the Senate Racing and Wagering Committee, he appeared on the radar of the state inspector general’s office for his involvement in the selection of a slot-machine operator at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. The company initially chosen — and then ultimately rejected after public outcry — had offered a bid $100 million below its competitors’ for the licensing fee.The 308-page report produced by the inspector’s office concluded that Mr. Adams had given investigators dubious testimony about the process, accepted campaign money from the operator first selected and then showed up at a celebratory dinner in which the company toasted its winning bid. Like Mr. Stringer, he has never been charged with anything; each has denied any lapses in ethical conduct. But the paths of the two candidates diverge in the way that these old allegations around Mr. Adams, more deeply substantiated, have appeared to have no effect on his current standing in the race.As it happens, corruption — real or insinuated — is often hard for ordinary people to understand, while for so many women, the abuses of men are all too easily pulled from the archives of personal recollection. Amid companion crises in the Cuomo administration, for example, the sexual misconduct allegations against the governor upstaged the efforts on the part of his office to obscure the death toll in state nursing homes.Four years ago, an article in the Annual Review of Political Science looked at voter response to corruption charges in democratic elections around the world and found that “voters keep re-electing politicians who steal from them.” Even when corruption is obvious, people are often willing to overlook it when weighed against other variables. Two years ago, Jasiel Correia, then a young mayor of Fall River, Mass., who was facing federal bribery, fraud and extortion charges, managed to be recalled and re-elected on the same day.Scott Stringer at a “Women for Stringer” comptroller campaign rally at the Harriet Tubman Memorial Statute in Harlem in August 2013.Michael Nagle for The New York TimesMr. Stringer’s situation is particularly striking, given that he won the race for comptroller eight years ago as the candidate of choice among young feminists who were not about to raise their champagne flutes for Eliot Spitzer, forced to leave office in 2008 because of his dalliances with prostitutes. At a fund-raiser for Mr. Stringer in Chelsea, late in the summer of 2013, there were Vogue editors and Lena Dunham out to show their support, improbably enough, for a candidate described by Women’s Wear Daily as an “avuncular man who has the countenance of an Upper West Side accountant.” They had been corralled by Audrey Gelman, his press secretary, who would go on to rise and fall as the founder of the women’s co-working space, the Wing..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-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.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-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 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:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Now, though, young women — especially those occupying prominent political positions on the left — are abandoning Mr. Stringer. Among the first to rescind an endorsement was a close friend and ally, State Senator Jessica Ramos, 35 years old and elected in 2018, who maintained in a statement that after Ms. Kim “came forward to share her truth,” it was “our duty to listen.” Soon the Working Families Party vacated Mr. Stringer’s camp as well.But despite the aura of finality around his campaign, there is another truth. Young voters are notoriously loath to turn out in local elections. Data from a few recent races in New York indicates that Democratic women between the ages of 18 to 34 are less likely to show up at the polls than voters over 40 — even when a dynamic, young female candidate presents herself.Three years ago, in the primary that sent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Congress, women in that cohort turned out at a rate of only 7 percent, nearly half the proportion of those over 40 who voted.More concerning than anything else in this election cycle is the extent to which so many New Yorkers remain oblivious to the particulars of the mayoral race at a moment profoundly critical to the city’s future. People who several months ago might have been able to predict the outcome of the Georgia Senate runoffs in Lamar County to one-tenth of a percent have little ability to differentiate among the candidates beyond viral details like Mr. Stringer’s harassment allegations, Mr. Yang’s goofy levity and Shaun Donovan’s limited understanding of the Brooklyn housing market.Regardless of the whether the accusations against Mr. Stringer and Mr. Adams prove spurious or damning, one thing is true, at least for now. Two men accused of wrongdoing are ahead of women who are accused of nothing. More
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How to Watch the N.Y.C. Mayoral Debate
