For The Choice, a new project from New York Times Opinion, we asked a range of New Yorkers about the biggest difficulties and opportunities facing the city as it votes in the June 24 Democratic primary for mayor and their top pick among the candidates. They were also asked to make the case for their choices on issues like the economy, housing and crime.
The results reflect the anxiety and ambivalence many voters feel right now. Our panelists split sharply on Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the race, with some endorsing him as the toughest and most tested candidate and others denouncing him as a bully who disqualified himself with disgraceful actions as governor. There was also fierce disagreement about the other leading candidate, Zohran Mamdani, an energetic state assemblyman whose charisma helped lift his campaign but whose progressive agenda and relative lack of experience elicited deep skepticism from many in our group.
In the end, a veteran civic leader and elected official, Brad Lander, the city comptroller, emerged as the top overall choice among the panelists, including four who recently shifted away from Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Mamdani and other candidates. Mr. Lander was also cited as best on education, the economy and leadership. Those who favored him cited his experience in city government and his ability to work with others — but, truth be told, he also benefited from lacking the heavy baggage of Mr. Cuomo and the democratic socialist image of Mr. Mamdani. Danny Meyer, the restaurateur, spoke for others in our group when he said of Mr. Lander, “He understands the complexity of how the city works, what our city government does and what it can and cannot do.”
The Choice was written by Times Opinion editors based on the assessments of our panel. Read on for the full choices of the panelists.
These 15
New Yorkers
sized up the
candidates
These 15 New
Yorkers sized up
the candidates
Our panelists were selected
for their expertise on the
forces shaping New York and
for their deep commitment
to their communities.
Our panelists were selected for their expertise
on the forces shaping New York and for their
deep commitment to their communities.
Mitchell Moss
Urban policy professor and expert
on technology and development
Neil Blumenthal
Co-founder of Warby Parker
Ester Fuchs
Professor of public affairs
and former mayoral adviser
Frederick A. Davie
Senior executive vice president at
the Union Theological Seminary
Danny Meyer
Founder of prominent
New York restaurants
Jared Trujillo
Law professor and former
defense lawyer
Eleanor Randolph
Journalist and former Times
editorial board member
Christina M. Greer
Political scientist and a host
of the “FAQ NYC” podcast
Victor Ng
Graphic designer and community representative in Brooklyn
About our panel
These 15 New Yorkers assessed the candidates
independently, as individual voters, not on behalf of their
organizations. Some panelists made donations to candidates;
that information is disclosed in their biographies.
Danny Meyer is the restaurateur behind Union Square Cafe, which helped drive the revitalization of the Union Square area in Manhattan when it opened in 1985. For 40 years, the restaurant has gotten its produce from the Greenmarket farmers market around the corner.
His hospitality group has created prominent New York restaurants like Gramercy Tavern and Eleven Madison Park. He opened a hot dog cart in 2001 that grew into the global chain Shake Shack.
He contributed $5,000 to a group that supports Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid and $1,000 to Brad Lander’s campaign.
Jared Trujillo is a professor at CUNY School of Law, where he teaches constitutional law and critical race theory. Mr. Trujillo’s advocacy and academic work focuses on the legal issues affecting the city’s most vulnerable residents as well as free speech and privacy.
Mr. Trujillo has been a policy counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he lobbied for criminal and juvenile justice reforms, and the president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. He is a chair of the New York City Bar’s L.G.B.T.Q. Rights Committee.
He contributed $25 to Jessica Ramos’s campaign.
Eleanor Randolph is a journalist who managed city and state political endorsements as a member of the New York Times editorial board from 1998 to 2016. In 2019 she wrote “The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg,” about the policy and political successes that led to him being credited with the city’s 21st-century renaissance.
She has not made contributions to any mayoral campaigns in this election.
Christina M. Greer is a political scientist at Fordham who studies Black politics, mayors, elections and public opinion. She writes a weekly column for The Amsterdam News and co-hosts the “FAQ NYC” podcast about city politics and culture. Ms. Greer is working on a book about Black elected officials in New York.
She has not made contributions to any mayoral campaigns in this election.
Victor Ng is a graphic designer who previously worked at The New York Times and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
He was elected to the Brooklyn Democratic Party County Committee in 2022 and previously led communications for New Kings Democrats, a grassroots organization.
He has not made contributions to any mayoral campaigns in this election.
Amit Singh Bagga is a Democratic strategist and veteran of New York state and city government. In 2024, through the Democracy Alliance, he led fundraising for Battleground New York, a consortium whose turnout efforts helped to win House seats for Democrats. While in city government, he helped lead the 2020 census campaign.
In 2021, he made an unsuccessful bid to represent City Council District 26 in Queens. He was Gov. Kathy Hochul’s deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs from 2021 to 2024. He runs a political consulting firm and is an advocate for immigrant and L.G.B.T.Q. communities.
He has contributed $50 to $200 to the campaigns of Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos.
A. Mychal Johnson is a community leader in the Bronx who is especially active in pushing for cleaner air in the borough, where residents suffer from disproportionately high asthma rates.
Mr. Johnson has a long record of acting as a bridge between communities and city government, gathering input and involvement from Bronx residents in city policies regarding policing, housing and the area’s economic development.
He has not made contributions to any mayoral campaign in this election.
Whitney Toussaint is a co-president of Community Education Council 30 in western Queens. Ms. Toussaint’s priority on the council is improvements in school buildings, and she has collaborated with the City Council and the district’s House member on the construction of schools in Hunters Point and Court Square. Under her leadership, the council has worked with the mayor’s office and nonprofits to hold immigrant rights workshops.
