Sam: this is incredibly helpful, thank you! I’ve had my top three mayoral picks decided (Zellnor, Brad, Adrienne)… but have been agonizing on Cuomo vs Zohran and who’s better on the things I have top of mind (housing, streets for people [not cars], and transit). Decision has been made now :)
I think this is a great write up. It's been really disheartening to see other YIMBYs back a NIMBY asshole to settle scores or look cool to their friends.
You'd think that, but I've read multiple voter guides from abundance people that don't even suggest ranking a full slate, which IMO is effectively a backdoor endorsement of Cuomo similar to the NYT op-ed.
I guess I can hope that they'll secretly rank Zohran on their own ballots, but who knows. I'm glad Abundance New York (and you!) took a pragmatic approach. Thanks for the writeup.
Thank you for the nuance !! a lot of yimby pages i follow are so anti-mamdani its a bit of a neo-liberal red flag for me. The ruling class has been doing amazing in america for decades- working class oriented politicians are sorely needed- is Mamdani the perfect yimby ? obviously no- but building public housing (which i know americans hate but it has a crucial role in most functioning social democracies) + deregulation of building code would be an obvious win for yimbys and progressive urban policy.
I will not vote for a candidate who defends saying globalize the intifada and whose main policy preoccupations are all terrible ideas. Cuomo is a bad person but boy at least he isn't openly anti semitic. Otherwise a good list.
Cuomo is also at least a little anti-Semitic. “He could also bridle at the indignity of voter courtship, growing especially irritated about an event celebrating Sukkot, the Jewish harvest holiday when the faithful gather outdoors beneath temporary shelters of branches and greenery. “These people and their fucking tree houses,” Cuomo vented to his team, according to a person who witnessed it and another who was briefed on his comments at the time.”
Yes Cuomo is a bad person, you don't have to tell me that, I already said it. If you're excluding politicians who are a little anti-semitic behind closed doors, well you'll be out of them quickly. But with Zohran, he was basically asked if he was anti-semitic and he just went ahead and said yes fuck the jews. Big difference! And setting anti-semitism aside, the judgement shown to answer that question in that way in New York City completely disqualifies him. I am not sure if I'll rank Cuomo yet, I'd rather rank neither of them. But it seems prudent to make him 5th to avoid Zohran because he really is that bad.
I’ve no clue what is your source for saying Zohran is anti-Semitic because he never said “yes fuck the Jews”. Are you sure it’s not your Islamophobia distorting reality?
“As the highest profile Muslim candidate in NY history, I feel an obligation to speak out against violence and against bad faith or misinformed efforts to manipulate language in ways that only contribute to the division we’re seeking to overcome,” he said. “I’ve repeatedly condemned any calls for violence.” Mamdani added Friday that “globalize the intifada” is “not the language that I use,” but added “the role of the mayor is not to police language.” (Politico.)
Correct it wasn't a direct quote. He was asked about the phrase globalize the intifada and defended using it. Jewish people understood what that meant. If you don't see how he's anti semitic at this point I can't help you
I’ve no clue what is your source for saying Zohran is anti-Semitic because he never said “yes fuck the Jews”. Are you sure it’s not your Islamophobia distorting reality?
This is great, I find your arguments pretty persuasive against Cuomo (though not for Mamdani, he should not be ranked until he actually adjusts his stated platform to match his vague genuflections towards economic reality). But quite disappointed by your failure to rank Tilson. He is a significantly better urbanist candidate than anyone outside of maybe Myrie. He should rank above Mamdani or Adrienne Adams for any informed/economically literate urbanist.
Tilson is polling behind Paperboy Prince at 0-1%. He has zero notable endorsements. He’s not a serious candidate. I am not going to waste my time and effort writing about someone with zero traction.
Sam I’m a huge fan of your blog and this definitely informed my vote! Really disappointed YIMBY victory didn’t happen. Would love to hear your thoughts on the outcome!
Curious - if you admit that Zohran, despite his flaws, is the ‘necessary evil’ to combat Cuomo’s gross incompetence and corruption, why do a write-up suggesting readers vote for Myrie and Lander? Even if they have better policies, hasn’t the time for that passed? At this point a vote for either is essentially a vote for Cuomo as they are far more likely to pull from the Zohran pool.
Ranked choice voting means you can do both. Moreover, ranking Zellnor Myrie and Brad Lander would likely be a moderation signal for Zohran. If Zohran won in a landslide with 60% of first-round votes, he would govern very differently than if he ekes out a win thanks to vote transfers from Zellnor, Lander, and Adrienne Adams supporters.
Sam: this is incredibly helpful, thank you! I’ve had my top three mayoral picks decided (Zellnor, Brad, Adrienne)… but have been agonizing on Cuomo vs Zohran and who’s better on the things I have top of mind (housing, streets for people [not cars], and transit). Decision has been made now :)
I think this is a great write up. It's been really disheartening to see other YIMBYs back a NIMBY asshole to settle scores or look cool to their friends.
