NYC is ‘overdue’ for first woman mayor: Andrew Yang
For mayoral contender Andrew Yang, the Big Apple is overdue for its first female mayor — but now, apparently, is not the right time, according to the race’s frontrunner.
In an interview with the Daily News editorial board Tuesday, Yang, who leads New York City’s mayoral field in recent polling, tried to make the case for why he should become the city’s next mayor, and in doing so, said he would rank rival Kathryn Garcia as his second choice for the city’s top job.
“Certainly I think it’s overdue for there to be a woman mayor of New York City,” he said. “I know it’s just a matter of time.”
Yang did not elaborate on how long New Yorkers should have to wait to elect a woman as mayor — presumably another eight years given his run — but he offered general praise for his three female opponents: Garcia, who served as the city’s sanitation commissioner; Maya Wiley, Mayor de Blasio’s former legal counsel; and Dianne Morales, a former non-profit executive.
“I’ve been very open about the fact that I would love to have Kathryn Garcia in particular as, like, a partner in city government,” he said. “The nature of this process is that each one of us puts forward our case, and you know, we submit ourselves to the will of New York City.”
Yang’s comments come a week after a supporter posted a controversial video in which Yang can be seen laughing after being asked whether he chokes “b----es.”
Yang later defended his reaction, saying he was trying to be “friendly” to the man, but was “shocked and surprised” by what he said.
The video — and Yang’s own remarks about why he reacted the way he did — quickly sparked outrage among female leaders, with the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women calling the episode “appalling.”
In his interview with The News’ editorial board Tuesday, the intersection of gender and politics wasn’t the only topic de jour for Yang, though.
He touched on a variety of other hot-button issues, ranging from what to do with monuments like ones to Christopher Columbus and President Theodore Roosevelt, to his support of bringing casinos to the city, to his relationships with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Yang, who ran in the last Democratic presidential primary, has touted his connections to his opponents in that race as potentially a key asset to the city if he’s elected mayor.
But the exact nature of those relationships and how close Yang actually is to those in the upper reaches of the federal government has remained somewhat unclear. When asked Tuesday to detail how often he speaks with Biden and Harris, as well as Pete Buttigieg, who also ran in the primary and now serves as Biden’s transportation secretary, Yang conceded that it’s more a matter of weeks and months since his last contact with them — not days.
The last call he received from Harris came around Christmas of last year, and he hasn’t spoken with Biden since January.
“I got a call from Kamala late last year for the holidays, and then Joe — I haven’t spoken to, since he, you know, got sworn in,” Yang said. “The last time I saw him was when I was fundraising for him down the stretch of the campaign at an event.”
He spoke with Buttigieg more recently when the transportation honcho called to check on him after Yang had to be hospitalized because of a kidney stone.
“Pete texted me the other week,” he said. “He was like, ‘Hey, you know, well, like, I hope you’re good,’ and I responded. So that was, whatever it was, a few weeks ago.”
While the role of such political figures in a Yang administration remains an open question, so too does that of Bradley Tusk, the political consultant whose lobbying firm has been central to running Yang’s mayoral campaign.
Questions about Tusk’s influence first arose publicly after Yang floated the idea of bringing a casino to Governors Island, where they are prohibited. Tusk, a former aide to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is the chairman of IG Acquisition, a company devoted to the gaming and hospitality industries — a role that has raised questions about how open Yang might be to outside influence when formulating public policy.
When asked about the potential for conflicts of interests and bringing casinos to the city in general, Yang said that none of his policy ideas have come from Tusk clients — despite the fact that Tusk himself told the NY Times he had discussed the Governors Island idea with Yang.
“I would like it to be tourist only,” he said of his fledgling plans to bring a casino to the city. “If you look around and said, what are the things New York City could do that could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the public that we could use to help shore up schools, mental health resources, reduce homelessness — to me, gaming, you know, belonged on the list.”
Yang also waded into the controversial subject of the city’s monuments to historical figures that some believe should not be publicly celebrated because of their past deeds and words. Key among those is Christopher Columbus, who’s viewed as a hero among many Italian-Americans and a brutal colonizer by others.
Yang, who described President Theodore Roosevelt as a hero, said that “unfortunately” we live in a time when figures from the past are being judged outside their historical context.
But Yang added that he has “never really understood the lionization of Columbus.”
“I’ve always found it odd that we celebrate Columbus Day honestly,” he said. “I would love to lionize someone who, you know, like, maybe people haven’t heard of, who doesn’t have, like, a holiday named after them.”
He then mentioned “a woman activist, who, her name escapes me, unfortunately.”
“See, her name wouldn’t escape me if there was a statue!” he added. “That’s what I’m talking about it.”
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