Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. It's debate day in New York amid the ICE raids in LA and protests in so many places. Our political reporter, Elizabeth Kim, usually comes on with us on Wednesdays, but she is making this Thursday appearance this week to discuss our article on Gothamist called New York City Mayoral Candidates Weigh Showdown with Trump As Immigration Protests Intensify. We'll talk about other mayoral politics too, and some other races that we haven't been talking about much that are worth mentioning as primary day approaches. Tonight at 7:00 is the second and final Campaign Finance Board Democratic mayoral primary debate. I will be one of the moderators on WNYC and Spectrum News New York 1 with the seven candidates who qualified based on the Campaign Finance Board's rules. Obviously, the raids and the protests will be one of the topics. Obviously, it will not be the only topic. Tonight's second debate comes a week after the first one. Since that debate, we have seen the LA situation break out as well as high-profile endorsements come in.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Zohran Mamdani, that was after the debate.

Jessica Ramos and Michael Bloomberg for Andrew Cuomo, and a collection of 15 opinion contributors to The New York Times, with the net effect of Brad Lander coming out as the group's number one. There are also new polls with contrasting results about how close it is between Mamdani and Cuomo. We'll talk about some of the campaign news with WNYC and Gothamist political reporter Elizabeth Kim now. Hi, Liz, I usually say Happy Wednesday. I'll say happy Debate Day.

Elizabeth Kim: Happy Debate Day, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: The LA situation really broke out last Friday. How much, in general, have you seen the Democratic mayoral hopefuls seize on this as a way to distinguish themselves from each other? Or how much have they been getting asked about LA in a way that more forces them off message from things they might rather be talking about?

Elizabeth Kim: What's interesting about the LA situation is that Trump has loomed over the race since the beginning, and one of the questions that the Democratic candidates have been asked is how would you stand up to Trump? The scene in LA crystallizes a very specific scenario for them now, because now the question that is being put to them is, what would you do if Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to New York City as he has done in LA? That becomes a very now specific example that they are being asked to contemplate, and it's very interesting to hear how they're responding to this moment.

Brian Lehrer: Let's go through some of your reporting about the various candidates on Cuomo. You wrote that he has been more reluctant than his fellow Democrats in going after Trump. Did you mean about this or previously?

Elizabeth Kim: Both, really. Since entering the race, he didn't aggressively go after Trump like a lot of his opponents. The thinking around that was he's already been a nemesis of Trump, and perhaps he didn't want to stir the hornet's nest and have the president come after him in the middle of a mayoral race, but then something changed. What changed was that news report that he was under federal investigation for allegedly lying to Congress over his testimony on how he handled nursing homes. We talked about this, Brian.

Was he involved in a report that undercounted deaths? Should he have made that decision of sending elderly patients back to nursing homes after they had been infected with COVID? That was very much, I think, a turning point in the race, because then it seemed as if the gloves were off. Cuomo didn't just say that Trump was weaponizing the Justice Department, as many as many observers have said, but he made a campaign ad off of this moment and he was able to argue that Trump doesn't want me to be mayor, which is all the more reason why you should elect me to be your mayor.

Now, in this moment, I think he has come out with his strongest remarks yet, not just on Trump, but also on Trump's immigration policy. He's using a lot of the same language as his other progressive opponents are, that this is authoritarianism, that this is seeking to divide us, that this is what Trump does with cities. He's also making a more of a foreboding prediction on this, that this is, in fact, what Trump will do in New York City, because this is part of his playbook.

Brian Lehrer: Regarding both Mamdani and Lander, you wrote that they were considering whether to join any of the upcoming protests. You wrote that yesterday morning. Have they since, or what are the considerations for either that might make them join or not join or be ambivalent about it?

Elizabeth Kim: I put that question to both Lander himself and Mamdani's campaign spokesperson. I told them that the reason that I was asking those two candidates specifically was because those were the two candidates that went to Newark, if you remember, when there was a protest for the mayor, Ras Baraka, who was detained and arrested by federal authorities, and it's not just that, but they are also part of this progressive flank of candidates. I think you could see them. In this moment, would they decide to join a protest?

The answer I got-- I asked Brad Lander directly, and he said, "Maybe, yes, I'm considering it." It was the same answer I got from Mamdani's campaign spokesperson, too. It was something that was on their minds, but they were very noncommittal about it.

Brian Lehrer: As the two generally considered the leading alternatives to Cuomo, are Lander and Mamdani seeming to be different from each other in any way that you can tell in tone or language or specific ways they say they would respond if any of the LA style workplace immigration sweeps or protests were to happen here or even just on the protests that are happening here?

