We Asked New Yorkers About The Mayoral Race. Most Are Undecided

With the mayoral race heating up, we've decided to hit the streets to talk to New Yorkers across all five boroughs. For this first round, we asked: Who are you planning to vote for and why; what are your general impressions of the candidates; what issues are most important to you; and do you know about ranked-choice voting?

What we heard was similar to what polls have suggested: most residents said they have not tuned into the various campaigns. Of the eight leading Democratic candidates, many struggled to name anyone beyond Andrew Yang, who was mostly remembered for his failed presidential bid and engaging personality. Not surprisingly, many are still undecided about their first choice. 

That’s not to say that those surveyed did not have priorities that will shape their votes—most spoke clearly about a range of issues, including homelessness, public safety and crime, schools, transit and the city’s economic recovery. As a reminder, registered voters will be able to vote early from June 12th through June 20th, and in-person and via mail-in ballot on June 22nd.

Gwendolyn Tucker, non-profit employee, Morris Park, the Bronx

🗳️Undecided ("I don’t even know who’s running at this point")

Candidates pop up out of nowhere. And a lot of people in the communities, in different districts, nobody knows who you are. So you want somebody to vote for you, but you haven't been active in the community. So why should I vote for you? I don't know who you are. Have you been active with the district leaders within the communities? You know they got a little bit of power. They know their community.

Housing is very important to me, [and] education, because they're not handling the autistic children [who] are being left behind. So it's education, homelessness, and the right to have a place to live. My biggest concerns.

Danny Zabar, 37, lifelong Upper West Side resident

🗳️Undecided

I feel like it's really hard to get a complete political stance for any individual candidate. It seems like we're jumping from issue to issue. Candidates are weighing in, but I still don't know who Scott Stringer is as a complete candidate, or any of these people.

Quality of life and crime has been a big issue. Labor issues are always big. I don't think there's an issue with the minimum wage this year, but I think housing has always been a big issue, especially for our workers. A lot of our workers still can't afford housing in Manhattan. So they still commute two, three hours from the depths of Queens, so I think transportation infrastructure is gonna be a big issue, whether we should spend money on this new Hudson tunnel, the LaGuardia AirTrain, and basically moving people around New York and getting our business back.

A lot of people have left. A lot of our customers. We're doing really well shipping our products around the US, but a lot of our regular customers aren't on the Upper West Side anymore, whether they're in a second house or they've moved completely.

Arleen Santana, 27, works at Equinox, South Bronx

🗳️Undecided

Policing. Education. Addressing the violence in New York. Especially youth violence. That’s something that’s close to me right now cause I recently lost somebody. He was a neighbor of mind, he was only 17. He got stabbed. That’s my main concern. That’s kind of our reality we have to live through every day. Nobody has been really addressing those issues. So many of the youth in uptown New York, they don’t have a great relationship with the police for very good reason. They’re always being targeted. In my situation, with what just happened, things probably could have been helped if there was a better relationship with the community and the police. Just putting more funding into programs for the kids. For education, it’s just so important. So many people are struggling. Hopefully we get somebody who does the work and goes into those communities and find out what’s going on. Right now it just feels like so many people they’re not even into politics they think it doesn't affect them because nothing happens when we vote for people. Nobody cares about [the South Bronx]. It’s a disaster right now with all the drug use. The answer for me isn't to put people in jail for that. There has to be some rehab, some help. It shouldn’t all be punishment. It should be about helping people do better.

Amy Cohen, 61, retired court attorney to Bronx Supreme Court justice, Upper West Side

🗳️Undecided

[I'm leaning towards] Scott Stringer, Shaun Donovan, Kathy Garcia, Maya Wiley. Normally, I would be looking for someone who to my mind was the most progressive candidate, which would probably be Shaun Donovan, at least I see him. I'm not sure with the crisis we have because of COVID and the fiscal crisis, that that would be the best choice or not. So then I look at someone like Scott Stringer, who is a little more moderate, but he also is an insider, and I think we might need that.

Vanessa Cuellar, 20, SUNY Albany student, Jackson Heights, Queens

🗳️Undecided

[My top issues are] the street vendors, cheap housing for people who can’t afford it, and cleaning up the communities to keep the city clean.

Read more: Undecided In NYC's Mayoral Race? Here's A Guide To Help

Sandra Cortes, 30, public high school teacher, Jackson Heights, Queens

🗳️Undecided

I’ve heard of Andrew Yang and he seems like somebody I am not voting for because of what he said about the unions, that really turned me off and being a teacher in the UFT. I heard of Eric Adams too, I’m a little bit confused about his messaging, I’m not sure if he is pro police, but at the same time he does pitch himself as a candidate who is from New York so that would be like one campaign that is a little bit confusing for me still.

For me, equity in the public school system [is important]. Probably support expanding early child care... there are working-class people here who need the most support.

Louise Youngson, 45, physical therapist, Upper West Side

🗳️Undecided

What I think so far is that I'm looking for an alternative to our current mayor because I haven't been pleased with how he has handled the school situation during COVID as a mother of three in New York City public schools. And so that's going to be a big part of my decision moving forward. How public schooling is going to be handled in New York City.