The first debate, featuring eight candidates, takes place Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. The first official debate between eight major Democratic candidates for mayor of New York City takes place Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. There are less than six weeks left until the June 22 primary election, and the race is arguably the most consequential New York City election in decades. The candidates — who will face off virtually in the first debate but are expected to be in person for later ones — are Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Raymond J. McGuire, Dianne Morales, Scott M. Stringer, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang.Here are some of the ways you can watch and follow the debate:Reporters from The New York Times will provide commentary and analysis throughout the evening.The debate will be televised on Spectrum News NY1 and the Spanish-language channel Spectrum Noticias NY1. Those outlets will also livestream the debate on their websites and through their Facebook pages.The public radio station WNYC will stream the debate on 93.9 FM and AM 820. Listeners can also tune in on the station’s website.Other streams are expected to be available on YouTube. More
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N.Y.C. Mayoral Candidates Prepare to Face Off in Debate
The two-hour debate is unfolding in a moment of economic uncertainty for New York City, and against a backdrop of a spike in gun violence.For many months, the most consequential New York City mayor’s race in a generation has been overshadowed by a pandemic, upheaval in Washington and political burnout in the aftermath of the presidential election.Now, the mayoral candidates are racing to take advantage of what they hope will be their turn in the spotlight.On Thursday, with less than six weeks before the June 22 Democratic primary that is likely to determine the next mayor, eight Democratic contenders will have their most significant opportunity yet to introduce themselves and to capture voter attention, as they convene by video for the first of three official primary debates.The two-hour debate, co-hosted at 7 p.m. by Spectrum News NY1, is unfolding at an inflection point for a city, a period marked by both economic uncertainty and the reopening of businesses, a spike in gun violence and a surge of hope around vaccinations. The election will play a crucial role in determining whether the city retains its standing as a cultural and financial capital of the world in the pandemic’s aftermath.In many ways, the race is unsettled. Left-wing activists and voters who have been decisive in other recent New York races are divided over how to wield their influence, after the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer — a leading progressive candidate — was accused of sexual assault. He denied the allegation, but it sapped his momentum, and many high-profile endorsers have dropped their support for him.The city comptroller, Scott Stringer, is struggling to hold onto progressive support after a sexual-abuse allegation from 20 years ago hurt his campaign.Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesSparse public polling suggests that Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, and Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, are the top-tier contenders, with other candidates strategizing around how to cut into their leads.For the rest of the field, time is running short to break out of the pack, and the debate represents the best chance yet to communicate with voters who are just beginning to tune in.“The debate is very important because it gives voters the opportunity to really compare and contrast, to get a sense of all of us next to each other,” said Kathryn Garcia, the former city sanitation commissioner who has been one of the lower-polling candidates, but has attracted fresh interest from some Democrats following an endorsement from The New York Times editorial board.The virtual format may limit opportunities for fireworks and breakout moments, but candidates have nevertheless been preparing for this moment for weeks, poring over policy briefings, huddling with advisers over video chats and in person and doing full-on mock debates.Mr. Yang, who is experienced on the presidential debate stage but new to the front-runner’s spotlight, has participated in mock debate sessions with several high-profile stand-ins, as his team braces for an onslaught of attacks.A former mayoral rival, Carlos Menchaca, a city councilman who has endorsed Mr. Yang, has played Dianne Morales, the left-wing former nonprofit executive; Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, has played Mr. Adams; Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal of Queens has been a stand-in for Mr. Stringer; and Sasha Ahuja, Mr. Yang’s co-campaign manager, has played Maya D. Wiley, according to someone familiar with Mr. Yang’s debate preparations.Mr. Yang will take the virtual stage as he deals with controversy tied to a statement he made this week of unqualified support for Israel, remarks he sought to modulate on Wednesday amid an outcry on the left and pushback from some of his own volunteers and staff.For Mr. Yang, who has generally led the available polls since he entered the race in January, the debate will test his ability to weather the kind of sustained scrutiny that he never faced onstage as a low-polling presidential candidate, and his opponents have already previewed attacks on his experience and his ties to the city’s civic fabric.Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, is thought to be one of two front-runners in the New York City mayor’s race.Elizabeth D. Herman for The New York TimesMr. Adams has held mock debates, too, with advisers playing the role of his opponents and the moderator. As he has risen in some polls, a number of candidates have increasingly sought to draw overt contrasts with him, a dynamic that is likely to continue onstage, reflecting his standing in the race.Raymond J. McGuire, a former Citi executive, has practiced, with the help of a team of advisers, from his Upper West Side apartment. Ms. Garcia has been peppered with questions from staff members and consultants, “timing me and being like, ‘you’re over a minute, you’re under a minute,’” she said. Shaun Donovan, the former federal housing secretary, has sought to simulate as many of the debate conditions as possible, rehearsing over video in the evenings.“When the story of this campaign is written, this is going to be one of the first things regular voters ever heard about,” said Joshua Karp, a Donovan adviser who said he ran debate prep for Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and the Democratic National Committee chairman, Jaime Harrison, during Mr. Harrison’s South Carolina Senate bid.There is a debate planned for May 26 for the two Republican candidates, Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, and Fernando Mateo, a restaurant operator who has led or founded Hispanics Across America, the state Federation of Taxi Drivers and United Bodegas of America..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-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.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-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 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:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}The debate among the eight Democratic candidates who met the threshold to participate will take place less than a week after a shooting in Times Square, and the contenders are almost certain to engage one another over matters of public safety and the power of the police.Mr. Adams, Mr. Yang and Mr. McGuire all rushed to Times Square in the aftermath of the shooting, speaking soberly about gun violence and crime, even as they have also stressed their support for reforming policing. Other more left-wing candidates have kept their focus more squarely on matters of police accountability. And on Tuesday, Ms. Garcia, Ms. Wiley and Mr. Donovan all held events discussing gun violence and policing.Mr. Adams, a former police officer who pushed to change Police Department policy from within the system, has made public safety a centerpiece of his campaign — the “prerequisite” to prosperity, he often says.In a sign of one possible line of interrogation to come, Mr. McGuire wrote on Twitter on Wednesday: “I guess my question for the cop-turned-career politicians is: in all that time, what have you done?”Then there is the contest for the left wing of the party.Mr. Stringer had appeared on the cusp of coalescing progressive organizations and leaders around his campaign until about two weeks ago, when Jean Kim, an unpaid worker on his 2001 public advocate race, came forward with allegations of unwanted sexual advances. Mr. Stringer has strongly denied the allegations, but the accusation threw Mr. Stringer’s campaign into turmoil. Many of his most high-profile left-wing endorsers, who had been a central part of Mr. Stringer’s pitch, abandoned him, despite seeing him as the most viable of the left-leaning contenders.The controversy surrounding Mr. Stringer has given room for other left-leaning candidates like Maya Wiley, center, and Dianne Morales.Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesThe Working Families Party, which had supported Mr. Stringer as its first choice, is now backing Ms. Morales and Ms. Wiley. Some on the left have also made joint endorsements, while others will be watching the debate closely to decide whether to do a joint endorsement, to elevate one contender over the other in a ranked-choice endorsement or to sit out the endorsement process entirely.“You have a splintering of support among the people who would otherwise maybe coalesce around a single candidate,” said Susan Kang, a steering committee member of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists. “It seems, to me, very fractured.”Mr. Stringer, however, is a well-funded candidate and an experienced debater who is receiving both political backing and air cover from powerful teachers’ unions and may continue to hold onto his Upper West Side base despite losing prominent left-wing endorsers.“One of the things I think will be clear in this debate is, we cannot have a mayoralty on training wheels when we’re in our biggest challenge,” Mr. Stringer said on Wednesday.As for his debate preparations?“Top secret,” he said. 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Mayoral Candidates Respond to the Shooting in Times Square
[Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Tuesday. Weather: Sunny early, turning cloudy and breezy later, with scattered showers. High in the mid-60s. Alternate-side parking: In effect until Thursday (Solemnity of the Ascension and Eid al-Fitr). Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesA shooting near Seventh Avenue and West 45th Street on Saturday afternoon left three bystanders wounded: a 4-year-old Brooklyn girl who was shopping for toys with her family, a 23-year-old tourist from Rhode Island and a 43-year-old woman from New Jersey.But coming six weeks before the June 22 mayoral primary, and as the city is gearing up to welcome back throngs of tourists, the episode quickly became more than just a disturbing act of violence in one of New York City’s most familiar locales.Mayoral candidates said the shooting was emblematic of the city’s growing crime problem and moved quickly to showcase how they would address the issue.[The shooting became a flash point in the race for mayor, further cementing public safety as a top political issue.]Eric AdamsMr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, said he would hire officers with the skills and temperament to work in a plainclothes anti-violence unit. Mayor Bill de Blasio disbanded such a unit last year. Mr. Adams would also create a special citywide prosecutor for illegal-gun cases.“This gun violence has been real for countless New Yorkers for years, and as the chief executive, the mayor of the city, we can’t wait until crises happen in the center of Manhattan,” he said. “We have to respond before then.”Kathryn GarciaMs. Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, said she would increase community policing and boost an N.Y.P.D. division focused on identifying people or groups that traffic or sell illegal guns.“We must see the full picture and prioritize efforts to prevent the underlying causes of crime, including access to jobs, housing, education, and by working with violence prevention programs at the community level,” she said.Andrew YangMr. Yang, a former presidential candidate, said he would reinstitute the plainclothes unit and populate it with better-trained officers with clean records. He said New York could not afford to “defund the police.”“Nothing works in our city without public safety, and for public safety, we need the police,” Mr. Yang said. “My message to the N.Y.P.D. is this: New York needs you. Your city needs you.”Raymond J. McGuireMr. McGuire, a former Citi executive, said the city should increase the number of officers focused on reducing the number of guns available to people. He said courts should keep repeat offenders off the streets.“As gun violence continues to rise in our city at alarming rates, the fix isn’t to defund and disarm, leaving the most vulnerable and often forgotten neighborhoods unprotected,” he said, “nor is the answer going back to Giuliani-era police tactics like some have suggested.”Maya WileyMs. Wiley, a former counsel to Mr. de Blasio, said she would invest in “trauma-informed” mental health care and in summer youth employment programs.“We will right-size the New York City Police Department to focus on its job so it does it effectively and efficiently, because we have a police department that’s the size of an army,” she said.Dianne MoralesMs. Morales, a nonprofit executive, has said she wants to more than halve the Police Department’s operating budget.“We need bigger solutions than the police,” she said on Twitter. “We have enough resources to finally address the conditions that got us here. This is our time to do just that.”Scott StringerMr. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, said on Twitter, “Once again we are witness to another terrible tragedy.”“Enough,” he continued. “We must end gun violence in our communities, get guns off our streets, and enact change to keep New Yorkers safe.”Shaun DonovanMr. Donovan, a former White House budget director, said in a recent television interview that officers should be more focused on addressing gun violence than on ticketing motorists or addressing mental health issues.“N.Y.C. will never truly recover if we fail to address the pandemic of gun violence that continues to grip our city and country,” he said in a statement on Monday.Read more about the mayor’s race:Yang’s Latest Endorsement Shows Momentum With a Key Voting BlocMost of Stringer’s Supporters Have Fled. Not the Teachers’ Union.From The TimesAs Cuomo Fights for Survival, He Revives His Combative ImageThe Strange New Life of Vaccine SitesRough Trade Record Store Has an Unlikely New Home: 30 RockWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingA team of advisers — and fame, charisma and hustle — have helped make Andrew Yang a front-runner in the New York City mayoral race. [New York Magazine]In an unprovoked attack, a tourist was stabbed with a screwdriver by a stranger on a subway train in Manhattan. [Daily News]A bill signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated people expands the number of eligible voters for the primary election. [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-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.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-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 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:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}And finally: Pop-up vaccinations in subway stations Vaccinations have helped drive down Covid-19 positivity rates and hospitalizations across New York State. