A contingent of concerned New Yorkers raced to the polls Saturday as early voting kicked off in one of the most heated mayoral races in recent memory.
People casting ballots at early-voting sites throughout the city cited concerns over affordable housing, public safety and the need for improved transportation in the five boroughs as they chose between Democratic nominee and front-runner Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
“For the city to be a functioning city into the future, everybody has to be able to have an affordable place to live,” Brett Cott said as he exited an early-voting poll site at Bronx Supreme Court Saturday. Cott, 54, marked his ballot for Mamdani. “It’s a huge problem for everyone,” he said of the housing issue.
Another topic on Cott’s mind was public transportation.
“We use the subway and the buses,” he said. “Those things are always important to us.”
Others voting at Bronx Supreme Court worried about homeless on the streets, public safety and the economy.
Bronx resident Corretta Thomas, 54, was also concerned with housing. She voted for Sliwa, a radio-show host and founder of the Guardian Angels.
“I didn’t vote for him because he’s a Republican,” she said. “I voted for him because he knows what all New Yorkers need. I think he will address the problems and he doesn’t have too many scandalous issues.”
“Sliwa is more realistic,” she said. “Mamdani is like in a dreamworld, in my opinion.”
Sliwa on Saturday participated in early voting, casting his ballot at the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side. Mamdani spent the day visiting small businesses in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Cuomo met voters in Queens and the Bronx.
Cuomo, accompanied by his daughters, met up with voters in Co-op City, in the Bronx, where he grabbed a slice of plain cheese pizza from a pizzeria, shook hands with locals and met with business owners at a retail strip near Bartow
Ave. and Asch Loop.
Cuomo said, while laughing, that he believes he has a “100%” chance of winning the election.
“I think what New Yorkers are looking for is a mayor who can actually do the job, not a slick politician on TikTok,” he said, in a clear dig at Mamdani. “I know how to make the government work. I know how to get things done. I know what this city needs. I know what they want. They want public safety, more police. They want affordability. They want jobs. They want a future. They want a better quality of life and that’s what I know how to do.”
Supporters of Cuomo snapped photos and selfies with him and greeted the mayoral candidate.
“I think he’s a strong candidate,” Crystal Styles, 42, a Bronxite from Soundview who got to take a photo with Cuomo, said. “I believe him when he talks. He’s very stern and I feel like he’s been in the field for so long. He knows what he’s doing. I have more faith in him because I know he’ll get the job done.”
As a crowd of around 30 people gathered, John Orama, 63, who works in healthcare, greeted Cuomo and told him how much he supported him. He said he’s a huge Cuomo fan.
“He’s always looked out for New Yorkers,” he said.
Another supporter, Emmanuel Udoji, 61, who lives a few blocks away, said Cuomo’s position on schools is the difference maker for him.
“Of course, because I’m interested in education,” he said. “That’s the most important thing.”
The mayoral election has taken some eyebrow-raising twists over the last few weeks, from Mayor Adams dropping out of the race and throwing his support to Cuomo, after calling him a “snake and a liar” just weeks earlier, to Cuomo being accused of making Islamophobic comments Thursday when he quipped on a conservative radio show that Mamdani, who is Muslim, would be “cheering” a second 9/11 attack.
Meanwhile, Sliwa on Wednesday rage-quit WABC. The longtime, popular radio-show host, claimed his former colleagues, including station owner and GOP power broker John Catsimatidis, were berating him to drop out and make the race a one-on-one between Cuomo and Mamdani, giving the ex-gov a better chance of winning.
Mamdani, the front-runner in the heated contest, had his own issues heading into the election, between having to apologize for his more leftist views critical of the NYPD and having to explain his noncommittal responses to pivotal ballot questions on housing that could limit the City Council’s input on development projects.
NYPD cops were assigned to each polling place, but the first day of early voting went off without a hitch, police said. Voters said the lines weren’t very long and moved pretty smoothly.
“It’s not like on Election Day where there’s a line because everybody’s going in,” Cott said. “It’s pretty low-key and chill.”
Walquiria Reyes, 46, who breezed into the Bronx polling site with her 12-year-old daughter in tow, said homelessness and the city’s handling of the mentally ill were on her mind when she darkened the oval on her ballot for Mamdani.
“The most important issue right now is the homeless people in the streets, absolutely,” she said. “I think, in this country in general, there needs to be some kind of mental institutions. Such a big place like America should have something like that.”
“I don’t have too much trust in these people but Mamdani,” she said. “He’s giving us basically everything we want to hear. He gives you the best vibe.”
Despite backing out of the race, Adams’ name will remain on the ballot, election officials said. So will that of independent candidate Jim Walden, who bowed out of the election in September.
But the mayoral candidates aren’t the only names on the ballot. Voters will also be asked to vote for their local city councilperson, as well as for public advocate and comptroller.
In Manhattan, District Attorney Alvin Bragg is running for reelection against two opponents, Republican Maud Maron and independent candidate Diana Florence. Brooklyn voters will also be asked to vote for DA, even though incumbent Eric Gonzalez is running unopposed.
Voters will also be asked to weigh in on five Charter Commission ballot questions, including the ones Mamdani is having trouble with, as well as a state measure.
More than 1 million New York City residents voted early in last year’s presidential election — a new record for early voting, city officials said at the time.
By comparison, about 1.1 million Gothamites in total — or roughly 21% of all registered voters in the city — cast ballots in the 2021 mayoral election won by Eric Adams. The 2021 turnout was the lowest total in modern city history.
During the June Democratic primary, slightly more than 34.5% of the ballots were cast early. Another 3.6 percent of ballots were mailed in early, according to NYCVotes.
Election watchdogs expect more early voters this year than last. Jarret Berg, co-founder of VoteEarlyNY, told The New York Times that the mayoral race has the six “C”s — a competitive contest with compelling candidates and collective concern.
“That’s the idea that we’re all in this moment and this election actually matters, so people will be motivated to show up on a chilly October weekend when they could be doing pumpkin patch stuff,” he said.
Anyone wishing to vote early can find their early-voting poll site by visiting elections.ny.gov/early-voting.
