A Month Ahead of the Primary, New Yorkers Are Still Mulling Their Options

For the second time this election cycle, Gothamist/WNYC reporters fanned out across the city to talk to voters. In April, we found that most New Yorkers we spoke with were unfamiliar with the candidates in the mayoral race, with some not even aware there is a primary in June. One month later, our unscientific poll shows that more voters now have a general sense that there’s an important election coming up, and also have a handle on at least one of the candidates running. Many we spoke to said they planned to buckle down and research their options in the coming weeks. Below you'll find some of the answers we received to our questions about which candidates they’re leaning towards, and the most pressing issues they want the next mayor to address. With four women on the ballot, we also asked if New Yorkers cared if the next mayor was a woman.

Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans will be on the ballot come June. Registered voters can start casting their votes on June 12th through June 20th, and on primary day, June 22nd. The deadline to register to vote is May 28th. You have to be registered with a party in order to vote in the primary and the deadline to switch parties, if you were already registered to vote but not as a Democrat or Republican, has already passed.

Read More: Undecided In NYC's Mayoral Race? Here's A Guide To Help

Tanya Hagler, 38, teacher, Crown Heights, undecided

I know that I am not voting for Andrew Yang. That I know. He hasn’t been in the city and I don’t think he knows what’s going on in the city. I feel like if you’rw running for mayor you should have been living here, voted in our local elections. I still have to dive in, I think there are 14 candidates running at this point. No I don’t have anybody that I’ve been deeply drawn to yet. I know that I’m a teacher and the UFT endorsed Scott Stringer, and I don’t really see something that’s making me overwhelmingly for him either. And now there’s the sexual abuse allegations against him.

Raymond Daniels, 74, Starrett City, Voting for Maya Wiley

She’s a woman and she’s black and she’s competent. I’ve seen her speak on MSNBC and on Rachel Maddow. I understand that she has a grasp of the nuances and zeitgeist that is current in the country.

Keren Marshall, 21, Bushwick, Brooklyn College student, undecided

I’d like someone who is honest about what they can and can’t do. Not everything can magically be reformed or pushed in one way. If there’s someone about compromising about just being, about being really honest about what needs to be done. I would appreciate that in a mayor. It would be cool to have a woman mayor, but I’m all about policies. It doesn't matter if you have good policies. That’s good for me.

Tommy Holliday, 60, street vendor, Bedford-Stuyvesant, undecided

I’m voting, but I don’t know who I’m voting for yet. Yeah cause, it’s too much going on. We want to make sure when we do vote for an elected official we put the right elected official in office. We’re looking for a positive mayor. We’re not looking for a liar. We’re looking for a positive role model for our community. Other than that, you gotta know who you’re voting for, because at the end of the day, our community is tired of the low-income housing that was supposed to be low-income and then went to the rich people that could afford to live like that.

Jermel McKinney, 49, mail carrier, Jamaica, undecided

It’s been a lot of shooting in Brooklyn. I want someone to get guns off the street. Maybe some more programs for kids, so they’re more busy, not shooting a gun in the street, fighting with each other over nothing. I hear it a lot, walking around. I hear shots. As a mail person I hear the shots going off all the time.

Teresa Medina, 58, Health Attendant, Tremont (The Bronx), Undecided

I want someone more like Bloomberg, but more attentive to different areas that need--'cause every area has a certain need. Certain areas need more, this and certain areas need more of that, and that's where it needs to be done. [I want a candidate] that's not just thinking of being a candidate because he can get in, but he has true moral values. [As for voting for a woman], they have that saying that men have a thing of [thinking] in the box. And women are more broad-minded. Women have a more sensitive feeling to the things that go on.

Housing [is a key issue] because--if you have a lease and every year it keeps going up...it's not good for lower class and middle class people…the rent should be stabilized. If you go in there at $1,700, then that's what you're going to pay for, say, then you make it like maybe every five years, or every three years it would change.

Elva Olalla, 65, flier distributor, Brooklyn, Undecided

I wouldn’t want to see a female mayor because they say they’re going to do something but they don’t do anything. I don’t like that. They need to be a man, not because I like men, but I prefer men govern. The women need to stay at home because if they become political, then no one’s going to tend to the kids or house.

[A key issue is] crime. Look at how many people are getting killed and having their life taken. And that’s not good. I pray to God to make sure I’m protected from that. I don’t want people to push me or kill me for my phone. They kill people, and push people on the train. And it’s not just grown people who get killed. They shoot someone and little kids can get shot. It used to be that the police would arrive to a scene quickly. Now, I don’t think so. You call them and it takes time for them to come.

