Mayoral race

An Overview of candidates

By Abel Bellows

This is a crazy year for elections. From mayoral to city comptroller to city councilman, the city is choosing its political future. Thankfully, the Wolf Press is here to help you understand who the mayoral candidates really are.

This year NYC is using ranked choice voting which means that there are a LOT of mayoral candidates.

Here is a brief summary of a few of the Wolf Press's featured candidates:

Andrew Yang: Andrew yang is a silicon valley tycoon turned presidential candidate turned mayoral candidate. He is not native to the state and believes in giving families money to offset the costs of living in NYC.

Kathryn Garcia: A former head of the sanitation department

Analysis of Andrew Yang’s Mayoral Campaign

by Christine Li

Former Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, 46, quickly became one of the top contenders for mayor when he entered the stormy race after conceding his presidential one in 2020. The “Math Guy” as he calls himself, ended his presidential campaign in New Hampshire to his disappointed supporters or the “Yang Gang” after branding himself as a businessman and an 'Asian man who likes math', which to him was the exact opposite of Donald Trump, the supposed Republican nominee. In his concession address, he said “While there is great work left to be done, you know I am the math guy, and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race," However, in December, Yang filed the paperwork to appear on the ballot for the city. 

The role of mayor in New York City is very similar to the typical role of mayor, but it is contrasting for its massive population and the many issues the population accommodates for. Whoever wins the Democratic primary on June 22nd is predicted to win the race later this year in November. But becoming the next mayor comes with the burden of helping the city come back from the pandemic to normalcy, as well as other lasting problems including crime, housing, jobs, and the basic quality of the city and work to restore it to the city full of potential and prospects! 

Born on January 13th, 1975 in  Schenectady, New York to Taiwanese immigrants, Yang moved to the city when he was 21 right after college, where he studied political science and economics at Brown and later at Columbia for law. In nyc, he got married to his wife Evelyn, and now has two sons. He briefly worked as a corporate lawyer before failing a tech startup he founded in 2000. He would later become the CEO of an educational company from Koreatown called Manhattan Prep in 2006 that would be bought by Kaplan in 2009. Now, he is the founder of a Non-Profit organization called Venture for America that aids college graduates with opportunities. President Obama also named him Champion of Change and an Ambassador of Entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, he would later fail to get the Democratic nomination for President to current President Joe Biden. 

Yangs Presidential Campaign revolved around a big idea of a “Universal Basic Income ''. His proposal involved strengthening current welfare programs and giving $1000 to every eighteen-year-old and older American citizen taking the inspiration from Alaska, which gives checks to their citizens from inera and gas leases. He states to ABC: “What we have to do is make it a right of citizenship for all Americans and do what they are doing in Alaska with oil money, with technology money for everyone around the country”. He also has targeted automation as a focus issue. On the subject, he implies “We automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa -- all of the swings states that Donald Trump needed to win and did win...There's a straight line up between the adoption of industrial robots in a community and the movement towards Donald Trump." He hopes to tax big companies like Google and Amazon for their cause in the increasing retail store closures that affect job loss. Something his opponents called out as breaking up the big tech companies. In the end, he was able to make $1.7 million in the first quarter and $2.8 million in the second from 80,000 donors, allowing him to qualify for the Primary debate, but leaving the race soon after failing to compete with his far more popular competitors.

After much speculation, he joined the mayoral race on January 13th. According to his official campaign page, he says, “Seeing New York the way it now hurts my heart. The thought that I might be able to contribute to my city’s revival is both an incredible responsibility and opportunity. What we do in the months ahead will determine our city’s trajectory for decades to come...That’s why I’m running for mayor. I want to serve my community in this time of need and bring bold, innovative solutions to the table. I want to lead us forward as we rise above our current politics. I want to see every last New Yorker thrive in our City.” He also brings up policies he will implicate verbalizing “We will run the largest basic income program in US history and we will rebuild the economy and how the City is run so that it doesn’t simply restore the status quo but creates a City that works for all New Yorkers”, noting the revival of his Basic Income proposal to NYC. Other proposals for the economy include a human-centered economy through a Peoples Bank and other changes to make the city more sustainable. He has been endorsed as Mayor by congresspeople Grace Meng and Ritchie Torres, as well as celebrities like Amy Schumer. Though not as big as Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX and co-founded PayPal and endorsed his presidential campaign. 

One of Yang's strengths is big proposals that get people's attention like giving people monthly payments just for being a citizen and his lack of political experience, something that appeals to those who have lost trust in politicians they feel don't represent or understand them. Yet, his lack of experience compared to his competitors like Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, also got him criticism. Outcrys was also present by people for his inconsistent opinions such as blaming the United Federation of Teachers as the cause of slow school re-openings, but then changing his opinion after a talk with head, Michael Mulgrew. But most notably, he has been attacked for not being a native New Yorker, something people saw as a red flag, seeing that he may not be able to understand the day to day challenges average New Yorkers face. 

Although more would be uncovered as the race progressed, people will be sure to pay attention this June and await the results of who will govern our city.

Kathryn Garcia Mayoral Campaign

By: Lila Butterworth

Kathryn Garcia, 51,  is in a strong position right now with two major newspaper endorsements, from the NYTimes Editorial Board and the NY Daily News. 

“It is Kathryn Garcia who best understands how to get New York back on its feet and has the temperament and the experience to do so. Ms. Garcia has our endorsement in perhaps the most consequential mayoral contest in a generation.” - The New York Times Editorial Board.

“The candidate best equipped to guide us through this difficult moment is Kathryn Garcia.” - The New York Daily News.

As the head of the sanitation department her experience dealing with crises is catching the attention of many voters. During Superstorm Sandy when the wastewater treatment system went down Garcia got it back up and running. When lead in paint poisoned hundreds of children in public housing in 2019 Mayor Bill de Blasio put Garcia on the job and that summer lead poisoning in children fell by %21. She created safer, less polluted, and quieter streets by halving the traffic from commercial garbage trucks. Her work during the pandemic lowered the amount of exposure to the virus thousands of city workers get and delivered over 200 million meals to New Yorkers stuck at home. This and her 14 years of government experience all contribute to her growing popularity. Some of her priorities include public safety and police reform, fighting Climate Change, creating safe and affordable housing, an easy and effective education system, and safe, affordable, and efficient public transportation.

Born on March 3rd, 1970, Garcia grew up in Brooklyn with her adopted mother and father and four multi-racial siblings. Garcia has lived in NYC, specifically Brooklyn, her whole life and now raises two kids in the same neighborhood she grew up in. Garcia reflects on her experience growing up in a multi-racial family on her official mayoral campaign website, “As a white kid growing up with black siblings, the beauty and strength of New York’s diversity was present in my family, but, so were its short-comings. My siblings and I are treated differently based on the color of our skin or even our gender. Being a part of my uniquely New York family instilled in me early in life my values of equality and opportunity. I want to create a New York where all our complex identities are embraced and together they make the city a stronger and more beautiful place. It is this exciting intersection of ethnicities, talents and experiences which makes NY so special.”