NYC Mayor/2021 Megathread

[KaiserDave]

I don't think this exists. But let's get chatting!

The end of the age of De Blasio is nigh. Who will next be New York City's Mayor? I for one am tentatively in for a Yang candidacy, but if he chooses not to run Eric Adams interests me.

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2020/07/29/nyc-elections-2021-whos-running-no-clear-progressive-has-emerged

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/nyregion/black-race-mayor-nyc.html

Here are some helpful articles

[KaiserDave]

Yang might be interesting, but I can't see him getting too much support in the other boroughs.

I want Jumaane Williams to run. I haven't seen any other progressive candidates put forward. I'm skeptical of Adams' connections to the police unions and questionable statements in the past, but I would support him overall.

Outside of me wanting to see UBI test piloted in New York, I feel like an outside force might be useful.

[KaiserDave]

Yang might be interesting, but I can't see him getting too much support in the other boroughs.

I want Jumaane Williams to run. I haven't seen any other progressive candidates put forward. I'm skeptical of Adams' connections to the police unions and questionable statements in the past, but I would support him overall.

Outside of me wanting to see UBI test piloted in New York, I feel like an outside force might be useful.

Do we know if he is serious about mounting a run?

I'm not sure, all I know is that he said he's not done running for office and he rather be in an executive position than a legislative one.

[KaiserDave]

I’ve done more research on Adams and I find some of his past activities highly concerning. His Wikipedia page deserves a good read through.

Hoping Yang goes for it, and again he’s repeatedly stated a preference for executive roles over legislative ones.

[KaiserDave]

I like Corey Johnson because he stood up to Airbnb, but Yang is not a gimmick. I just don’t know where that idea comes from.

[KaiserDave]

I like Corey Johnson because he stood up to Airbnb, but Yang is not a gimmick. I just don’t know where that idea comes from.

Everything about Yang 2020 was a gimmick. He was dubiously qualified, his plans ranged from the economically illiterate to the unconstitutional, and his support base was...memey...to say the least. And now you guys want this weirdo running a city of 8 million people. No thanks.

I didn’t agree we everything he proposed but his way of thinking in many ways has been entirely vindicated by the pandemic. You’re making him out as this memey weirdo like Kanye or Vermin Supreme. He’s an accomplished businesses man who has written extensively on socioeconomics. Sure some of his supporters are idiots but if we judged every candidate just on their worst supporter we’d get nowhere. Yang proved to be a far more seriously competitive candidate than many comparatively “serious” politicians. And I never even supported him for president.

So yes I want him to run my city of 8 million people.

[KaiserDave]

I like Corey Johnson because he stood up to Airbnb, but Yang is not a gimmick. I just don’t know where that idea comes from.

Everything about Yang 2020 was a gimmick. He was dubiously qualified, his plans ranged from the economically illiterate to the unconstitutional, and his support base was...memey...to say the least. And now you guys want this weirdo running a city of 8 million people. No thanks.

I didn’t agree we everything he proposed but his way of thinking in many ways has been entirely vindicated by the pandemic. You’re making him out as this memey weirdo like Kanye or Vermin Supreme. He’s an accomplished businesses man who has written extensively on socioeconomics. Sure some of his supporters are idiots but if we judged every candidate just on their worst supporter we’d get nowhere. Yang proved to be a far more seriously competitive candidate than many comparatively “serious” politicians. And I never even supported him for president.

So yes I want him to run my city of 8 million people.

Still not a particularly good endorsement. Being a second-rate businessman with a loose grasp of socioeconomics is not a strong rationale for electing someone mayor. My bet is that he'd try a few gimmicky reforms but fail miserably against NYC's enormous institutional intertia (the unions, NYPD, Wall Street, PANYNJ, the MTA) because at the end of the day, he has no idea how to run a city. I'm very unimpressed by the tech bro move-fast-and-break-things approach to municipal governance.

Loose grasp? Half his platform has been vindicated by the crisis. And I trust him to deal with the cogs of governance far more than any of the various ingrained city politicians who indebted to a collage of those groups. Yang has made no enemies or debts and I trust his ability to manage successfully.

[KaiserDave]

I like Corey Johnson because he stood up to Airbnb, but Yang is not a gimmick. I just don’t know where that idea comes from.

