Gotham Gazette

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Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang

  • Max Politics Podcast: Chris Coffey on the Yang Campaign, Eric Adams & More

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    A Yang mayoral campaign event (photo by guest Chris Coffey, @chriscoffeytalk, Yang co-campaign manager)


    October 19, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: Chris Coffey on the Yang Mayoral Campaign, Eric Adams & More

    Chris Coffey, the co-CEO of Tusk Strategies and co-campaign manager of Andrew Yang's 2021 mayoral campaign, joined the show to reflect on the Democratic primary, discuss Eric Adams' likely mayoralty, lessons from his time working for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know

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  • Baby Bonds Are Great, But We Shouldn’t Make Kids Wait

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    Kids back at school (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Coinciding with the start of the school year, New York City parents got some good news last week when Mayor de Blasio launched the city’s first universal baby bonds program. Starting this year, every public-school kindergartener will receive access to a college savings account seeded with $100 from the city.

    This

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  • How Kathryn Garcia Defied the Odds But Came Up Just Short

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    Kathryn Garcia (photo: @KGforNYC)


    When the New York City Board of Elections certified the results of the 2021 Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday, it showed Kathryn Garcia losing to Eric Adams by just 7,197 votes. In the first citywide election using ranked-choice voting, the primary likely to determine the next mayor was decided by a difference of only 0.8%, with just over 942,000 Democratic votes cast.

    Garcia conceded the race two weeks prior, on July 7, congratulating Eric Adams for his win after she had defied virtually all

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  • Top Democratic Mayoral Campaigns Spent $69 Million on the Primary, Outside Groups Another $31 Million

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Spending on this year’s mayoral election has already surpassed the $100 million mark, according to the latest campaign finance reports that were filed on Friday. Those filings show fundraising and expenditures by the Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor, including the top eight Democratic mayoral candidates who made the televised debates, as well as independent expenditure groups, also known as political action committees (PACs), which spent for or against candidates.

    The top eight

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  • In Mayoral Primary, Spending in Support of Adams More Than Combined Total for Garcia and Wiley

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    (l-r) Eric Adams, Kathryn Garcia, Maya Wiley


    Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams claimed victory in the Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, with 50.5% of ranked-choice votes after almost all absentee votes were counted, beating former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia by one percentage point. He credited “an historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working-class New Yorkers” for propelling him to victory.

    But both because of and in order to assemble that coalition, Adams was the beneficiary of the the second-most

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Breaking Down Mayoral Primary Results, with Bob Hardt

    Breaking Down the Mayoral Primary Results, with Bob Hardt

    City Hall (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    July 7, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: Breaking Down the Mayoral Primary Results, with Bob Hardt

    Bob Hardt, New York political director for Spectrum News, including NY1, joined the show to dissect the Eric Adams' win in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, the larger race, and what comes next.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

  • 'This Is The System We Chose': New York City's First Ranked-Choice Mayoral Vote Unfolds

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    Voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As the final vote in the consequential Democratic mayoral primary nears, controversy has erupted around the new ranked-choice voting (RCV) format and the tactics some campaigns are using to wrangle votes.

    Supporters of RCV have said the system forces candidates to seek a broader base of support. But after candidates Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang teamed up this past weekend in the hopes of being the second-round pick of each other's supporters, Eric Adams' campaign and its

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  • What Have The Top Democratic Mayoral Candidates Actually Accomplished?

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    l-r: Kathryn Garcia, Eric Adams, Scott Stringer, Andrew Yang, Maya Wiley


    The Democratic mayoral race is the most diverse it has ever been in the city’s history, both in terms of the candidates and the records they bring to the table. In the top tier of eight candidates, there are two sitting elected officials, two former top de Blasio administration officials, a former presidential candidate, a former Wall Street executive, a former Obama cabinet secretary, and a former nonprofit leader.

    In the last two weeks, though the race remains

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  • 'A Very Tough April and May': What's Gone Wrong for Andrew Yang's Mayoral Campaign?

