The Bigger Apple: Is Cuomo Inevitable?

(Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

With the Democratic primary for New York City mayor now just weeks away, several influential endorsements remain puzzlingly absent. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Yvette Clarke and Grace Meng, and especially the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) have yet to make their choices clear—and the window for these decisions to meaningfully shape the race is rapidly closing.

In a ranked-choice voting primary, endorsements aren’t merely symbolic. They primarily guide voters toward their first choice, which is especially crucial when there is a dominant frontrunner, as in this race. If the frontrunner, Andrew Cuomo, achieves more than 50% of first-choice votes, the contest ends immediately, rendering second-choice votes irrelevant.

The 2021 mayoral race vividly demonstrated the consequences of late endorsements: The New York Times’ endorsement of Kathryn Garcia on May 10 boosted her significantly but came too late to consolidate enough first-choice support, allowing Eric Adams to win narrowly. AOC’s endorsement of Maya Wiley came on June 5, a week before early voting started, failing to deliver on its power.

Today, hesitation by key endorsers risks repeating history. Cuomo’s solid lead in the polls has amplified the necessity for opponents to consolidate first-choice votes immediately. The delays suggest calculated caution.

Each wants to back someone viable and influential—endorsements aren’t just ideological; they’re transactional, seeking long-term influence and access. The hesitations likely reflect internal uncertainty about candidates’ chances or dissatisfaction with candidate positions. And, perhaps, a measure of belief that Cuomo is inevitable—and fear of crossing him.

From Left: Andrew Cuomo, Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Scott Stringer, Zellnor Myrie, Jessica Ramos, Zohran Mamdani, Michael Blake, Whitey Tilson. Photos via Getty Images. 

Cuomo Probe: The Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into former Governor Andrew Cuomo over allegations that he lied to Congress about the true number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths during his administration. (NYP)

Overseeing this probe is Jeanine Pirro, now interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., with whom Cuomo has a long and combative history dating back to their contentious 2006 race for New York attorney general. (Gothamist)

Mamdani Profile: New York Magazine’s profile depicts Zohran Mamdani as charismatic but ultimately impractical—an ideological purist whose privileged upbringing and strong sense of moral clarity may leave him disconnected from the practical realities of governing.  

Despite his obvious appeal, some of his colleagues worry his idealism prevents him from fully grasping everyday struggles and making the tough compromises that being mayor demands. As one colleague put it, he seems to “float a few inches off the ground.”

Andrew Cuomo talked to Bari Weiss, and we learned he still supported charter schools, which are barely mentioned in his education platform.  Comptroller Brad Lander published his plans to bring better paying jobs to the city.

Adams Pain: NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, another mayoral candidate, marked the fifth anniversary of her father’s death from COVID-19 with an emotional speech, sharply criticizing former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic. Standing next to a photo of her father, Adams called out Cuomo for neglecting the real struggles and pain experienced by Black communities. (Gothamist)

Adams Indictment: Unsealed federal documents allege that New York City Mayor Eric Adams solicited and accepted illegal campaign donations from a Brooklyn businessman connected to Uzbekistan’s government at the start of his mayoral campaign, in exchange for promoting Uzbekistan’s interests and providing local regulatory assistance.  (THE CITY)

Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. (Photo by: peeterv, iStock / Getty Images Plus)

“Not one is willing to level with voters about the need to make the city affordable for a new generation of young adults,” Eric Kober writes in the City Journal.

New York faces a worsening housing shortage, but, despite all the talk, most 2025 mayoral candidates are still dodging the core problem: supply. Frontrunner Andrew Cuomo and his closest rivals offer more subsidies and stronger tenant protections—but avoid confronting zoning limits, rent regulation, or the politics that keep supply constrained, Kober observes.

Mayor Eric Adams passed City of Yes and backed new zoning proposals, but even his approach leans heavily on tax incentives that don’t work citywide, pushing most projects back toward public subsidy.

The deeper issue? Many New Yorkers benefit from the current system—whether through rent caps, tax breaks, or rising home values—and vote accordingly. The political class has no incentive to welcome a new generation of market-rate renters who might demand different priorities. Without structural reform, especially to land use and rent law, no candidate will have the freedom—or pressure—to fix what’s broken.

Future of Fifth Partnership’s plan to transform Fifth Avenue (Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office).