Ms. Toussaint has two children in New York City public schools. She contributed $25 to Jessica Ramos’s campaign and $100 to Adrienne Adams’s campaign.
Howard Wolfson is a Democratic strategist who was a deputy mayor under Michael Bloomberg from 2010 to 2013, overseeing collaboration among the city, state and federal governments. He was also an architect of Mr. Bloomberg’s political strategy.
Since 2014, he has led Bloomberg Philanthropies’ education work, which focuses on improving access to K-12 education, technical training and college. He worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
He has not made contributions to any mayoral campaigns in this election.
Iwen Chu is a former state senator from South Brooklyn and a former State Assembly aide and school board member. During her two years in office, she pushed for millions of dollars in funding for Asian American community organizations to address issues like the traumatic effects of the Covid pandemic, food insecurity and public safety.
Ms. Chu also focused on affordability, education and quality of life, helping secure nearly $6 million for 23 schools in her district and preventing cuts to New York libraries. She was the first Asian American woman to serve in the State Senate.
She has not made contributions to any mayoral candidates in this election.
Reihan Salam is the president of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative public policy institution that advocates market-based solutions for improving quality of life. He is the author of “Melting Pot or Civil War?” which argues that American immigration policy should focus on bringing in skilled workers.
A longtime journalist, Mr. Salam was the executive editor of National Review from 2014 to 2019. He has not made contributions to any mayoral campaigns in this election.
Mitchell Moss is a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University who has advised city and state governments on infrastructure policy and economic growth. From 1983 to 1994, he was a deputy to the chairman of a state panel on economic priorities. He was the director of N.Y.U.’s center for transportation policy from 2010 to 2022.
Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed him to a committee shaping policy on transit, open space and equitable opportunity to guide New York’s economic goals.
He has not made contributions to any mayoral campaigns in this election.
Neil Blumenthal is a founder and co-chief executive of the New York-based eyewear company Warby Parker. Since 2015, the retailer has partnered with New York City agencies and organizations to provide free eyeglasses to students.
He has not made contributions to any mayoral candidates in this election.
Ester Fuchs is the director of the Urban and Social Policy Program at Columbia, where her research focuses on sustainable economic development, education and community engagement. As a special adviser to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she worked on major reforms of city systems including after-school programs and a hub for obtaining benefits.
Her 1992 book, “Mayors and Money,” analyzes how politics and budget decisions influenced policies in New York and Chicago. She has also organized the Dinkins Forum and annual summits where mayors gathered to discuss urban policy issues and share lessons. Ms. Fuchs is a chair of Columbia’s task force on antisemitism.
She contributed $180 to Scott Stringer’s mayoral campaign.
Frederick A. Davie is a senior executive vice president at Union Theological Seminary in Morningside Heights. He helps lead community and civic engagement with social and economic-justice organizations. He has also served in New York City administrations since the 1990s. He was deputy borough president of Manhattan in the mid-1990s. He was the chair of the board responsible for civilian oversight of the New York Police Department from 2017 to 2022.
Mr. Davie also served on the White House council on faith-based and neighborhood partnerships in the Obama administration. When he was at the Ford Foundation, Mr. Davie created a national initiative to reduce rates of juvenile incarceration and recidivism in collaboration with faith and community organizations.
He has not made contributions to any mayoral candidates in this election.
Who won
their support
Who won
their support
Panelists scored the candidates overall and on the city’s most pressing issues. Tap a category to see how the candidates ranked.
Panelists scored the candidates overall and
on the city’s most pressing issues. Tap a category
to see how the candidates ranked.
1
Brad Lander
City comptroller
2
Andrew Cuomo
Former governor
3
Zohran Mamdani
State assemblyman
4
Whitney Tilson
Former hedge-fund executive
5
Scott Stringer
Former city comptroller
6
Adrienne Adams
City Council speaker
7
Zellnor Myrie
State senator
8
Jessica Ramos
State senator
9
Michael Blake
Former state assemblyman
Methodology
Times Opinion asked 15 New Yorkers to join a panel this spring to assess the candidates running in the Democratic mayoral primary and share their views with our readers.
The panelists were chosen based on their experience in citywide or local community affairs, their knowledge of key issues and their range of viewpoints. All of them are following the candidates and the race closely; they were not selected based on party affiliation, although most are registered to vote in the Democratic primary. None of the panelists are involved with any of the campaigns.
Some panelists have made donations to candidates in the race; this information is disclosed in their extended biographies. The Times ascertained the panelists’ donations to various candidates from public filings and from conversations with them.
The panelists were asked to name which Democratic candidates would make the best mayor and why and which of the candidates would be most effective at handling several key issues facing the city. The ranking of the candidates on each issue is based on the number of panelists who picked that candidate as the best on that issue.
The panelists were also asked to rate each candidate numerically on a scale of one to 10 for every issue, information that was used to break ties among candidates.
Panelists’ selections and scores were tallied on June 10.
Two candidates on the ballot, Selma Bartholomew and Paperboy Love Prince, were not included in the survey. They entered the race late, ran low-profile campaigns with little money and ranked near the bottom of the polls.
Credits
Candidate portraits by Damon Winter/The New York Times and Yuki Iwamura/Associated Press (Cuomo). Panelist portraits by Jonno Rattman for The New York Times. Cinematography: Elliot deBruyn and Jonah M. Kessel. Producing: Emily Holzknecht and Ingrid Holmquist. Video editing: Jonah M. Kessel.
Additional reporting by Julie Ho.