Everything about Yang 2020 was a gimmick. He was dubiously qualified, his plans ranged from the economically illiterate to the unconstitutional, and his support base was...memey...to say the least. And now you guys want this weirdo running a city of 8 million people. No thanks.

I didn’t agree we everything he proposed but his way of thinking in many ways has been entirely vindicated by the pandemic. You’re making him out as this memey weirdo like Kanye or Vermin Supreme. He’s an accomplished businesses man who has written extensively on socioeconomics. Sure some of his supporters are idiots but if we judged every candidate just on their worst supporter we’d get nowhere. Yang proved to be a far more seriously competitive candidate than many comparatively “serious” politicians. And I never even supported him for president.

So yes I want him to run my city of 8 million people.

Still not a particularly good endorsement. Being a second-rate businessman with a loose grasp of socioeconomics is not a strong rationale for electing someone mayor. My bet is that he'd try a few gimmicky reforms but fail miserably against NYC's enormous institutional intertia (the unions, NYPD, Wall Street, PANYNJ, the MTA) because at the end of the day, he has no idea how to run a city. I'm very unimpressed by the tech bro move-fast-and-break-things approach to municipal governance.

Loose grasp? Half his platform has been vindicated by the crisis. And I trust him to deal with the cogs of governance far more than any of the various ingrained city politicians who indebted to a collage of those groups. Yang has made no enemies or debts and I trust his ability to manage successfully.

Has it though? A couple stimulus checks is hardly an endorsement of Yang's platform. Anyone who thinks a UBI would reduce rather than exacerbate wealth inequality most certainly has a loose grasp on economics. Yang may not have any enemies, but he also has no friends. And nobody is going to break these institutions power alone. Yang's experience is essentially helping out a couple hundred entrepreneurs. Running a city as complicated as New York is several orders of magnitude more complicated and you can't learn on the job. NYC would be much better served by a reformist local politician who actually understands how the system works and has the experience to improve it. Yang isn't that person.

It's not the stimulus checks, it's the crisis itself which has accelerated the need for many of his policies. In New York City especially so. I would prefer a fresh face with a list of policies that make all the sense right now and an innovative approach to policy making to the alternatives.

[KaiserDave]

I like Corey Johnson because he stood up to Airbnb, but Yang is not a gimmick. I just don’t know where that idea comes from.

Everything about Yang 2020 was a gimmick. He was dubiously qualified, his plans ranged from the economically illiterate to the unconstitutional, and his support base was...memey...to say the least. And now you guys want this weirdo running a city of 8 million people. No thanks.

I didn’t agree we everything he proposed but his way of thinking in many ways has been entirely vindicated by the pandemic. You’re making him out as this memey weirdo like Kanye or Vermin Supreme. He’s an accomplished businesses man who has written extensively on socioeconomics. Sure some of his supporters are idiots but if we judged every candidate just on their worst supporter we’d get nowhere. Yang proved to be a far more seriously competitive candidate than many comparatively “serious” politicians. And I never even supported him for president.

So yes I want him to run my city of 8 million people.

Still not a particularly good endorsement. Being a second-rate businessman with a loose grasp of socioeconomics is not a strong rationale for electing someone mayor. My bet is that he'd try a few gimmicky reforms but fail miserably against NYC's enormous institutional intertia (the unions, NYPD, Wall Street, PANYNJ, the MTA) because at the end of the day, he has no idea how to run a city. I'm very unimpressed by the tech bro move-fast-and-break-things approach to municipal governance.

Loose grasp? Half his platform has been vindicated by the crisis. And I trust him to deal with the cogs of governance far more than any of the various ingrained city politicians who indebted to a collage of those groups. Yang has made no enemies or debts and I trust his ability to manage successfully.

Has it though? A couple stimulus checks is hardly an endorsement of Yang's platform. Anyone who thinks a UBI would reduce rather than exacerbate wealth inequality most certainly has a loose grasp on economics. Yang may not have any enemies, but he also has no friends. And nobody is going to break these institutions power alone. Yang's experience is essentially helping out a couple hundred entrepreneurs. Running a city as complicated as New York is several orders of magnitude more complicated and you can't learn on the job. NYC would be much better served by a reformist local politician who actually understands how the system works and has the experience to improve it. Yang isn't that person.