Elizabeth Kim: I think this is, again, very much style versus substance kind of difference. On the substance, on the policy, I think they're very much aligned. They have both proposed that the city should do more in terms of funding legal assistance for undocumented New Yorkers in this moment. Both Lander has talked about that publicly and so has Mamdani. I think what is different about them is just basically the style.

Mamdani, if you remember, he had this video go viral a few months ago, and this was a video of himself having to be restrained as he was trying to confront Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, in the state Capitol. That was a very good moment for Mamdani in showing, I guess, the strength with which he would try to resist or criticize Trump. That's, I think, has been the difference between those two. I would say that something that Lander has done, which is also something that City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has done too, is thinking of ways of using their office to intervene in this moment.

With respect to Lander, he has decided that he wants to do court watching. This was something he started last week. His campaign reached out to me today and said that he was going to do it again at 10:00 AM, and what this is is basically he shows up at the federal immigration courthouse last week, he escorted three families out of the courthouse. The thinking is by doing something like that, by having an elected official there, that it will deter ICE from arresting these individuals. When I asked him about, "Do you plan to protest?" He was unsure. He says, "I certainly plan to do more court watching." With respect to the speaker, she is now demanding a city investigation into whether the NYPD is potentially collaborating with ICE. There again, you see her using her office to do something to shape the policy around protecting undocumented New Yorkers.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Worth mentioning that Adrienne Adams might be the fourth contender with a shot at a ranked-choice voting victory. She's ranked number two by AOC, for example. Your reporting on her is relevant among the contenders who are considered actual potential winners in the ranked-choice primary. Right?

Elizabeth Kim: That's right, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Well, listeners, has the situation in LA been affecting your consideration in the Democratic mayoral primary in New York? If you're a registered Democrat, many of you have and had already made up your minds, but lots of people are still making up their minds. If you're one of those, has this swayed you in any direction or another in any of your rankings or other questions or comments for our political reporter, Elizabeth Kim, 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692. Call or text.

You cited an example from the 2013 mayoral primary campaign, Liz, which Bill de Blasio won, we will remember, in which he was arrested during a protest, and it was seen as contributing to his victory. You also quote a political analyst who says that comes with political risks, too. Remind us of what happened in the de Blasio case.

Elizabeth Kim: This was in the 2013 race, which, as we all know, de Blasio went on to win. Back in July, it was not a foregone conclusion by any means that he would win the race. In fact, he was behind in the polls. What happened was there was a hospital, I believe it was in his district. It was Brooklyn, Long Island College Hospital, that was set to close. There were protests around this, and de Blasio decided to participate in one of the protests that were taking place outside, I believe, maybe the Midtown. I don't know if it was this-- It around the state, possibly.

He went to Midtown, and not only did he protest, but he also got himself arrested. It turned out to be a moment where he was able to garner or seize media attention and get people to pay attention to him in the race. It also cemented this view of him as a liberal activist. I think that is a classic example where it turned out well. I think what some people have said, and it's a good point, is there is risk involved with this. I think that that explains the hesitancy from Lander and Mamdani on joining one of these protests.

Because, depending on how large the protest is, and we know that these protests against ICE and Donald Trump's deployment of military forces into LA have been growing, you don't really know. They're very dynamic. You don't know where they move. You don't know if there are violent clashes. What happens if a candidate gets somehow wrapped up in that? There are risks. There's also the sense, particularly if you're a law-and-order candidate like Cuomo is, that you want to be seen as rising above the crisis. You don't want to be seen as in the fray.

Then there's also just the politics of it all. Cuomo is not a progressive activist. I think this one example, it was the perfectly sized protest for de Blasio to take part in and get arrested, and then he moved on.

Brian Lehrer: By the way, about de Blasio, Michael Bloomberg made news with his endorsement of Cuomo on Tuesday. Other than Rudy Giuliani, who wouldn't be endorsing a Democrat, de Blasio is the only other living former mayor. Has he made an endorsement in the primary?

Elizabeth Kim: He has not, Brian. I think if you think about it, you can understand why de Blasio is still unpopular. It's no secret that he does not like Cuomo. In fact, he was asked in an interview, or it was a gaggle recently, what he thought about Cuomo's candidacy. I think his blunt remark was, "I don't think that Andrew Cuomo should be mayor." I think the thinking there is, if he were to come out and endorse another candidate, perhaps it might not be that helpful to another candidate because certainly the Cuomo campaign would seize upon this and say, "Oh, de Blasio is endorsing my opponent."

Then it will just, I think, reinvigorate the sort of animosity that we all have seen go on between them when they were both in office together.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Talk about the Bloomberg endorsement. Why Cuomo for him? Did this come as anything of a surprise to the larger political world?