Rachel Littlejohn, 52, Crown Heights, works with the learning disabled, undecided

Our mental health workers they’re overworked, underpaid, understaffed, underfunded and you have people who sincerely need help and they have nowhere to go. If you’re doing your job, I don’t care if the mayor is male or female. If she is the better person for the job then hell yeah I want her in there and I want her to be tough and compassionate and knowledgeable and willing to put in the work and accept responsibility. If you can do better don’t want anyone else to sideline you.

Bernard Walters, 62, Crown Heights, undecided

I’ve been in this neighborhood for fifty years. I don’t know any police officers now I can say "hi" to or "good morning" to, that’s gotta change. No [candidate] stands out to me so far. I think they should be co-mayors, not one person can know about everyone’s problems.

Hermania Guzman, 61, employee at Target and a home attendant, West Farms (the Bronx), Undecided

[My key issues] are crime, the dirtiness, helping the poor. I mean, they’re helping but it’s still not enough. There are no jobs, the rent—right now, they want to increase our stabilized rent. If people don’t have jobs how do they expect to pay bills? And if they raise my rent in this building this year, what am I going to do? The next mayor should at least take care of the most poor and see how they can help us because I don’t think it’s right they want to increase our stabilized rent.

I think if there was a woman mayor they can put themselves in the shoes of other women who have to work a lot, who are single mothers... Maybe a woman can understand the position that I am in.

Patrick Soh, 27, works in finance, Flushing, Undecided

Who are the candidates? I guess the only one I know is Andrew Yang. I kind of see his beliefs, it resonates with me and he is Asian, so why not? I’m not into politics so I don’t what kind of law he is going to bring, or what he is bringing to the table. NYC is a shitshow right now, I mean, Asian crimes on the rise, criminals are being let out, that sort of thing. They should prioritize [crime], but not put all their resources into it.

Kiko Li, 29, hotel worker, Woodside, Undecided

I just want a leader who can make the community safe. Especially right now due to the pandemic, because I am Asian. Manhattan, right now, it's dangerous. I used to go to Manhattan for the weekend, just for the night and to go shopping and [now] I never go there. [I want] everyone to be safe, that is all.

Zannatul Bani, 28, Elmhurst, Undecided

This is the right time to get a female mayor. We need to think about our health issues, we need to think about our schools... sometimes the school education is not proper, like they are not providing the proper education that our children need in this pandemic, so we need to think about it. [And] Muslim people are hated in America, that’s very true and I face it. They say "why are you covering your hair, this is not your own country." You know, very upsetting. I am a citizen, I am an honorable citizen of America but I am all time hearing that shit. So we need to change it, the racism, we need to change it.

Andrew Troiano, 55, truck driver, Flushing, Voting for Eric Adams

I would like to vote for Mr. Eric Adams. His career in law enforcement and his experience -- he has done things already in legislation. [I want] someone who will continue to work on the economy, work on better services (health, employment, and transportation services) for New Yorkers, and keep New York safe, most of all. Absolutely they should work on [crime], they should have other experts work on that to continue to crush crime.

Javier Cordero, 46, cab driver, Jackson Heights, Voting for Andrew Yang

I am going to vote for Andrew Yang. I followed him in the presidential campaign, I think he is the only candidate I see that has bold new ideas. I am a strong believer in universal basic income or something similar, because I think the next few years and next decades are crucial for not only the city but humanity in general.

I think Eric Adams has a lot of experience and I kind of like when he speaks. I met him once or twice and I follow him, he is okay. I was actually going to vote for Corey Johnson, but you know, he didn’t run. On Scott Stringer -- I kind of like him but the latest controversy is really serious. When people have a lot of experience in the bureaucracy, especially in a city like NYC, I don't think it is a plus anymore. I used to think it was a plus, but when you have been working in this system for too long, you become embedded with what’s wrong. So I kind of like an outsider with bold new ideas. All these jobs are disappearing, including mine [driving a cab] eventually, and we either start discussing this seriously, or we are going to end up badly and I don’t want that to happen because I love this country and this city.

It matters to me that we have not had a woman mayor of New York, and I think it is about time. However, I don’t think that the current [female] candidates have enough of my support.

Skip Giacco, 74, Small Business Owner, City Island (the Bronx), Undecided

My feeling now is there's so many people [running], I'll kind of wait til it narrows. I want somebody who understands that small businesses are what keeps neighborhoods together. Local kids work there, people come in and out, they meet each other, they become friends. That's what neighborhoods are...it binds the neighborhood. You can't do that without a small business. I want to see a manager. New York City doesn’t need a cheerleader... it needs good management.

At times, in the past year or so, it's been frightening to be on the streets in New York City. There's anger, there's tension. People shooting each other. That has to be dealt with, that has to be the number one priority, because we're killing each other.