The leading candidates for New York City mayor on Monday participated in another burst of campaigning across the five boroughs as they came one day closer to the finish line. Sparse polling, 13 candidates, and the introduction of ranked-choice voting have made it a difficult race to predict.
A new Ipsos poll released Monday showed Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, in the lead, followed by Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, in the second spot, and Kathryn Garcia, the ex-sanitation commissioner in third place. She was followed by Maya Wiley, the former civil rights lawyer and counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The primary will likely be seen as a test for how voters view the role of the police and public safety. Three of the leading candidates—Adams, Garcia, and Yang—are more moderate, and have said they would increase police presence to combat gun violence. Wiley has emerged as the most viable progressive candidate, and has said she would boost anti-violence efforts and social services to address the spike in shootings.
Over the weekend, the tone of the contest turned increasingly nasty, when Adams accused Yang and Garcia of forming a strategic alliance to block the chances of a Black candidate. The duo spent the better part of the weekend campaigning together, with Yang urging his supporters to put Garcia high on their ballot even though Garcia has not returned the favor.
Yang, who has lost momentum in recent weeks, has increasingly singled out Adams as the worst candidate for mayor.
“Imagine an administration that is led by someone who cuts corners and breaks rules and is constantly under investigation and then attacks whenever he’s criticized and then invokes race as the rationale for any criticism that’s directed toward him,” he told the NY Times.
During a rally with first responders in Brooklyn on Monday, Adams shot back at Yang.
“What is Andrew Yang still doing in this race?" he asked. "We know Andrew Yang is a fraud. He’s a liar. We could care less about Andrew Yang. We are so focused on the race.”
Asked if he would assure voters he would not claim the election was being stolen from him no matter what the primary returns looked like Tuesday evening, Adams was evasive. “I assure voters that no one is going to steal the election from me,” he said.
Other Democrats, including Wiley, said on Monday they were troubled by remarks from Adams's campaign.
“This partnership is not racist and we should not be using this term so loosely against other candidates,” she said, in a statement.
Later in the day, she told reporters: “Nobody is stealing any election."
Mayor de Blasio, who is reportedly supporting the Brooklyn borough president behind the scenes, seemed to side with Adams, describing the Garcia-Yang union as "opportunistic" during his daily press briefing.
In fact, political experts had expected candidates to team up because of ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to pick up to five candidates in order of preference. Under this system, if no one can win a majority of votes in the first round, the number of second and third choice votes may become the decisive factor.
Garcia, who entered the race as a dark horse, is hoping to make the most of ranked-choice voting to win the election. Speaking on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show Monday morning, she said, "We are promoting rank choice voting so that you use all your opportunities, one to five. Because that's your power, that's the power of your vote."
Afterwards, Garcia headed to Union Square's greenmarket, where she was greeted by New Yorkers asking to take selfies with her. A month ago, when she campaigned on the same spot, many voters seemed to struggle to recognize her.
Elise Frawley, a Stuyvesant Town resident, said she was planning to vote for Garcia on Tuesday because she was attracted to her competence as a manager. "We know that we need someone who can get the job done and can actualize all of the issues that we've cared about from day one," she said.
Of all the candidates, Yang laid out the most ambitious campaign schedule on Monday, with plans to crisscross the five boroughs.
At a rally in Chinatown, he rolled up in a campaign bus that was emblazoned with his face .
“It feels like a great day to get out the vote, am I right?” he asked a cheering throng of supporters garbed in the campaign’s blue t-shirts, waving signs and toting stacks of flyers.
Canvassers greeted one another, shaking hands, and taking selfies with Yang.
“I just think he has the best policies and he owes nobody any favors,” said Boyce Littlefield, 45, who drove twelve hours from Michigan to help Yang’s campaign canvass on his last day.
Yang later waved to passersby who honked in their vans, and some who stopped for selfies, before he jumped back into the campaign van to jet off to his next stop.
Later, during an appearance on WABC with John Catsimatidis, the supermarket mogul and former Republican candidate for mayor, Yang reiterated a comment he made during a debate last week that mentally ill New Yorkers living on the streets need to be hospitalized. His initial remarks drew backlash from critics, who accused him of fear mongering and criminalizing those with mental illnesses.
Over in East Flatbush, Wiley spent the afternoon greeting passersby on the bustling strip, shaking hands, offering hugs, and an explanation of her policies on affordable housing and public safety to anyone who would entertain her.
“I have 10 aunties, 50 girl cousins, so I appreciate women,” said Megaforce Lawrence, coming up to shake Wiley’s hand. “I hope you win.”
She made a final stop on the steps of the Brooklyn Museum, where supporters gathered for a rally.
This year's race for mayor has attracted the most diverse field of candidates in the city's history, with the chance to elect the first woman mayor.
Nelson Peguero, a Bronx resident, said he was planning to choose Adams as his first choice on Tuesday in what would be his first time voting in a mayoral primary.
Despite his preference for Adams, he expressed awe at the four leading contenders, who he described as two Black candidates, an Asian American, and a white woman who was adopted into a biracial family, a reference to Garcia.
"They all have a little bit that we can relate to. And as long as we can relate to that person, we can all work together and make it happen," he said, before adding, "Come on, man. This is New York City. I love this city."