Elizabeth Kim: I think it was a surprise because former Mayor Bloomberg did not endorse in the primary in 2021. Now, he did eventually come out and back Eric Adams in the general, and he has been, by Eric Adams' own admission, an influential advisor to him. I think it is surprising. If you can think about the relationship between a mayor and a governor as a marriage, I would say there was a tense marriage between the two. There was reporting that they really didn't like each other. It was certainly not as spectacularly dramatic and rocky as Cuomo's relationship with Bill de Blasio.

Yes, given that history, I think it was a little surprising, but you do see it reflected in the statement that Bloomberg puts out. He says something to the effect that there is no perfect candidate. Certainly, I think that that is an allusion to the sexual misconduct allegations that forced Cuomo to resign. He says in the end that he feels that Andrew Cuomo is the best candidate. I think it is an important endorsement. Michael Bloomberg has bona fides in the business community, but also among voters who still see him as being this uber-manager for the city.

Even candidates themselves, both this year and also back in the previous cycle in 2021, they often cited Bloomberg when they were asked, like, "In your mind, who was the best mayor that was a good manager? Cite an example." Time and time again, he is cited as the example.

Brian Lehrer: Has Bloomberg started, or will he throw his considerable campaign finance power behind Cuomo, or just his name?

Elizabeth Kim: I think there has been reporting that he does plan to. The New York Times did say that he does plan to contribute to-- I don't know if it's Cuomo's campaign or one of his PACs, but he will put some money into it, according to The New York Times.

Brian Lehrer: Interesting smattering of texts that are coming in. One says, "I'm an ardent Adrienne Adams supporter, but after seeing polls with Cuomo up so much, I'm more inclined to rank Mamdani and Lander first and second, though I'm not sure in which order." That's a stop Cuomo text, and even more so with him up in the polls. Another one says, "I don't want to vote for Cuomo, but Mayor Bloomberg's endorsement of Cuomo is making me think twice since I respect Bloomberg's judgment."

Elizabeth Kim: There you go. Yes.

Brian Lehrer: I don't know, I guess the question is, who does Michael Bloomberg's endorsement move at this point? There's one example, but I don't know. Who knows? Do you think it's aimed at a certain swath of the electorate?

Elizabeth Kim: I think it's broader than people think. I think your instinct might be to say, "Well, this moves just the business community," but it is broader. I think the way that New Yorkers remember Bloomberg is as two things: a billionaire and the person who created 311, which is now like-- It's a fixture of New York City government. I think they credit him with a lot of those policies. If you really dig deep, you could credit him for guiding the city through its economic recovery after 9/11.

You could at some of his health policies. Janette Sadik-Khan was his transportation czar that started putting in all the bike lanes. I think for people who are really in the know about policy, the policy wonks, I think, will like him. I think just a lot of maybe liberal voters will think back fondly on those times.

Brian Lehrer: You pointed us and my guest is our political reporter, Elizabeth Kim. You pointed us in your article to-- Actually, you pointed us in prepping for this segment to two contrasting polls, one showing Mamdani with a slight lead now, one showing Cuomo at plus 10 over Mamdani. Are these polls independent or candidate-linked in any way?

Elizabeth Kim: These are candidate-linked. What they're called is internal polling. I did a story about polls a few weeks ago, and it's interesting. Just because a poll is internal, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is a bad poll. There are certainly internal pollsters who have very solid reputations within the polling community. All the same, you do take it with a grain of salt, and perhaps you do scrutinize the poll more because you have to ask yourself now, "Why were these two internal polls coming out now?"

For one thing, the campaigns legitimately do polling frequently because they want more information on the race to help direct their own strategies. Also, the obvious reason is tonight is the debate, and leading into the debate, they want to have a sense of momentum. You do have these polls that for each candidate show that they are in the lead.

Brian Lehrer: Before we bring on Rachel Holliday Smith from the news organization, The City, to join you and talk about some of the other races, and yes, listeners, there are other races besides mayor and comptroller. There are some competitive borough president races with implications for what happens in your borough. There are some competitive city council races with important implications. Rachel will join us in a few minutes and go over those.

Before we make that transition, The New York Times has stopped making endorsements in local races, but they have this section now with 15 opinion writers weighing in, and you can look at it as Brad Lander emerges the most favorite. First, why did The Times stop endorsing local candidate? It's sad in a way, I think, because there was a group of New Yorkers who had actually looked for Times endorsements as a guide or as one important source for them, one of the few news organization endorsements that were mattering anymore, I think it's accurate to say. Why did they give up that role?