David Warner, 27, real estate brokerage owner, Upper West Side

🗳️Undecided

I've heard of Andrew Yang. He seems like a nice guy. I know he's big on universal income, which I think would be very interesting. And he seems to want to help the city, which I think is good. I think we need someone who really cares about the individual people and each individual neighborhood.

I think it's very important that people are treated correctly, and that the police are enforcing areas equally and are really taking care of each neighborhood’s particular needs.

I own a real estate company and I see a lot of underserved areas where there's high rates of crime, and I think they need to have more police-involved in those areas to try and help the communities there, to try and get them to a place where they're similar to the Upper West Side.

Mark Andrew Bieri, 40+, graphic designer, Woodside, Queens

🗳️Voting for Andrew Yang

I’ve been keeping up with it and I do know who I’m voting for as my first choice anyway, which would be Andrew Yang. I was actually supporting him during the presidential primaries, I’ve read his book, “The War On Normal People,” I don’t know if a lot of people have read that in relation to this race but I feel like they should... that really opened my eyes to his policies.

I like Art Chang, as far as his qualifications, I think he is very highly qualified. I don’t know if he has the name recognition that he should, but I like him quite a bit. I was considering some of the other front runners, Eric Adams and Maya Wiley, but recently they’ve both been so negative in their comments and frankly attacks on Andrew Yang, that now I’m really turned off. I think it’s a bad strategy for them because it’s ranked-choice voting this time, so if somebody knows they’re not your first choice, they definitely want to become your second or third choice, and for me that kind of approach is not gonna sell me on them.

For this particular area, because it’s so heavily Asian, you know the attacks against Asians has stolen a lot of the conversation—that’s a priority, obviously the pandemic is a priority, everything else would follow if we got that under control. It might sound a little bit superficial, but I want him to be a kind of a cheerleader.

Andy Solomon, 67, retired lawyer, Upper West Side

🗳️Leaning toward Ray McGuire

McGuire seems to be the only sensible one when it comes to what the real issues are in New York, which is essentially safety on the streets, mental health, in the form of dealing with the people who are on the streets and not in control of themselves, and education, which is completely falling apart in New York.

It seems to me there are a lot of crazies running that have no real idea of what's the problem in New York these days, and that if they don't fix it soon, the future is going to be very bleak. I lived here in the '70s when crime was out of control, the streets and subways were completely unsafe. The city's tax base was falling apart. And eventually, you know, the state and the federal government had to take over running the city. I don't want to see that again.

Letisha Smith, 31, data scientist, Jackson Heights, Queens

🗳️Undecided

I don’t know who I’m voting for and I’ve only been mildly keeping up. I’ve heard of a few candidates but I’ll be honest some of them whose names I don’t remember but I like recognize their images. I’m undecided, there is one person who is running who I know has a business or a banking background so I was interested in learning a bit more about him, once you mentioned Maya Wiley I was like oh year when I read some stuff about her, she seemed interesting. And Andrew Yang as well, I know his name but I don’t know much about his platform here in the city so I need to look into him a bit more.

I think I’m interested in pandemic recovery plans with regards to the business space, I now work from home and I also know that some of my friends no longer live here in the city, so I’m interested in general plans around that. I’m interested generally in social issues but I think given that the pandemic is still happening right now, I think I would place a lot of priority around pandemic recovery plans over other issues that maybe would’ve been a concern to me in the past.

Ashley, 32, Broadway actor, Upper West Side

🗳️Voting for Andrew Yang

I think Yang is really for the Actors Equity Association and getting actors back to work. And as an actor myself, I really support that. I’ve had to get a survival job. I don't personally feel like our union has really been working for us to get us back to work. SAG is back to work. AFTRA is back to work. And Actors Equity is not. So I really appreciate that Yang is making such clear efforts to really speak to the actors of New York City.

I would say equality is a huge issue in the city right now and needs to be addressed. Safety in the city is a huge issue. Midtown is terrifying to walk through at night. And joblessness, getting people back to work.

John Doherty, 63, Port Richmond, Staten Island

🗳️Undecided

No top candidate at all. Nobody’s that I’ve seen come out of the gate that I’m like, ‘Oh yeah good.’” With everything else going on it’s hard to even concentrate.

The economy [is important to me], especially with the COVID. It’s the first time I’ve been in the city in months. It’s sad, it’s desolate. So it’s like, "How do we get things going again?" I just took it for granted seeing people in the streets during lunchtime and they’re empty. I never thought I’d see that in New York. Something I took for granted all the time and I don’t think I’ll do that again.

Mudassar Khan, 44, small business owner, Jackson Heights, Queens

🗳️Undecided

This year, I haven’t followed this election actually, I haven’t followed anyone, I do not know exactly who is running. Andrew Yang I know of, but the others I do not. This year it doesn’t even seem like the elections are going on.

