New York Mayoral Candidates: Where Do They Stand on Major Issues?

Statue of Liberty with Manhattan successful the background. Public Domain

New York City’s mayoral candidates are making a last propulsion Monday to get voters to the polls, arsenic the contention to pb America’s biggest metropolis nears its finale.

Ahead of Election Day connected Tuesday, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, erstwhile Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa person each spent the race’s last agelong campaigning astatine a frenetic gait crossed the city’s 5 boroughs arsenic they marque their lawsuit to win outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayoral candidates and their policies

Zohran Mamdani (Democrat, Democratic Socialist)

Zohran Mamdani. Public Domain

Mamdani’s level centers connected affordability and societal justice, advocating for important nationalist concern and wealthiness redistribution.

Housing & Affordability: Support freezing rent costs for tenants successful rent-stabilized housing. Proposes gathering 200,000 caller affordable lodging units.

Transportation: Supports making each metropolis buses fare-free. The estimated yearly outgo for this was analyzed astatine implicit $700 million. Pilot programs saw ridership increases of 30% connected weekdays.

Economy & Labor: Calls for raising the city’s minimum wage to $30 per hr by 2030. Proposes creating city-owned market stores (one successful each of the 5 boroughs) to bargain and merchantability astatine wholesale prices to little user costs. Supports levying higher taxes connected corporations and individuals earning supra $1 cardinal annually to money his initiatives (which would necessitate authorities approval).

Public Safety: Proposes creating a civilian-led Department of Community Safety (DCS). The DCS would deploy dedicated intelligence wellness outreach workers to respond to incidents involving emotionally disturbed individuals, peculiarly successful the subway, easing the load connected constabulary officers. States helium is not proposing to summation the size of the NYPD but would alteration existing officers’ responsibilities to prioritize convulsive crime.

Education & Social Services: Supports the proviso of cosmopolitan nationalist childcare.

Andrew Cuomo (Independent)

Andrew Cuomo. Credit: New York National Guard, CC BY 2.0/Wikipedia

Cuomo, a former Governor, campaigns connected his extended enforcement acquisition and a centrist approach, often informing against the “unrealistic” progressive goals of his opponent, Mamdani. His absorption is connected unchangeable leadership, economical revitalization, and applicable improvements to metropolis services.

Subway Safety: Focuses connected getting stateless radical and individuals with intelligence wellness issues retired of the subway strategy done intelligence wellness partnerships and shelters. Pledges to extremity open-air cause markets and usage by enforcing authorities laws that let incapacitated radical to beryllium taken to attraction facilities. Aims to curb the overuse of sidewalk sheds (scaffolding) with authorities that limits the clip it tin stay successful place.

Economic Development: Supports office-to-residential conversions for underused commercialized properties and transforming concern districts into 24/7 destinations. Focuses connected expanding the city’s relation successful large infrastructure projects, prioritizing the outer boroughs (e.g., the Metro-North enlargement creating 4 caller transit hubs successful the East Bronx). Plans to grow workforce grooming and apprenticeship programs to make pathways to economical mobility, peculiarly for jobs that don’t necessitate a assemblage degree.

Education: Pledges to unafraid authorities backing to instrumentality the Reduced Class Size instrumentality truthful it is not an unfunded mandate. Guarantees a suitable 3-K slot to each families and plans to grow after-school programs. Aims to code the 35% chronic absenteeism complaint successful schools (over 50% successful definite areas) and trim teacher attrition done amended moving conditions.

Curtis Sliwa (Republican)

Curtis Sliwa. Credit: Hayden Soloviev, CC BY 4.0/Wikipedia

Sliwa’s run is simply a “law and order” platform, heavy prioritizing a melodramatic enlargement of constabulary beingness and a crackdown connected “quality of life” crimes, appealing to voters acrophobic astir transgression and disorder.

Police Expansion: Vows to prosecute 7,000 much constabulary officers to summation the size of the NYPD to astatine slightest 40,000. Pledges to reinstate the Anti-Crime Unit (disbanded nether Mayor Bill de Blasio) and grow the Gang Unit. Proposes deploying much NYPD transit officers and “aggressively” enforcing fare evasion laws connected each 453 subway stations.

Policing Reform: Vows to reconstruct qualified immunity for officers, which New York City ended successful 2021. Promises to repeal oregon betterment laws that helium argues inhibit effectual policing, specified arsenic the Diaphragm Law and the How Many Stops Act.

Housing & Development: Opposes “overdevelopment” and the “City of Yes” zoning reforms, favoring section assemblage power. Seeks to revive thousands of derelict rent-controlled apartments.

Social Issues: Would reinstate the NYPD Homeless Outreach Unit and brace officers with licensed intelligence wellness professionals. Maintains a beardown absorption connected carnal payment (a perennial portion of his platform).