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that the number of hospitalizations statewide was 2,016, the lowest since Nov. 15. The statewide seven-day average rate of positive test results announced by the state on Sunday — 1.45 percent — was the lowest since Oct. 28.But Mr. Cuomo warned that the pace of vaccinations was tapering off, both in New York and nationwide, potentially allowing the coronavirus to linger.So New York, like other states and cities, is trying to get creative.Mr. Cuomo announced a new pilot program to boost the flagging vaccination campaign: setting up temporary walk-in vaccination sites at eight subway and train stations for the next few days.From Wednesday to Sunday, the walk-in sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens; East 180th Street in the Bronx; and at Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn.Another site will be open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Broadway Junction in Brooklyn.Sites at the Long Island Rail Road station in Hempstead and a Metro-North Railroad station in Ossining will be open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.Walk-in vaccination sites will also be open at Penn Station in Manhattan from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and at Grand Central Terminal from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.People vaccinated at the subway and rail locations can get a free seven-day MetroCard or two free one-way tickets for the Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North. Officials will use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the stations, Mr. Cuomo said, adding that the program may be extended.It’s Tuesday — take a ride.Metropolitan Diary: Model citizen Dear Diary:For my daily commute between Chelsea and the East Village, sometimes I walked, but mostly I took the subway.I was on a mission to practice my drawing, and I filled many small sketchbooks with spontaneous portraits of riders as they napped, meditated and read.Some riders enjoyed looking at my pencil marks, and I had many delightful, and occasionally rather meaningful, conversations.One day, I noticed a young man in soldier’s fatigues watching me as I sketched a rider who was reading. When that person left the car, I began to glance around for my next sketching opportunity.The young man in the fatigues placed himself directly across from me, smiled coyly, pointed at himself and posed.He was proud, handsome and a great model. In the few minutes we had, I sketched him with care, hoping he would remain safe.— Robin KappyNew 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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Shootings and Subway Attacks Put Crime at Center of N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race
Rising concerns over crime have led candidates to issue strong appeals for public safety, less than a year after the city was under pressure to defund the police.A shooting in Times Square, a spike in gun violence and a spate of high-profile attacks on subway riders have pushed concerns over crime and public safety to the forefront of the New York City mayor’s race, altering the trajectory of the contest as the June 22 primary approaches.A year after the rise of the “defund the police” movement amid an outcry over racial injustice, the primary will offer one of the first tests of where Democratic voters stand as the country emerges from the pandemic but confronts a rise in gun violence in major cities like New York.The shooting on Saturday in Times Square, the heart of tourism and transit in New York City, injured three bystanders, including a 4-year-old girl, a woman from New Jersey and a Rhode Island tourist who had been hoping to visit the Statue of Liberty.Two of the leading mayoral candidates rushed to the scene.Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, held a Sunday morning news conference where he declared that “nothing works in our city without public safety, and for public safety, we need the police.” Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, went to Times Square twice: on Saturday, hours after the shooting, and again the following afternoon.On Monday, Raymond J. McGuire appeared there as well, walking a careful line between calling for stronger policing and discussing how, “as a 6-foot-4, 200-pound Black man in America,” he understands how the police can violate civil rights.The rising concerns over crime have given those candidates a fresh opening to make forceful cases for public safety and the role it plays in New York’s recovery from the pandemic.The moment is also testing whether the most left-wing candidates in the race, whose far-reaching proposals to rein in the power of the New York Police Department reflected widespread protests over racial injustice last year, will resonate in the same way when the city may be at a different kind of inflection point.As of May 2, 132 people have been killed compared with 113 this same time last year, a 17 percent increase, according to Police Department statistics. There have been 416 shooting incidents compared with 227 this time last year, an 83 percent increase.In one sign of just how central matters of public safety are becoming in the race, at least three different candidates plan to discuss the issue on Tuesday. Maya D. Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, is slated to unveil her policing plan; the former federal housing secretary, Shaun Donovan, is expected in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, which has been hit especially hard by gun violence over the last year, to discuss “his plans to eliminate the out-of-state gun pipeline”; and Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, intends to roll out a gun violence prevention proposal.