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    Andrew Yang (photo: @AndrewYang)


    Andrew Yang, the entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate, seemed to be dominating this year’s mayoral race, with early poll numbers showing him well ahead of the other candidates running in this month’s primary. But the honeymoon period for his campaign ended, with personal and policy gaffes and experience gaps possibly catching up with him as more voters tuned into the race. Several polls released Monday, three days into early voting and just over a week before primary day, show Yang slipping toward the

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  • Andrew Yang's Strengths and Weaknesses as He Runs for Mayor

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    Andrew Yang at a campaign event (photo: @AndrewYang)


    [This article is part of a series on the leading Democratic mayoral candidates' strengths and weaknesses.]

    Andrew Yang, the entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate, has consistently been among the frontrunners in the Democratic mayoral primary to replace the term-limited Mayor Bill de Blasio. Yang’s charisma combined with a lack of previous political trappings have found appeal within the electorate

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  • Can the Next Mayor Save NYCHA? Democratic Candidates Offer Varied Plans for City's Crumbling Public Housing

    Few Mayoral Candidates Offer Plans for Rescuing City's Crumbling Public Housing

    NYCHA (photo: governor's office)


    The New York City Housing Authority, home to more than 400,000 New Yorkers, is falling apart. Long plagued by mold, lead paint, structural cracks, and failing elevators, boilers, and locks, the authority of over 177,000 units in 335 developments across the five boroughs is in need of a staggering $40 billion in physical repairs over the next ten years and faces an immediate operating budget deficit of about $300 million.

    Long the victim of official

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  • With Progressive Rivals in Trouble, Can Maya Wiley Consolidate The Left in Mayor's Race?

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    Maya Wiley with supporters (photo: Wiley campaign)


    [Update: Since publication of this article, Maya Wiley has picked up several more endorsements, including from the New York Progressive Action Network and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, which had both endorsed Dianne Morales, State Senator Julia Salazar, the Working Families Party, and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, among others, some of whom had previously endorsed Scott Stringer]

    Moderate candidates Eric Adams and Andrew Yang have been leading in the Democratic

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  • Four Democratic Candidates Get Major Matching Funds Boost for Stretch Run

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    (l-r) Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang


    With under four weeks to go till the June 22 primary, the top Democratic mayoral candidates are receiving another round of public matching funds from the Campaign Finance Board, giving several of them the boost they need in the crucial period ahead. Particularly, the payout will help four candidates better compete with several of their competitors who had already banked larger sums, some of whom have been running for mayor for much longer.

    Campaigns have little time left to

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  • Where They Stand: Compare NYC Mayoral Candidates On The Issues

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     (l-r) Top: Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, Ray McGuire; Bottom: Eric Adams, Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Scott Stringer


    The Democratic primary in the race to become the next Mayor of New York City is fast-approaching, with early voting June 12-20 and primary day June 22. With ranked-choice voting at play for the first time and voters able to rank their top five choices in order of preference, there's even more reason to carefully compare where the candidates stand on the issues and what they are promising to do if elected.

    Use the

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  • Andrew Yang Cares

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    Andrew Yang & Ron Kim meeting with home-care workers (photo: @rontkim)


    This past weekend, I hosted a town hall discussion between Andrew Yang and home-care workers at the Flushing Workers Center. The home-care workers set the stage for a substantive discussion about ending the exploitative 24-hour work-shift, and helping the workers recover back wages from their employer. At the end of the discussion, they would press Yang, a Democrat running for Mayor who I have endorsed, to sign their home care workers’ pledge.

    It was a tense, hour-long

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  • Consultants, Advisors and Staff: Who's Running the Democratic Mayoral Campaigns

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    There is no one formula for victory in the Democratic mayoral primary and the top eight candidates are running vastly different campaigns. The popularity of each candidate’s message and chances of victory depend not only on the strength of their personal appeal to voters but also their campaign infrastructure – including the tacticians, advisors, consultants, and campaign staff members who mostly go unseen but whose work informs the candidates’ policies, positions, fundraising, advertising, and

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  • Poll Shows Adams Ahead, Garcia Jump, and 'Undecided' Leading the Field in Mayoral Primary

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    Eric Adams, Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia


    A new poll released late on Tuesday shows Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in the lead in the Democratic mayoral primary, with entrepreneur Andrew Yang and former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia tied in second place, though half of all likely primary voters continue to remain undecided. 

