NYC Mayoral Race : Boots and Baggage

By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large

The NYC mayoral race may come down to questions over boots and baggage. CUNY constitutional law professor Gloria J. Browne-Marshall told Our Time Press that the electorate has a choice of a candidate with President Donald Trump’s boot on their neck, or others with a whole bunch of political baggage.

She posed the question regarding frontrunners Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo, “Do you want to go with the questionable parts that you already know, or the questionable parts that you don’t know?”
On Tuesday, the New York Times published a poll calculating a Zohran Mamdani win if current percentages remain. The Democratic nominee is 20 points ahead currently, in the four man race. In the polling of 1,284 likely New York City voters from Sept. 2-6 the Times/Sienna College Poll has Mamdani at 46%, Cuomo at 24%, Sliwa at 15%, and Adams at 9%, and don’t-knows/won’t-says at 5%.

But the numbers shift dramatically if Cuomo becomes the solo opponent. Mamdani at 48%, Cuomo at 44%.
Inserting himself in the race with less than 2 months to go, Republican president Trump reportedly wants Adams or Sliwa to drop out of their Independent and Republican-line runs respectively, in order to give Cuomo a clear one-on-one run against Mamdani.

The traveling Adams and Trump show had the media in a flux last Friday, when news was floated that the President’s associates had offered him the job of Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in exchange for him obviously dropping out of the race for NYC mayor; clearing the way for Democrat-turned-Independent candidate Cuomo to go head-to-head with 20 points ahead frontrunner DSA member, and Democratic Party nominee Mamdani.

Published reports also suggested that Trump’s team could possibly offer Sliwa a job in his administration. Adams denied that any such ambassador offer existed. “No one made an offer to me,” he said.

Trump also said he had not offered the mayor anything but stated once again that he does not want New York to end up with a “communist mayor,” even though Mamdani is indeed a democratic socialist. The president said that everything comes through the White House, so Mamdani is probably not going to be able to do the things he said he is going to do.
Cuomo, 67, said, “In reality for voters, there will be two viable candidates who can win: me and Mamdani. And you could not have a more stark choice. Mamdani is a socialist. I am a democrat.

“I am improving,” Sliwa said, “I am not moving.” The lone Republican third place contender Sliwa maintained that he is staying in the race, ”Under no circumstance, you can’t bribe me, you can’t lease me, you can’t rent me, you can’t motivate me to leave this race.”
Opening a Brownsville satellite office last Friday, the 71-year-old Brooklynite said, “I’m running to be the People’s Mayor for all.”

Casual observers citywide are speculating that Adams may still be offered another federal government job, or a private or a corporate business opportunity. This has folk asking will he or won’t he stay in this heated mayoral race? Either response has the stamp of Trump lingering over his reputation.

Adams said, “While I will always listen if called to serve our country, no formal offers have been made. I am still running for re-election, and my full focus is on the safety and quality of life of every New Yorker.”
Last Friday, in the wake of the frantic ambassador job speculation, and blaming his opponent for fueling the rumor, Adams stated, “Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar. I am in this race, and I am the only one that can beat Mamdani.”

Adams, 65, has been denied public matching funds almost a dozen times reportedly due to the five federal corruption charges, which Trump allegedly made go away in return for cooperation with his administration, particularly his controversial immigration policy. He said, “Serving New Yorkers as their mayor is the only job I’ve ever wanted.”
Heavily defeated by Mamdani in the July primary, Cuomo predicted on Tuesday that “People will gravitate to the natural choice.”

Civil Rights attorney Professor Browne-Marshall told Our Time Press that with the Adams administration, “We have so many issues of corruption within the administration, and even if it does not include him personally, then it shows a judgment that is questionable in his hiring practices. If you have so many people under indictment or pleading guilty to charges, it comes down to why we should trust the second term of someone who can’t choose the right people for his administration. It overshadows any good he is doing.”

Teaching Constitutional Law at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the educator continued, “The lack of independence, and the sword hanging over his head from the Trump administration, means it is hanging over the head of the entire city, not just him. So that means another four years of us living under the boot of somebody who’s living under the boot.
All of this reflects on us as a city, and it’s not just him in his personal and professional life. Trust has been broken. I’m not quite sure if he can get it back by November, and how would he get it back? In what ways can he rebuild trust?”

As for Mamdani, Browne-Marshall said, “I think right now he’s a bit of a wild card. But, there are such extreme differences between the candidates that I think there are a lot of people who are willing to take the chance on a wild card.
“When we look at Cuomo, the country was so indebted to him during the pandemic, and his leadership during that time. However, once again, there’s been a breach of trust, with the allegations of the abuses of power regarding the women and other issues that had him step down in the first place. He left office under a cloud, and once again we have a breach of trust, and can that trust be redeemed by November?’

The political law expert assessed, “People bring certain things to the table, but they’re also bringing their baggage to the table.”
Will this flawed “perfectly imperfect” candidate reality keep folks home on election day?
“No, I think that it will make them go vote, because our destinies are tied together, and right now we need someone who’s gonna stand up to Trump…I don’t think that Eric Adams is in a position to stand up to Trump, at least that has not been shown so far. Mamdani and Cuomo can, and they then each come to the table with aspects of their administration that are seen as a wild card. They both have questions, with the more liberal point of view that Mamdani has, or is it understood leadership, but with a great deal of baggage that Cuomo brings?”

Apparently wealthy NYC developers and Cuomo held an emergency closed door meeting on Tuesday, September, to find out how they can combat the Mamdani wave, by escalating the Cuomo campaign.