“We’re in a very precarious position,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader. “People are afraid of the cops and the robbers. We have both of them that we’ve got to deal with. And anyone that cannot come up with a comprehensive plan that threads the needle of both should not be running for mayor.”Mr. Sharpton said he intends to press mayoral candidates on issues of both overpolicing and gun violence at a forum in coming weeks.More than any other candidate in the race, Mr. Adams offers the clearest test of the potency of a message centered on public safety, which he describes as the “prerequisite” to prosperity. Mr. Adams, a former police officer who has pushed for reforms within the system and says he has been a victim of police brutality himself, has been vocal for weeks about the rise in gun violence. On Monday, he was talking about those issues again, standing outside a Manhattan subway station where a woman was recently assaulted.“This city is out of control,” Mr. Adams said. “That’s what has changed in this mayoral race: People are finally hearing me. We don’t have to live like this.”He and other Democratic candidates contend that there is no conflict between urging a robust police response to crime, and insisting on changes to regulate police misconduct and violence.Even before the Times Square shooting, there were mounting signs that public safety was intensifying as a concern in New York: a Spectrum News NY1/Ipsos poll released late last month found that “crime or violence” was a major concern for New York Democrats, second only to the coronavirus.Jade Lundy, a child-care worker who lives in the Bronx, said she has begun taking more precautions because there seems to be an uptick in crime, which she blamed on economic hardship caused by the pandemic.“I don’t take out my phone anymore,” she said Monday afternoon as she headed for the subway to the Bronx, from Times Square. Ms. Lundy, who recently turned 18, said she plans to vote in the mayoral election and has just begun learning about the candidates.“I want someone who can make us feel safer,” Ms. Lundy said. “Especially for the women. We have it harder out here.”A spate of crimes targeting Asian-Americans have also alarmed New Yorkers across the city, some candidates say..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-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.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-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 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:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}“That makes them very worried about the city, and particularly for people who have lived here a long time,” said Ms. Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner. For those New Yorkers, she said, some wonder, “Are we back in the ‘70s and ‘80s?”The incidents of violent crime are nowhere near the sky-high numbers of earlier eras in New York, and while shootings and homicides are up, other crimes have been down this spring. Nonetheless, other elected officials also reached for comparisons to the city’s so-called bad old days even as they stressed that they do not believe the current moment is equivalent.“Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, people that lived here, including myself, you know, we witnessed some pretty nasty stuff,” said Representative Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat. “We don’t want to slip back to that. So I think that that’s going to be a major issue with this year’s mayoral race.” Mr. Espaillat is currently neutral after pulling his endorsement from the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, following an allegation of sexual misconduct, which Mr. Stringer denies.Diana Ayala, a councilwoman representing East Harlem and the Bronx who also rescinded her support of Mr. Stringer, said the response from the mayoral candidates to addressing crime will determine if she endorses anyone else for mayor.“Citywide, people are alarmed at the numbers of shootings but quite frankly, those numbers have been pretty consistent in my district for the last three and a half years,” Ms. Ayala said. “Every summer, even as we speak, we are planning for what’s to come.”Ms. Wiley, who held a news conference on Sunday to decry gun violence, has already released a plan to combat that issue. Her policing plan, according to her campaign, will include proposals like a civilian police commissioner, and ensuring that “final disciplinary authority for police misconduct” will “be in the hands of a new all-civilian neutral body.”She also supports “cutting at least $1 billion from the N.Y.P.D. budget to fund investments in alternatives to policing,” her campaign says. Mr. Stringer has said he supports reallocating $1.1 billion in police funds over four years — while often saying that he does not want a return to the chaos of the 1970s. Mr. Donovan has pledged to cut $3 billion from the police and corrections budget by the end of his first term and direct the money to underserved neighborhoods; Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, wants to cut $3 billion and reallocate those funds as well.Ms. Morales, the most left-wing candidate in the race, was not available for an interview on Monday, but a spokeswoman, Lauren Liles, said Ms. Morales “stands by her emphasis that we need to move away from the false equivalency between policing and public safety.”Many Democrats have also pointed out that Times Square already has a significant police presence, noting that was not enough to prevent a shooting.Mr. McGuire called for a re-examination of bail reform laws in a way that doesn’t violate people’s civil rights.“There’s a difference between someone being thrown into jail for stealing a bag of potato chips and someone who has repeat arrests for gun possession,” Mr. McGuire said. “People arrested in possession of a loaded, illegal firearm cannot be detained by breakfast and walk out of the courthouse and be home by dinner.” More