It's not the stimulus checks, it's the crisis itself which has accelerated the need for many of his policies. In New York City especially so. I would prefer a fresh face with a list of policies that make all the sense right now and an innovative approach to policy making to the alternatives.

Which ones make sense?

UBI?
The legion of builders and destroyers?
Modern time banking?
Data as intellectual property?
A Department of the Attention Economy?
Cutting funding to higher ed?

They're all absurd, and they do nothing to fix New York's three big problems: the MTA, housing affordability, and crooked law enforcement. C'mon, he doesn't have a clue how to make actual change and build coalitions in the areas that actually matter.

UBI? Certainly without a doubt vindicated by the crisis. And I'm sure he would present suitable policies to the city's problems if he ran for Mayor, obviously he wasn't proposing MTA fixes in his presidential campaign. I have complete faith that if he ran he would push forward innovative policies to New York specific problems. And that's why I've written him asking him to run.

[KaiserDave]

I like Corey Johnson because he stood up to Airbnb, but Yang is not a gimmick. I just don’t know where that idea comes from.

Everything about Yang 2020 was a gimmick. He was dubiously qualified, his plans ranged from the economically illiterate to the unconstitutional, and his support base was...memey...to say the least. And now you guys want this weirdo running a city of 8 million people. No thanks.

I didn’t agree we everything he proposed but his way of thinking in many ways has been entirely vindicated by the pandemic. You’re making him out as this memey weirdo like Kanye or Vermin Supreme. He’s an accomplished businesses man who has written extensively on socioeconomics. Sure some of his supporters are idiots but if we judged every candidate just on their worst supporter we’d get nowhere. Yang proved to be a far more seriously competitive candidate than many comparatively “serious” politicians. And I never even supported him for president.

So yes I want him to run my city of 8 million people.

Still not a particularly good endorsement. Being a second-rate businessman with a loose grasp of socioeconomics is not a strong rationale for electing someone mayor. My bet is that he'd try a few gimmicky reforms but fail miserably against NYC's enormous institutional intertia (the unions, NYPD, Wall Street, PANYNJ, the MTA) because at the end of the day, he has no idea how to run a city. I'm very unimpressed by the tech bro move-fast-and-break-things approach to municipal governance.

Loose grasp? Half his platform has been vindicated by the crisis. And I trust him to deal with the cogs of governance far more than any of the various ingrained city politicians who indebted to a collage of those groups. Yang has made no enemies or debts and I trust his ability to manage successfully.

Has it though? A couple stimulus checks is hardly an endorsement of Yang's platform. Anyone who thinks a UBI would reduce rather than exacerbate wealth inequality most certainly has a loose grasp on economics. Yang may not have any enemies, but he also has no friends. And nobody is going to break these institutions power alone. Yang's experience is essentially helping out a couple hundred entrepreneurs. Running a city as complicated as New York is several orders of magnitude more complicated and you can't learn on the job. NYC would be much better served by a reformist local politician who actually understands how the system works and has the experience to improve it. Yang isn't that person.

It's not the stimulus checks, it's the crisis itself which has accelerated the need for many of his policies. In New York City especially so. I would prefer a fresh face with a list of policies that make all the sense right now and an innovative approach to policy making to the alternatives.

Which ones make sense?

UBI?
The legion of builders and destroyers?
Modern time banking?
Data as intellectual property?
A Department of the Attention Economy?
Cutting funding to higher ed?

They're all absurd, and they do nothing to fix New York's three big problems: the MTA, housing affordability, and crooked law enforcement. C'mon, he doesn't have a clue how to make actual change and build coalitions in the areas that actually matter.

UBI? Certainly without a doubt vindicated by the crisis. And I'm sure he would present suitable policies to the city's problems if he ran for Mayor, obviously he wasn't proposing MTA fixes in his presidential campaign. I have complete faith that if he ran he would push forward innovative policies to New York specific problems. And that's why I've written him asking him to run.

Oh come on. Limited stimulus checks during a recession make sense but UBI is absolute bulls**t economics. In the long term, its primary effect is making the upper middle class wealthier. A means-tested welfare state will always make more sense.

So basically your whole argument for Yang is "huh, he seems kinda smart and innovative unlike everyone else because reasons. I bet if he ran, he'd somehow be the candidate with the best policy platform over actual NYC politicians because more reasons and despite his utter inexperience he would somehow be the most effective candidate once in office because other reasons."?