Pedestrian Paradise: Mayor Eric Adams announced his plans to fully fund the $400 million transformation of Fifth Avenue—from Bryant Park to Central Park—into a world-class, pedestrian-centered boulevard, subject to council approval. The project aims to boost economic growth, create jobs, and pay for itself within five years through increased property and sales tax revenue, marking the first major redesign of Fifth Avenue in 200 years. (Gothamist)

Bus Central: NYC DOT has proposed a new busway on 34th Street in Manhattan between Ninth and Third Avenues and plans to extend the northbound double bus lane on Madison Avenue from 42nd Street to 23rd Street, which would benefit 92,000 daily bus riders. 

Traffic Management: There are fewer flights at Newark, more boats and trains to Rockaway, and Central Park’s doing a delicate dance balancing roadway between pedestrians and bicycles. 

Co-op Trouble: Rochdale Village, a large Mitchell-Lama co-op in Queens housing 25,000 people, is facing a major increase in monthly maintenance fees—at least 22%, and possibly up to 57%—due to mounting debts, unpaid bills, and rising costs. Residents worry they’ll be priced out, while officials and advocates push for more state support and reforms to protect this and other similar affordable housing complexes. (Gothamist)

Strike Talk: New York’s new budget just made it easier for striking workers to access unemployment benefits, cutting the extra waiting period from two weeks down to one. This change, which organized labor has pushed for years, could give a big boost to unions like the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council as they head into contract talks with city hotel owners. The budget also pays off the state’s $6 billion unemployment debt, and weekly benefits will increase from $504 to $869 by October.

Business groups fought these changes, warning they’ll make strikes more likely since employers foot the bill for unemployment insurance, but union leaders say the reforms will give workers real leverage at the bargaining table. New York and New Jersey are the only states where striking workers can collect unemployment. (Crain’s) 

Education: NYC is hiring 3,700 new teachers for class size reduction. See how many your school is getting and where mayoral candidates stand on this expensive mandate, projected to cost as much as $1.9 billion annually and potentially billions more to create new classroom space. Where that money will come from remains an open question the next mayor must answer, and based on candidate responses, only Brad Lander seems to have a plan.

NYC preschool offers again yielded waitlists in some neighborhoods and empty seats in others. (Chalkbeat)

People: Kathryn Wylde, 79, is retiring after 25 years as president of the Partnership for New York City, where she has been a key advocate for the city’s business community and an influential advisor to mayors and governors. (Crain’s, NYT)

Photo via New York City Public Schools Press Office

If it feels like everything in New York takes too long to get done, that’s because it does—and not only due to costs or politics; the delays are structural.

As MI’s Eric Kober explains, the city’s approval process for housing projects—with lengthy environmental reviews, overlapping veto points, and multiple advisory steps—doesn’t outright block projects but reliably stalls them, pitting democratic accountability against getting things done. 

The Charter Revision Commission is now considering modest adjustments, such as consolidating community board and borough president reviews. However, as Kober argues, significant reform will only come when we treat these built-in delays as real costs rather than virtues. Until then, urgency and efficiency will remain elusive.

Similarly, following up on the dysfunctional school Community Education Councils (CEC) I wrote about last week, MI’s Ray Domanico, former director of education research at New York City’s Independent Budget Office, shared his take: CECs are “glorified suggestion boxes, allowed to rubber-stamp little more than changes to school zones and admissions policies, with the real decision-making left to local school superintendents,” he wrote for The New York Post earlier this year. 

“Nine [of the city’s 32 school] districts now serve fewer than 9,000 kids each, and in some, 40% of students have fled to charter schools. Many of these districts rank at the bottom in reading proficiency. The writing’s on the wall: it’s time to consolidate these underperforming districts, streamline their bloated bureaucracies, and scrap the councils entirely.”

Kober: Reforming NYC’s Land Use Process: Weighing Democratic Accountability vs. Getting Things Done

Domanico: Why NYC Education Councils need to be cancelled

Cafe Lafayette. Photo by Liena Zagare

Maman at 3 West 18th Street, one of the French cafe and bakery’s NYC locations, is an excellent spot for conversation. It’s bright, spacious, comfortable, and designed with enough seating across the main floor and mezzanine that you will likely find a table, though lunchtime gets busy.

The ambiance is warm, and while the floral theme may not be to everyone’s taste, it works. Its location near Union Square also makes it convenient for quick meet-ups between other engagements. Open weekdays 7:30 am – 6 pm, and 8 am – 6 pm on weekends. 

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