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Kathryn Garcia for N.Y.C. Mayor: The Times Endorsement
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Most of Scott Stringer's Supporters Have Fled. Not the Teachers' Union
The United Federation of Teachers is boosting Mr. Stringer’s embattled campaign with an advertising blitz. In the weeks since a former campaign volunteer accused Scott M. Stringer of sexual misconduct, many of the Democratic mayoral candidate’s most crucial supporters, including the Working Families Party and a phalanx of progressive politicians, have abandoned his campaign. But powerful teachers’ unions are not only sticking with Mr. Stringer, the city comptroller — they are, starting Tuesday, offering a much-needed boost to his embattled campaign in the form of a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz.The American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers’ union, and the United Federation of Teachers, its large and influential New York City chapter, are the primary backers of the $4 million television and digital advertising effort. The ads and mailers will be paid for by NY 4 Kids, a super PAC created to “keep the issues affecting our schools, kids and teachers front and center in this election,” according to a release from the group. The A.F.T. has contributed $1 million so far, and the PAC has commitments for the remaining $3 million. The effort by the PAC, which is primarily funded by the unions, will more than triple the Stringer campaign’s own spending on ads, which has totaled about $1.3 million so far. The unions make up an essential part of the coalition that is still standing with Mr. Stringer before the Democratic primary in June. But their continued support for the candidate amounts to a very risky political bet for the U.F.T. in particular, which has failed to back a winning candidate for mayor since 1989. The union has significant power over key education decisions, but its influence in the city’s electoral politics could be weakened considerably if it once again bets on the wrong candidate. That has not deterred Randi Weingarten, the president of the A.F.T. and one of the most powerful union leaders in the country, from defending Mr. Stringer. On Sunday, she stood with the candidate and Representative Jerrold Nadler on Mr. Stringer’s home turf, the Upper West Side, to praise his record as a longtime local politician. “I’m very proud of that endorsement because of what Scott has done and what he will do,” said Ms. Weingarten, the former president of the U.F.T. “I think he’ll be a great mayor.”“Am I troubled by the allegations? Of course,” she said, adding, “I’m also a unionist who has dealt with false allegations.”Tyrone Stevens, a spokesman for Mr. Stringer, said the campaign was “thrilled to have the ongoing support of champions for public education, because they know the next mayor needs to be ready on day one to invest in our children and bring our schools back stronger than ever.”Some parents and mayoral candidates have accused the union of slowing the pace of school reopenings in New York over the last year. But with the majority of families still choosing to learn remotely, there is no evidence of a significant public backlash against the union. Other major unions have endorsed Mr. Stringer’s rivals, with several lining up behind Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president. But the U.F.T. backed Mr. Stringer, a longtime ally of the union, last month. When the U.F.T. president, Michael Mulgrew, was asked whether his 200,000-member union would support whoever the Democratic nominee was, he replied that Mr. Stringer would in fact be the nominee.The United Federation of Teachers endorsed Scott Stringer, right, in April.Benjamin Norman for The New York TimesThat was a cheekily confident projection even then, when limited public polling showed Mr. Stringer regularly polling third or fourth in the race. But just a week after the U.F.T. endorsement, Jean Kim, a political lobbyist who worked on a 2001 campaign for Mr. Stringer, said the candidate groped her on several occasions during that race. Mr. Stringer has vehemently denied the allegations, and has said that he and Ms. Kim had a brief, consensual relationship. Mr. Stringer has been competing for the left flank of the city’s electorate against Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit leader, both of whom have picked up endorsements and energy from progressive groups in the wake of Ms. Kim’s allegations. In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Mr. Mulgrew said his union was still backing Mr. Stringer in part because the accusations have not been proven. “One reason why unions got formed is that people get treated unfairly,” Mr. Mulgrew said. “There are lots of allegations all the time in the work we do.”Jeffery C. Mays contributed reporting. More