Elizabeth Kim: You're right, Brian, and you don't have to look farther back than the 2021 race, where one of the big swings in that race came when they endorsed Kathryn Garcia. I still remember when I was trailing her in the campaign, and that day when she was in the Union Square Farmers Market, and I saw her standing there holding out a pamphlet. At the top of the pamphlet, it said endorsed by The New York Times. It is very important and it is very impactful, I should say.

As for the reason why they decided to do it, they announced this in August of last year, and they didn't give a reason. I think people read into it that this was becoming more of not just a national paper, but a paper that was reporting globally on global issues. They were just pivoting away from New York City. They still do endorse in presidential races, we should say.

Brian Lehrer: I didn't read through all 15 of these opinion columns. In what way did Lander seem to do the best, if you think that conclusion is even fair?

Elizabeth Kim: I think if you talk to people, and if this was a race that was just about-- It's interesting because Cuomo actually put this out yesterday when he was doing a gaggle. If you were to look at the race as a job interview that you were reviewing people's resume, there's no doubt that Brad Lander has a very accomplished and long resume. The thing is, a race for mayor isn't just a job interview. In a sense, it is a popularity contest, whether that's good or bad, but it very much is.

For the reason that he has this resume, but he has not perhaps been able to sell that resume very well to voters, and his campaign has not polled very well, and he hasn't been able to have a breakthrough moment. Perhaps when you assemble a panel of 15 people who are very civically engaged, who are very well read in on the issues, I don't think it's surprising that Brad Lander would do well.

The question, though, is are these 15 people representative of the broader New York City electorate, many of whom will not be as well read in, but what they will see is they will see a viral video, for example, they will see a TV ad, they will watch the debates. A lot of that will then shape who they vote for.

Brian Lehrer: Meanwhile, before we bring on Rachel, you're still covering Mayor Adams as well, who will be on the November ballot as an independent. In his weekly news conference, the issue of support for him or Cuomo in the general election in the Orthodox Jewish community came up. I know you brought a clip. You want to set this up?

Elizabeth Kim: This is so interesting, Brian, and this is a continuation of a theme that we've talked about in Mayor Adams's recent press conferences. It is the moment in which he deliciously likes to go after Andrew Cuomo. He was asked about how he felt about certain Hasidic factions endorsing Andrew Cuomo, and this was the response he gave.

Mayor Eric Adams: He'll go to Borough Park, and he'll get one or two people in Borough Park, and then we'll write that, "Oh, he has the whole Borough Park community." He'll get one or two Black preachers and have them endorse him, and you say, "Oh, he has the whole Black clergy." That's just how he operates. He'll come out on weekends, do a Black church, stand in the pulpit, and then he'll disappear for the next six days. I'm going to tell you what you're going to see. Since the polls are shifting, he's going to start coming outside more.

Brain Lehrer: Preview of September, October, and November?

Elizabeth Kim: Right. I think he brings up also a very good point that other people have talked about is whether Cuomo's support might be thinner than it might seem. Now, what he talks about, it's a little bit unfair because that's what all candidates do. They go into neighborhoods and they get prominent leaders of that neighborhood to endorse them. The impression they're seeking to give to voters is this community leader represents a broader swath of voters, and they're signaling, "I have this support."

The mayor is trying to suggest that it's not what it seems to be, that perhaps he gets one or two people, and that because he's not on the trail that much that we shouldn't be fooled by this.

Brian Lehrer: Last thing on Adams for now, how is he as the actual mayor managing the protests here that, of course, have been gathering and with some arrests, with scores of arrests, actually.

Elizabeth Kim: Yes, dozens of arrests. He came out pretty quickly. This was Monday evening, I believe, and he put out a statement that basically warned protesters that he wasn't going to tolerate any kind of LA-style violence. That pretty much has set the tone. It's also interestingly been a point in which I don't think Cuomo or any of the other candidates have clearly criticized him about because I think the alternative is something that New Yorkers would feel is far worse.

That there would be violent clashes and that Trump would somehow use this as an excuse to send in military troops. All the same, that doesn't excuse any kinds of police brutality. That is something that people are watching very closely. Like I told you, Adrienne Adams has called for this investigation, and we are already seeing the Department of Investigation; they're sending out their own investigators to monitor police interaction with protesters.

Brian Lehrer: All right. When we continue in a minute, Liz will stay with us, but we'll also be joined by Rachel Holliday Smith from the news organization, The City, who's got a list of city council and borough president races that seem to be competitive in the primary, in addition to the mayoral race. That, of course, gets most of the attention. Who you vote for at the neighborhood or borough level may also matter a lot. Stay with us as Rachel joins Liz.

Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Yes, while the mayoral race is the one getting most of the attention, there will be other names on your ballot that you should know about before you get to the voting booth or your kitchen table if you're a mail-in voter. Rachel Holliday Smith is managing editor for the news site, The City, and she's going to go through a few of these other races with Liz and me now. Hi, Rachel. Welcome back to WNYC.

Rachel Holliday Smith: Thanks, Brian. Good to be here.

Brian Lehrer: Let's start with the borough president races. All of the boroughs have elections for their president this cycle, but only two are considered to have competitive primaries, the Bronx and Manhattan. In Manhattan, the seat is open because the incumbent, Mark Levine, is running for comptroller. The candidates in the Democratic primary for this seat, I will tell our listeners, are state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Keith Powers, a term-limited City council member, and Calvin Sun, an emergency medicine physician who's a newbie to politics. Can you tell us a bit about what each candidate is running on?

Rachel Holliday Smith: Sure. This is a pretty competitive race. There's also a lot of money in this race. These are pretty competitive folks. I would say the two leaders here, Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Keith Powers, are people who have really been out there and vocal and known to folks in Manhattan in particular. These are some serious contenders. Calvin Sun is an emergency medical doctor, so he has never held office before, but has made a pretty good showing in terms of fundraising as well, and also ran; he's making a good showing.

Keith Powers is a lifelong Peter Cooper Village and StuyTown guy. He's really big on housing. He's very pro-housing, as we've seen for many candidates in recent years. He's running on the affordability crisis in the city, land use policy. He's also up against Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who, to some degree, says those same things, but I think is a little bit more on the side of preservation. He's come out in support of saving the Elizabeth Garden, for example, in Lower Manhattan. He's not a build, build, build kind of person.

He's got a lot of endorsements, really big names in Manhattan from Keith Wright, Ruth Messinger, who people remember as Manhattan borough president many years ago, now, Jerry Nadler, some big unions as well. This is a tough one to predict. We should also say that in some of these down ballot races, many of these down-ballot races, there's no polling, so it's anyone's guess who's going to take the top spot in these races.

Brian Lehrer: Moving on to the Bronx, the incumbent borough president, Vanessa Gibson, is being challenged by City Council member Rafael Salamanca. Tell us a bit about these two in this race.

Rachel Holliday Smith: Sure. Vanessa Gibson has been Bronx borough president since 2021, and she's been in politics for a really long time. She was a state assemblyperson and in the City Council, so she's been doing a lot in public life for a long time. She's got some really big endorsements this year. She's got some very big unions, 1199 and 32BJ, which is the buildings worker union. Rafael Salamanca is a really big contender here. He's actually got a lot more money than she does in the race to spend.

If you're in the Bronx, you may be seeing quite a bit of ads from him that he's paying for, mailers, that sort of thing. He is also someone who speaks a lot about land use and housing policy. He is currently the chair of the City Council's land use Committee, and he has sponsored a bill, although I don't know where it ended up. It did get approved, actually, to set aside affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness. He's really been focusing a lot on the affordability crisis as well. He's giving her a good run for this race.

It's going to be, of course, hard to beat an incumbent. She's got name recognition locally and has been in public life for a long time, but he's also been in the news as well over the past few years, especially on land use and housing issues. He is quite pro-development and pro-housing to solve the affordability crisis. It's going to be an interesting one in the Bronx. They both have spoken out a lot about zoning issues and trying to solve the affordability crisis with more housing. We'll see how that plays out in the Bronx.

Brian Lehrer: Is Borough President Gibson any less pro-housing and pro-development, to use your phrase?

Rachel Holliday Smith: It's hard to say. I think that he's been vocally branding himself that way, but she spearheaded the Jerome Avenue rezoning and got that through. It's not like she's hasn't been active on that issue. She's done a lot on that issue, too, so I wouldn't consider her a preservationist, certainly.

Brian Lehrer: Now, the candidates running for Queens and Staten Island Borough President don't have challengers, so there's no primary. You won't vote in those races until the general election in November. In Brooklyn, which is not one of the two that we cited, Manhattan and the Bronx in the intro. In Brooklyn, incumbent Antonio Reynoso is being challenged by a community advocate named Khari Edwards. Your news organization, The City, wrote that he leads corporate responsibility at a cannabis company. Is that race competitive at all, as far as you know? It's not being mentioned generally as one that is.

Rachel Holliday Smith: By the Board of Election Standards, it is competitive because it's contested. Khari Edwards has a really uphill battle here to defeat an incumbent, especially one that is generally-- It's not like he's had a big controversy or he's not liked or he's had a really unpopular policy. He's generally done a good job and done the job well. I will say he's done a lot of fundraising. He's got quite a lot of money to spend, almost $500,000 in his campaign coffers compared to Reynoso, who's got almost 800,000.