Obviously there are safety concerns going on, the crime rate has been going up, how they’re going to control that. COVID is being dealt with so I guess that’s out already. Infrastructure stuff is there, we want that to be better, the public wants the safety there and whatever they could support for us, from our point of view, how they could support the small businesses.

Most people we spoke with did not realize that for the first time, the next mayor will be determined through ranked-choice voting, in which voters can rank their candidates in order of preference. Listen to some responses we heard here:

Jeremiah Hickey, 54, retired, East New York, Brooklyn

🗳️Undecided

I’m looking for a mayor who’s gonna work for the people. Not get rich off the people. Housing, we need housing. I’m tired of them making all these buildings and using the word "affordable," and then when you go see the tier income it’s $40,000 and up. What happens to those who don’t make from $40,000 and up?

Quinten Dockery, 36, restaurant-worker, Crown Heights, Brooklyn

🗳️Leaning toward Eric Adams

Schools—they don’t even have enough resources. I got nieces and nephews that go to school in Brooklyn and Queens, and the education is trash. They are not paying the teachers enough, I’m for all the teachers.

Neffy, retail worker, Stapleton, Staten Island

🗳️Undecided

The violence could stop. It’s really big now, it’s getting out of hand. It’s really bad. People that I know died. I grew up with. I went to school with that person. People are crazy and I think with less guns, it would be safer that way. The police don’t care. I feel like they don’t care because it’s the type of neighborhood it is. I feel it’s up to the people to do something about it. Us, not the police. The neighborhood that we live in it’s known for violence so they just don’t care.

Dukenson Bolisca, 53, grocery store worker, St George, Staten Island

🗳️Leaning toward Andrew Yang

The security is very crazy. Regardless of where you go, you’re scared to go outside. If you do go outside you gotta watch yourself. There’s a lot of crime shootings around here. I think we need more policing.

Barbara Jurist, real estate broker, Riverdale, the Bronx

🗳️Undecided

[Issues that are important to me are] helping children to get a better education. I myself would be willing to volunteer to help children after school with homework. I seem to have more time. And that's something--I'd love to children, I'd like to do. And the other issue, of course, is police protection [...] I want to see more policemen. And they have to be educated so that aren't incidents that have occurred in the past. I think that healthcare access to health care should be universal.

Benjamin Tirado, 32, New Brighton, Staten Island

🗳️Undecided

The whole reopen phase. You open up everything but not the libraries. Some people need the libraries, cause people don’t have computers. It’s like there’s haves and have-nots. The have-nots, people like us, people with a disability. Something has to get done about that.

Yakemah Wade, 32, city worker, Red Hook, Brooklyn

🗳️Undecided

[My top issues are] to help the homeless; and while it is hard to do, get some of these drugs off the street and better education for the children.

Brian Rojas, 33, drama teacher and actor, Corona, Queens

🗳️Undecided

Something personal to me is the theater industry. I want to hear someone speak about investing into making it a safe environment again. Kind of get people back to work. And just bring theater to the city so we can see some awesome plays again. I’m an actor. I really miss theater, I miss performing on stage.

Danny Monge, construction worker, Riverdale, the Bronx

🗳️Undecided

[Issues that are important to me are] unions, health care....and just serving the community, in taking care of those in need, especially the elderly. A lot of them run on that platform, and then when they get into office they abandon us, particularly the unions. I mean, we're taking a hard hit right now in New York City, with buildings going up non-union. They're not required to follow the safety protocols that we follow. Many of us are skilled tradesmen, and we have such a high unemployment rate right now. It's pretty disheartening.

Mary Ellen Gibbs, healthcare worker, Riverdale, the Bronx

🗳️Undecided

We really need to get somebody who’s good and forceful. I mean, I wish Raymond Kelly would run. He would clean up New York City real fast.

I'm so sick of what's been going on in New York City. I feel like [it] has been very neglected. It's totally chaos. I mean, if you look at even the stores downtown, the stores are all closing, they're defunding the police there. They're not giving the police a fair shake, even. I mean, these cops are retiring, not coming on the job because they're not being respected. And you know what? It's a real shame because that's the first person they call when something goes wrong, the people who say they hate the police, they're the first ones to call 911 when they're in trouble.

I mean, I'm very pro-police. I think they need to start protecting our police because they're totally being abused... look at last year during the pandemic, they were being abused, they were throwing rocks, throwing water at them, cursing at them. And de Blasio did nothing about it.

And they need to clean up the streets, the infrastructure. I mean the real infrastructure. Things are falling apart because you take a good look at overpasses here, they're all crumbling. If you look at all the streets there are potholes. Education's a big one [too]. I think these teachers need to put their big boy, big girl pants on and come back to school. We're paying them good money to stay home.

Raymond Alfonso, Pelham Parkway, the Bronx

🗳️Undecided

[My top three issues] The first would be [that] all the main paramedic, EMS, NYPD, social workers at the city level, they need a better salary, better conditions for them to perform their jobs. Also, if you look at the infrastructure of the city, we need housing; that's the second most important thing, housing. And the third will be [...] more laws at the council level that can provide protection for all of the races in the city. We are the melting pot of the world, okay?

Responses have been edited for clarity.