UBI has been proven to be entire successful, specifically in Finland and I see no reason why not to test pilot it in New York City.

Why are you misconstruing my argument? There is no doubt in my mind he possesses a unique approach to policy making not shared by any of the other prominent names in contention. It is precisely because it's not an "actual NYC politician" they I have particular interest in him.

Also, Bloomberg wasn't experienced either (and while I'm not a fan of him), nobody can dispute he was capable of executing the job. Andrew Yang isn't a child and I'm perplexed as to why you continue to make him out as some infantile meme obsessed joke when he ran a serious presidential campaign and has undeniable unique socioeconomic knowledge that he has put pen to paper on.

[KaiserDave]

Whether or not UBI makes sense at a national level, it has no bearing on whether it can or should be done at a city level. Cities (or states) have this thing called a budget, and also probably cant legally prevent benefits going to out-of-towners moving in.

Back to the original question, no love for Stringer here?

I don’t think there’s anything stopping some kind of limited test pilot
I’d be interested to see what yang proposes
Even if it’s not all New Yorkers I’d be interested


Stringer....eh. I suppose he’s alright, a decent money manager but I just don’t know much or find him very interesting.

[KaiserDave]

I liked Stringer's rollout

[KaiserDave]

Giuliani delivers a speech, denouncing De Blasio and rolling out city GOP plan to hire 9,000 more cops. Uh huh.

Joined by luminaries like Catsimatidis and Curtis Sliwa. I'm surprised my favorite Staten Island congressman wasn't up there with him, I guess he wasn't important enough.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/former-mayor-rudy-giuliani-city-gop-officials-to-unveil-plan-to-revive-nyc/2620339/

Lmao. They're so pathetic.

[KaiserDave]

Bowman endorsing Stringer, following other left electeds. Nice get for him.

Stringer is easily the frontrunner

[KaiserDave]

Gooooooooood.

I like Stringer so far.

[KaiserDave]

I think I'm on Team Stringer.

[KaiserDave]

Not sure where else to put this (maybe this could be a NYC megathread?) but King finally got kicked off the City Council. He's facing a third harassment allegation. The only other councilmember to support him was Ruben Diaz Sr.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-nyc-city-council-andy-king-expulsion-20201005-5npfbmib7raq7g5uam6g7o7iou-story.html

Because of course

[KaiserDave]

Adams is IDC affiliated? Hmmm

[KaiserDave]

Menchaca is interesting, but barring a surprise surge he has no chance.

[KaiserDave]

Most everyone I've spoken to things his ads were lame. But that's just the people I've spoken to.

[KaiserDave]

Rose should run as a indy hed have a higher chance of winning as a indy then winning the Dem nomination imo

He would have no chance at all.

[KaiserDave]

I like Stringer but I also really like Dianne Morales. I'm pulling for one of them to win.

I would say Stringer is in the top tier. Many of my more left wing friends like Morales, but I don't see her going anywhere.

[KaiserDave]

Here's my very rough breakdown of how things stand. Undeclared candidates are italicized. Potential dark horses have an asterisk.


Frontrunners
Scott Stringer, Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan
Competitors
Maya Wiley*, Raymond McGuire, Max Rose, Andrew Yang, Ray McGuire (NEW)
Stragglers
Diane Morales*, Loree Sutton, Carlos Menchaca*, Kathryn Garcia
Bottom Feeders
Eddie Cullen, Aaron Foldenauer, Quanda Francis, Max Kaplan, Julia Qing Reaves, Joycelyn Taylor

[KaiserDave]

Rest In Peace to Mayor David Dinkins. A man whose success wasn't recognized in his time as Mayor, and who was mercilessly defamed. A man of great integrity and character who was a friend to many, and who did his ready best for the city he loved.

RIP, FF.

[KaiserDave]

https://www.wcny.org/andrew-yang-for-nyc-mayor-tbd/

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/11/30/andrew-yang-said-to-be-considering-mayoral-bid-tested-in-new-online-poll-1338485


Nevermind. Whereas I had thought he wasn't running.....apparently not! He's apparently quite interested.

This could get very very interesting. Quite the surprise actually, I thought he was going for the Commerce spot in cabinet.