New Yorkers voting in mayoral primary say cost of living, Trump are their top issues

New Yorkers turned out to the polls Tuesday in sweltering heat to vote in New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor and other offices.

“I think local elections, we don't put as much emphasis on it, we tend to care more about the presidential ones,” Jianna Dejesus, a 23-year-old who works in film, said outside the poll site at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Astoria. “But it starts in the community, and I think that’s where we have the most power.”

The citywide races will be determined by ranked-choice voting, where registered Democrats rank multiple candidates in order of preference. The first candidate to exceed 50% of votes in any elimination rounds wins. Early voting in the primary more than doubled from that in the 2021 primary, the last time voters elected their party’s nominees for mayor, comptroller and public advocate.

Interviews with voters across the city during the early hours of Primary Day largely reflected the divide between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.

Cuomo is the establishment candidate with decades of experience — and baggage — in public office. Mamdani is a democratic socialist who has garnered grassroots support through an energetic campaign focused on cost-of-living issues.

Voters also expressed concerns about President Donald Trump’s second administration, including his crackdown on immigration and rescission of federal funding that supports New Yorkers.

“New York City has a target on its back right now, and there’s a bully in a large federal office who sort of seeks retribution,” Max Smith, 61, said outside the Brooklyn Borough Hall poll site. “So I think there’s a certain candidate who has experience and the ability to stand up to that.”

Smith didn’t name Cuomo, but it was clear the ex-governor had his support.

“He’s already been in office for this state, and is somewhat controversial to many people,” the chief financial officer said, citing crime, homelessness and the rollback of federal grants as among his top issues.

In East Flatbush, 85-year-old Curtis Brown said he voted for Cuomo as a foil to Trump.

“Every time [Trump] goes into there, big misery in the country, war, bombs, bombs, bombs,” Brown said outside the P.S. 361 poll site, referring to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “I prefer a more peaceful candidate, which is Cuomo.”

Dejesus, the Astoria film worker, said she ranked Mamdani first.

“I’d like to see someone that represents the city and understands the city, is from the city and just understands cost of life but also child care affordability,” she said. “All of that isn’t accessible to everyday New Yorkers and it’s unfortunate, and we see locals getting pushed out way too often.”

Some voters said they ranked city Comptroller Brad Lander, who has been polling third behind Mamdani and Cuomo, as their top choice. Lander’s campaign has been boosted in recent days by a strong final debate performance and his caught-on-camera arrest by federal agents as he escorted immigrants out of immigration court appearances at a building in Lower Manhattan. He has not been charged in the incident.

“After what happened to him with ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement], I was like, that’s my guy right there,” Marlyne Gaston, a 43-year-old case worker at a city shelter, said at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal, where she had just greeted Lander on the campaign trail. “Because my family’s Haitian, I'm from Haiti. Even though I'm a naturalized citizen, all this ICE stuff hits home because I do have family that’s undocumented, and it’s hard to watch this on the news.”

“New York City is a diverse place,” she added. “I came here when I was 4 years old. I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve always known this as the melting pot. We need a mayor that understands this.”

Diana Barrett, a 65-year-old retiree, said she ranked Cuomo first because of his record leading New York during the COVID-19 pandemic — and ranked Mamdani second because of his pledges to make city buses free and lower the cost of housing.

Cuomo “really guided me and [my loved ones] and so many people through this, and I felt like he was a little railroaded with the sexual allegations,” she said outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, alluding to the roughly dozen women who accused the governor of misconduct he denies. “But he just has so many good qualities and he has such a history that … I want to give him another chance.”

As for Mamdani, Barrett said, “Sometimes fresh blood is really nice.”

Temperatures are expected to exceed 100 degrees on Tuesday when factoring in humidity.

That raised concerns about turnout, particularly among voters who are vulnerable to heat illness due to their age or health conditions. Cuomo, whose base includes many older voters, urged his supporters Sunday to “vote on Election Day even if it's 100 degrees.”

Very few voters turned out at three poll sites in Southeast Queens — a key base for Cuomo — early Tuesday as the stifling heat set in. At any moment, there appeared to be more campaign workers outside the sites in St. Albans, Rochdale Village and South Jamaica than voters. Turnout also seemed low at a poll site in the South Bronx, where Cuomo’s campaign has also focused on mobilizing voters.

Most voters Gothamist spoke to said housing and affordability were their top concerns.

Tristan Arosteguy, a 29-year-old freelance composer who lives in Astoria, said he ranked Mamdani first because of his plans to tackle the city’s cost-of-living challenges, even if those plans do not immediately take root.

“His campaign has actually got New Yorkers excited because he seems like somebody who’s going to try to do things a little differently,” Arosteguy said. “I just want somebody to try something.”

Josefina Arujo pointed to the city’s “extreme housing shortage” for why she came out to vote.

“The majority of the new construction they do is for people who make a lot of money,” she said in Spanish outside the I.S. 390 poll site in Crown Heights. “People who make a little bit of money don’t have apartments.” She said she supported Cuomo due to his record as governor.

“It’s just getting crazy, normal people can’t live here,” Lipag Elbsdein said outside South Williamsburg’s I.S. 71 poll site, noting he ranked Cuomo first, followed by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. “It’s too expensive.”

Other voters criticized Mamdani and praised Cuomo for the candidates’ stances on Israel and the war in Gaza. The race has partly centered on antisemitism and rhetoric around the candidates’ views on Jewish and Muslim issues.

George Stern, a 57-year-old paramedic, said he voted only for Cuomo, and accused Mamdani, an Israel critic who has faced scrutiny over his recent comments about the phrase “globalize the Intifada,” of being an “antisemite” — a characterization Mamdani has denied.

“He needs to be called out for what he's saying,” Stern said outside the I.S. 71 poll site in South Williamsburg.

Public education and safety were also on voters’ minds.

“I have kids in public schools, so how public schools are doing and how they're financed, will there be money for those programs … I keep worrying will we have money to pay for that?” attorney Greg Gibson, 58, said outside the Upper East Side’s J.H.S. 167 poll site. He declined to say whom he voted for in the mayoral primary, but said he appreciated being able to rank multiple candidates.

“I really do think the crime rate is way out of control, and it shocks me every day when I hear about somebody dying in the Bronx,” Lorraine Vestris, a 77-year-old therapist who voted for Cuomo and Speaker Adams, said outside the school.

Polls will remain open until 9 p.m. Tuesday. With absentee ballots yet to be fully counted and the race being close, a winner likely will not be known until the city Board of Elections conducts ranked-choice tabulations next week.

Liam Quigley and Andrew Giambrone contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional information.