    The poll was the final of three “Pulse of the Primary” polls released ahead of the June primary election by Fontas Advisors and Core Decision Analytics, which had previously surveyed likely primary voters in January and

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  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Discuss Taking on Family Homelessness

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    Shelter in the Bronx (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Tens of thousands of parents and children are living in city shelters. Some of the worst effects of the pandemic may not be felt until the next mayor is in office in 2021, when New York City and State may have to reckon with the fallout from an expiring eviction moratorium, mass income losses, and diminishing federal stimulus.

    Three of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination for mayor -- civil rights attorney Maya Wiley, city government veteran Kathryn Garcia, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang --

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  • 5 Key Takeaways from the First Official 2021 Mayoral Debate

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    The first Democratic mayoral debate


    Eight Democratic mayoral candidates took the virtual stage on Thursday for the first of three official televised debates leading up to the June primary. Over the course of two hours, the candidates offered thoughts and plans on public safety, reviving the city’s economy, school desegregation, housing, homelessness, and more. The debate was mostly civil, likely in part because of the virtual format, but candidates did occasionally lob pointed critiques at each other, previewing the direction the race may take over the

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  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Talk Issues of Importance to Immigrant Communities

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    (l-r) Shaun Donovan, Maya Wiley, Andrew Yang, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer


    At a virtual forum on Thursday night, four of the leading Democratic candidates for mayor in the June primary weighed in on issues affecting New York City’s large immigrant population, including housing, education, employment, and participation in the political process.

    Hosted by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), one of the largest immigrant advocacy groups in the state, the forum was the first one focused solely on immigrants and was simultaneously

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  • Competing Visions of Public Banking in New York City

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    A Wall Street rally for public banking (photo: @PublicBankNYC)


    In recent memory public banking was an idea that belonged either to a distant utopian future or a distant populist past. But today, not only is public banking on the agenda of major New York politicians, but competing visions of public banking are on offer.

    The coalition Public Bank NYC (PBNYC) is running a grassroots effort to create a public bank for New York City, while mayoral candidate Andrew Yang proposes to initiate public banking through the mayor’s executive authority. Despite

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  • The Money Race in the Democratic Mayoral Primary: March Filing Key for Matching Funds

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    (l-r) Maya Wiley, Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia, Shaun Donovan, & Dianne Morales all appear on track for matching funds


    The top tier of candidates in this year’s Democratic primary for New York City mayor continues coming into focus through a variety of metrics, including the latest campaign finance filings, which help indicate which candidates have gained traction with voters and will have the financial means to compete ahead of the June vote. In the heavily Democratic city, the party’s primary winner is the odds-on-favorite to become the city’s next

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  • At Televised Debate, Democratic Mayoral Candidates Outline Housing, Homelessness Plans

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    (top: Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, Ray McGuire; bottom: Eric Adams, Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Scott Stringer)


    Eight leading Democratic candidates in the race for mayor appeared in the first televised mayoral forum of the 2021 race to share their policy proposals for tackling housing and homelessness in New York City. The discussion had a particular focus on the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has added a new layer of concern regarding homelessness, evictions, rent and mortgage debt, housing segregation, affordable and

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  • Decision NYC: Andrew Yang Discusses His Run for Mayor

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    Andrew Yang (photo: Gage Skidmore )


    Andrew Yang, a Democrat running for Mayor in the 2021 election, joined MNN's "Decision NYC with Ben Max" for an in-depth discussion of his candidacy for the city's top job. This interview is part of a series produced by Manhattan Neighborhood

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  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Stake Out Education Policy Positions

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    Pandemic education (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Leading Democratic candidates for mayor have appeared at several recent forums to outline their priorities on education and the possibility of running the country’s largest school system, as well as their strategies for achieving those aims. Discussion at the various forums, hosted by a number of diverse groups, was often focused on how the mayoral hopefuls would shape equitable and inclusive educational policy for New York City students, especially amid the fallout of the coronavirus

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