Money isn't everything, certainly. If you've got a lot of money, that does not mean you're going to win the race, but he has done a good job getting donors and that speaks to the ability to run a decent campaign and to get out there and ask for money and to have money to spend, especially in these last few days or weeks of the election, to really get your message out there and buy ad time and buy flyers and literature and that sort of thing.

Brian Lehrer: Liz Kim, do you have anything on these borough president races, or are they relevant to who wins the mayoral primary in any way or anything?

Elizabeth Kim: I guess what I think about when I see these races is I wonder whether any of these candidates or really ultimate victors are setting themselves up to be the next generation of mayoral or citywide elected candidates. I think it's interesting to hear Rachel talk about that Brooklyn borough president race because I had wondered why Antonio Reynoso-- I saw that he had cut. I don't know if it was an ad just for digital or whether it's also running on television. It surprised me a little bit because I was like, "Huh."

He's seen as a widely popular incumbent, and I didn't think there was much of a challenge. You see there, if you have a well-financed challenger, that therein forces you to spend. I had also wondered too whether that ad was also meant to set him up for future races because he has been talked about as a possible mayoral contender someday, as has Donovan Richards in Queens.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Of course, Mayor Adams was previously the Brooklyn Borough President, so it certainly can be a launching pad others have run. Scott Stringer was the Manhattan borough president. You mentioned Ruth Messinger from long ago being the Democratic nominee back in the 90s. Let's move on to City Council. Rachel, your story on this says there are 13 races to watch. We don't have time to talk about all of them, but let's go through a few, and I'm going to start with one that has already come up on this show.

District 39, which covers the neighborhoods of Kensington, Borough Park, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, and the Columbia Waterfront in Brooklyn. Shahana Hanif is the incumbent. She happens to be the first Muslim woman who was ever elected to City Council, and she's being challenged by Maya Kornberg, a researcher at the Brennan Center. Can you talk about Hanif's challenger and the big issue that has made this race contentious?

Rachel Holliday Smith: Yes. This is a case where national conversation around Israel and Gaza has seeped into Brooklyn politics. Shahana Hanif has gotten criticism or maybe fears from folks that she is not supportive of Jewish people or Jewish voters as much as she should be. She vigorously says this is not true. She is vocally pro-Palestinian rights. She has been out there saying that she is very much against what is happening in Gaza and that she thinks it is wrong. This has drawn the ire of pro-Israel folks who have said you do not belong in city politics.

There's a lot of money being spent by outside groups, independent expenditures, which are the local version of super PACs, who are pro-Israel, who are spending to back Kornberg. I should also say, for folks who don't know, those special interest groups should not be, by law, connected to the campaigns. Maya Kornberg does not have any influence over whether or not they spend money on her. Nevertheless, they are spending money to back Kornberg and saying that Hanif is not a supporter of Israel, and they feel that Maya Kornberg would be a friend to Israel instead.

This is becoming a really contentious issue in that race, so much so that, in fact, there has been a group that has formed Jews for Shahana, which has said, we are Jewish people, we are Jewish voters in this district who very much support her. We do not feel as though she is not someone who could support our community. That's getting very heated over there, and there's actually quite a lot of money being spent on the Israel issue in that district.

Brian Lehrer: Are there any other issues in play that are really district or local-service-oriented?

Rachel Holliday Smith: I am not super familiar with this one on a super hyperlocal level, I'd imagine that the housing crisis-- I think that every single one of these races that we highlighted here, housing is the number one thing that people talk about. Certainly, zoning issues in the community would be high on the list. Other than that, honestly, the pro-Israel spending and issue there is taking a front seat and pushing everything else to the side, unfortunately.

Brian Lehrer: Here's another City Council race you've got your eye on and will stay in Brooklyn. District 38, Sunset Park, Red Hook, sections of Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst. You write in your article, "Now, incumbent council member Alexa Aviles, who has the support of the Working Families Party and the New York City Democratic Socialists, is facing a moderate Democrat challenger Ling Ye." Tell us about those candidates and anything else to know about this race.

Rachel Holliday Smith: Yes, sure. This district is pretty interesting because in the 2023 City Council redistricting, this was redrawn to include neighborhoods that are a bit more center of the political spectrum or even right-leaning. This was a very left-leaning district, but now it is less so. The incumbent is facing a challenger from the right, Ling Ye, who has built herself as a more moderate Democrat, and she has experience in government already. She's worked for Nydia Velázquez and Rep Dan Goldman, and Council Member Carlos Menchaca, who is familiar to folks in Brooklyn.