For what it’s worth, I think most YIMBYs in NYC appreciate the stakes with how awful Cuomo is, and plan on voting for Zohran (even begrudgingly).
You'd think that, but I've read multiple voter guides from abundance people that don't even suggest ranking a full slate, which IMO is effectively a backdoor endorsement of Cuomo similar to the NYT op-ed.
I guess I can hope that they'll secretly rank Zohran on their own ballots, but who knows. I'm glad Abundance New York (and you!) took a pragmatic approach. Thanks for the writeup.
Thank you for the nuance !! a lot of yimby pages i follow are so anti-mamdani its a bit of a neo-liberal red flag for me. The ruling class has been doing amazing in america for decades- working class oriented politicians are sorely needed- is Mamdani the perfect yimby ? obviously no- but building public housing (which i know americans hate but it has a crucial role in most functioning social democracies) + deregulation of building code would be an obvious win for yimbys and progressive urban policy.
I will not vote for a candidate who defends saying globalize the intifada and whose main policy preoccupations are all terrible ideas. Cuomo is a bad person but boy at least he isn't openly anti semitic. Otherwise a good list.
Cuomo is also at least a little anti-Semitic. “He could also bridle at the indignity of voter courtship, growing especially irritated about an event celebrating Sukkot, the Jewish harvest holiday when the faithful gather outdoors beneath temporary shelters of branches and greenery. “These people and their fucking tree houses,” Cuomo vented to his team, according to a person who witnessed it and another who was briefed on his comments at the time.”
Yes Cuomo is a bad person, you don't have to tell me that, I already said it. If you're excluding politicians who are a little anti-semitic behind closed doors, well you'll be out of them quickly. But with Zohran, he was basically asked if he was anti-semitic and he just went ahead and said yes fuck the jews. Big difference! And setting anti-semitism aside, the judgement shown to answer that question in that way in New York City completely disqualifies him. I am not sure if I'll rank Cuomo yet, I'd rather rank neither of them. But it seems prudent to make him 5th to avoid Zohran because he really is that bad.
I’ve no clue what is your source for saying Zohran is anti-Semitic because he never said “yes fuck the Jews”. Are you sure it’s not your Islamophobia distorting reality?
For the record, what he said was:
“As the highest profile Muslim candidate in NY history, I feel an obligation to speak out against violence and against bad faith or misinformed efforts to manipulate language in ways that only contribute to the division we’re seeking to overcome,” he said. “I’ve repeatedly condemned any calls for violence.” Mamdani added Friday that “globalize the intifada” is “not the language that I use,” but added “the role of the mayor is not to police language.” (Politico.)
Vote and rank as you see fit, of course.
Correct it wasn't a direct quote. He was asked about the phrase globalize the intifada and defended using it. Jewish people understood what that meant. If you don't see how he's anti semitic at this point I can't help you
I’ve no clue what is your source for saying Zohran is anti-Semitic because he never said “yes fuck the Jews”. Are you sure it’s not your Islamophobia distorting reality?
This is great, I find your arguments pretty persuasive against Cuomo (though not for Mamdani, he should not be ranked until he actually adjusts his stated platform to match his vague genuflections towards economic reality). But quite disappointed by your failure to rank Tilson. He is a significantly better urbanist candidate than anyone outside of maybe Myrie. He should rank above Mamdani or Adrienne Adams for any informed/economically literate urbanist.
Tilson is polling behind Paperboy Prince at 0-1%. He has zero notable endorsements. He’s not a serious candidate. I am not going to waste my time and effort writing about someone with zero traction.
Myrie, who you endorsed, is barely doing better.
As of 10:52PM
....
5. Myrie: 9,754
6. Tilson: 7,771
...
9. Paperboy Love Prince: 1,401
Man that Myrie sure has a lot of traction relative to Tilson; Tilson is a lot closer to Myrie then he is to Paperboy Prince
“I should have written about Whitney tilson” is a unique takeaway from the election results
Completely agree on Tilson. I’m afraid Sam might be letting his personal ideology get in the way of policy here
Sam I’m a huge fan of your blog and this definitely informed my vote! Really disappointed YIMBY victory didn’t happen. Would love to hear your thoughts on the outcome!
“found here” is actually a link to a post by the White House on X rather than the Abundance NY guide
thank you for catching, just updated
Curious - if you admit that Zohran, despite his flaws, is the ‘necessary evil’ to combat Cuomo’s gross incompetence and corruption, why do a write-up suggesting readers vote for Myrie and Lander? Even if they have better policies, hasn’t the time for that passed? At this point a vote for either is essentially a vote for Cuomo as they are far more likely to pull from the Zohran pool.
Ranked choice voting means you can do both. Moreover, ranking Zellnor Myrie and Brad Lander would likely be a moderation signal for Zohran. If Zohran won in a landslide with 60% of first-round votes, he would govern very differently than if he ekes out a win thanks to vote transfers from Zellnor, Lander, and Adrienne Adams supporters.
Ranked choice voting means if you rank as Sam suggests, and it comes down to Cuomo v Zohran, those votes will count for Zohran.