Again, we don't know what's going to happen. I've not seen any polling from this district, but we're going to see how purple this district has gotten and if that plays out at the ballot box. If Aviles can hold on to the district that put her there as a very progressive Democrat or if things are going to shift a little bit to the right and go towards someone who has talked about public safety, quality of life issues and has just put out a little bit more conservative views than the incumbent.

Brian Lehrer: Last stop in Brooklyn, District 48, Homecrest, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, and Manhattan Beach. This may be the only competitive primary for the Republicans in New York City this election cycle. You called it a showdown in your article between council member Inna Vernikov, who's the incumbent, and Ari Kagan, also known in the district, former council member who used to be a Democrat. What's there to know between these two in their Republican primary?

Rachel Holliday Smith: Yes, this one's so interesting because, yes, we've got somebody, Ari Kagan, who switched parties. He used to be a Democrat. Again, like Many races, getting the incumbent out of there is going to be tough. Although I will say Inna Vernikov has been very-- I don't know what the word is. She's popular in her district, but she's also been controversial in some ways. She's been very vocal, very out there. She was the councilperson who was arrested for bringing a gun to a protest at Brooklyn College and made the headlines there.

She's been very, very pro-Trump going back before she was elected. She's a bit of a lightning rod there. We'll see if that in that much more purple and even red district is a good thing. People say, "Yes, we want that." We want to continue with a council person who is aligning them very much with the White House, or if we want someone who is a little bit more-- Certainly, he was a Democrat, so he's more middle of the road.

Brian Lehrer: Right.

Rachel Holliday Smith: We'll see.

Brian Lehrer: It is a Republican primary. Is Kagan explicitly running to her left?

Rachel Holliday Smith: I don't think we could say that he is a lefty kind of person, but maybe not as vocally strident as she is.

Brian Lehrer: Moving on to Manhattan and listeners, if you haven't heard this yet, Anthony Weiner. Yes, Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former congressman and mayoral candidate, is gunning for his political comeback, running in a crowded primary in District 2, which covers Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, East Village, Midtown, South, Flatiron, Union Square, Gramercy, and Murray Hill, Kips Bay. He even spent time in prison for sexting with a minor, but who else is running and who has a shot, Rachel?

Rachel Holliday Smith: Just because he's the biggest name in this race does not mean he's going to win. I don't think that the notorious name recognition of him means he's going to win here because we've got some other really good candidates here. Harvey Epstein, who has also represented the area in the State assembly and been a generally popular person there, is also running. We also have Sarah Batchu, who worked for Mayor de Blasio, and she's also worked in several nonprofits who have done good work both in that district and outside of it.

She worked for the Fifth Avenue Committee in Brooklyn, which actually Brad Lander, who's running for mayor, worked there as well, and the Lower East Side Girls Club of New York. We also have Andrea Gordillo, who similarly worked at local nonprofits on the Lower East Side, Loisaida, Inc., and the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, which is a beloved institution there. These are folks who are known to the community. They've been around. They have done a lot there and been on the ground with very connected people in the Lower East Side.

Anthony Weiner certainly has the name. Everybody's heard of him, whether you like him or not. The other candidates there have been in the community for a long time, done good work in the community, and also have a good amount of money to spend in this community. We'll see if Anthony Weiner can make a comeback there, but he's definitely got his work cut out for him.

Brian Lehrer: We focused on some of the highest-profile city council races. I'm just going to mention some others, just so listeners know that there are also real challenges going on here. District 1 in Lower Manhattan, incumbent Christopher Marte is facing a challenge. District 4 on the East Side, currently Council Member Keith Powers seat. Just so you all know, your votes in these primaries matter. If you want to do some homework at the hyperlocal level, there are a few contested races in the Bronx for City Council. One of them is District 13 in the Northwest Bronx.

Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Pelham Bay Country Club, Van Nest, Westchester Square, Throgs Neck, City Island. It's politically mixed and currently represented by a Republican and City Council Kristy Marmorato. Democrats are trying to flip it. Look for your Democratic candidates there if you are a registered Democrat in that part of the Bronx, because who you nominate there might matter in a competitive fall election in Queens, there are three races considered contested.

District 21, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Lefrak City, North Corona, Willets Point. District 30, Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village, Ridgewood. District 28, that's Southeast Queens, South Ozone Park, Jamaica, Springfield Gardens, Rochdale Village, Brookville. Can we linger on that one for just a second, since it's a vote-rich district? It's the Speaker Adrienne Adams' district. It's where Mayor Adams came from, and a lot of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. A word about Queen's favorite district 21. 28, I'm sorry. Southeast Queens.

Rachel Holliday Smith: 28, yes. Yes, that's an interesting one because the person who's trying to take over that district is actually Adrienne Adams' Chief of Staff, Tyrell Hankerson. This happens a lot in local politics. We see the aides and the chief chiefs of staff of the leaders in the council trying to take over for their bosses. They've got the experience, they know how things work. He's trying to make a run there. The other folks who are running in that district are Latoya LeGrand, who is a community organizer, and I think there's a few others, but folks can of course go to the city.nyc, to see those.

We've got a classic kind of chief of staff coming up through the ranks and trying to take over the district of the speaker, who is term-limited in Queens.

Brian Lehrer: All right, Rachel, stay there. Liz, stay there. Before we go, we want to touch on an election-related project that our colleagues in the WNYC newsroom have been working on. The next installment of the Word from the Curb election coverage happening next week, one week out from the primaries or early voting, and All Things Considered host Sean Carlson is here-

Sean Carlson: Hey, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: -to tell us more about it. Sean, I didn't know you're even awake or alive in the morning.

Sean Carlson: I don't know what day it is right now, Brian. I'm disassociating right now. Yes, I'm excited to talk about the project. I'm glad that Rachel Holliday Smith is here, too. Hey, Rachel.

Rachel Holliday Smith: Hey.

Brian Lehrer: Who used to be Brian Lehrer Show producer, tell us what your-- Local girl makes good. Tell us what you've got going on.

Sean Carlson: Actually, I heard you guys talking about Southeast Queens, so it's a great segue to talk about the next show that we're doing here. I just want to start up top here by talking about, during the pandemic, our ability to take what we do in a studio and basically do it anywhere, really got supercharged. These shows that folks are listening to right now on WNYC all day long, they don't have to be in a studio. We have the technology, we have the expertise to be able to take my show and do it pretty much anywhere. I could do it from a bodega if I wanted to.

We could do it from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge if we wanted to. A big part of me being the host of the show, what I've wanted to do with it is take it to communities and really do the show on a ground level and really connect with communities in ways that maybe we hadn't before. That's what is underpinning this Word from the Curb Project, which is this election season, we're going around the city, we're doing a series of live shows around the city. We did one in Sunset Park. The next one is going to be in Southeast Queens. I'll tell you about in just a moment.

We'll do another one in the Bronx, and then we're going to swing back to Sunset Park to close out the election for the general. We're going to be in southeast Queens. It's the Black Spectrum Theater in Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans. It's a very cool community theater. They've been there for decades. We're going to be talking to community leaders, elected officials there about the issues that are animating them this election season. Also, a very special treat, folks who may have watched WNYC TV when that was a thing, we're going to have Ralph McDaniels on the show.

He is the co-creator of a show that was really critical in the development of early hip hop. It was called Video Music Box. He's actually from that part of the city, so he's going to come on the show too. He's going to talk about how the neighborhood has been changing over the years. We're going to have some fun too. I don't want it to just be all about the election issues, per se. We're going to do some trivia. We might do some Q&A, we might play some classic hip hop that Ralph McDaniels is going to curate for us. It should be a fun event. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited about it.

Brian Lehrer: How can people attend?

Sean Carlson: People can go to wnyc.org/events. They can find a link to an Eventbrite and they can sign up for it. It's 4:00 to 6:00 next Tuesday. It's at, again, the Black Spectrum Theater out in St. Albans, and it's free. No excuse for folks not to go if you're free. Come on out. We're really excited to see you.

Brian Lehrer: Liz, last thought on where we are at this point in primary season.

Elizabeth Kim: I am really psyched for the debate tonight, Brian. I think it is coming at a pivotal moment in the race. The polls suggest that it is becoming a two-person race, and in the first debate, we saw Cuomo was being attacked a lot. I think it's fair to assume that now, Mamdani is going to be attacked in this debate as well. How will he handle that?

Brian Lehrer: All right. You've given me my marching orders for tonight. Live coverage of the debate at seven o'clock. We'll be playing a lot of it again on tomorrow's show, and then near the end of tomorrow's show, taking your phone calls, whether you listen tonight or you listen to the extended excerpts tomorrow morning with your reactions to what you've heard. All of that is coming up. Liz Kim, Rachel Holliday Smith from The City, Sean Carlson, thank you all.

Elizabeth Kim: Thanks, Brian.

Sean Carlson: Thanks, Brian.

Elizabeth Kim: Thanks.

Brian Lehrer: We'll go live to LA right after this.

 

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