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What to know about ranked-choice voting as NYC heads to polls
What to know about ranked-choice voting as NYC heads to polls

The Hill

time24-06-2025

  • Politics
  • The Hill

What to know about ranked-choice voting as NYC heads to polls

New York City's ranked choice voting system will be critical to determining who prevails in its Democratic mayoral primary. Voters first approved ranked-choice voting for certain city elections in 2019, but this will be only its second mayoral race to be run under the system. The winner of the Democratic primary four years ago won by about 7,000 votes, and the primary may be just as close this time. Supporters tout the system as an alternative to the first-past-the-post system, in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins, even if it's with less than a majority of the vote. They argue it requires a candidate to build a wider coalition and can produce winners who are more acceptable to a larger group of voters. In New York City's ranked-choice system, voters are allowed to rank up to five candidates in order of their preference, though they aren't required to rank five. If one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round, they are declared the winner outright. This seems unlikely to occur with a crowded field of nearly a dozen candidates, including several big names in the city. If no candidate receives a majority, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed according to their supporters' next choices. If a voter doesn't have a second choice, then their vote is considered exhausted and won't factor into the next round of counting. The process continues as additional candidates are eliminated in subsequent rounds and one candidate reaches a majority. In 2021, that took eight rounds for now-Mayor Eric Adams (D), who is running this time as an independent for reelection. He started out ahead in the first round of counting with about 30 percent of the vote, but he didn't gain much in the following rounds as other candidates gained on him. In the seventh round, he was ahead with just over 40 percent of the vote to just over 30 percent for former city Sanitation Department Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and 29 percent for former city official Maya Wiley. Wiley was eliminated, and most of her supporters preferred Garcia, but it wasn't enough for her to beat Adams, who ultimately won by less than 1 point. This year, Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani will need to rely on support from voters who prefer one of the other candidates, such as Comptroller Brad Lander, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and former Comptroller Scott Stringer, as their top choice. Those three candidates have been in the next tier behind Cuomo and Mamdani but generally haven't received more than low double digits in the polls. Mamdani is hoping to use ranked-choice to his advantage as he and some other candidates have worked to try to get voters to rank any candidate except for Cuomo. Mamdani and Lander, who has often come in third in polling, have cross-endorsed each other, calling on their supporters to rank them first and second. The goal is to make it more likely that as many votes for one candidate as possible go to the other candidate when one of them is eliminated, creating a united front against Cuomo. Adrienne Adams didn't formally cross-endorse, to some Cuomo opponents' disappointment, but she called on voters to back a slate of candidates endorsed by the Working Families Party, a smaller, left-wing party influential among progressives. That slate includes herself, Mamdani, Lander and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie. Cuomo regularly has been first in the initial round based on polling, usually in the mid-to-upper 30s. That would mean he needs help to get to a majority. Polling has shown him inching up to usually get there in seven to 10 rounds of counting. The final results of the race are also likely to not come on Tuesday. New York City allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday to be counted after primary day, so the rounds of ranked choice won't happen until next Tuesday, July 1. But what seems apparent is Cuomo and Mamdani will engage in a multi-round race to get to more than 50 percent.

Trash Containerization Comes to Harlem
Trash Containerization Comes to Harlem

New York Times

time03-06-2025

  • General
  • New York Times

Trash Containerization Comes to Harlem

Good morning. It's Tuesday. Today we'll look at the start of a pilot program to put trash in bins. It's part of an effort to rid New York City sidewalks of a notorious scene: rat-infested mounds of smelly, black garbage bags. City officials are calling it a 'trash revolution.' A pilot program in the West Harlem neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights is providing residents with large, blocky, lock-tight garbage containers in an attempt to rid the sidewalks of messy, oozing garbage bags. The plan calls for residential buildings with 31 units or more to use oversize bins that can hold 800 gallons of trash, and for buildings with fewer than 10 units to use smaller 'wheelie bins.' Buildings with 10 to 30 units can choose between the two options. Food waste must be placed in designated brown bins or other sealed containers, in line with the city's new composting rules, while recycling, which attracts fewer rats, can still go in clear bags. One casualty of the container pilot is parking. One bin is the size of about half a car and takes the place of roughly 28 garbage bags, according to a spokesman for the Sanitation Department. The rows of oversize bins — some 1,000 of them in the pilot program — have taken up hundreds of parking spots. Double-parking in front of the bins can cause problems, too, since 16 new side-loading garbage trucks are supposed to scoot up to them three times a week to empty their contents. Expanding the program citywide would require the removal of more than 50,000 parking spots, city officials said. There is also the expense: Buying enough bins and trucks could cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Adams losing ‘war on rats' as NYC Council rips budget cuts delaying cleanup of 1,700 trash-strewn lots
Adams losing ‘war on rats' as NYC Council rips budget cuts delaying cleanup of 1,700 trash-strewn lots

Yahoo

time31-05-2025

  • General
  • Yahoo

Adams losing ‘war on rats' as NYC Council rips budget cuts delaying cleanup of 1,700 trash-strewn lots

Mayor Eric Adams is losing his 'war on rats' — in large part because his administration refuses to fully fund a Sanitation Department unit dealing with a backlog of more than 1,700 garbage-strewn lots that need to be cleaned, a majority of City Council members said this week. Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens) fired off a bipartisan letter last week to the mayor signed by 30 council members demanding the city pump another $2.6 million yearly into agency's Lot Cleaning Unit back to pre-pandemic levels of 108 employees in 2019. The unit has since shrunk to 10 workers assigned to clean city-owned lots and vacant lots in the five boroughs. 'These [lots] are not only unsightly and unsafe, but they are also infested with rats and other vermin that spread disease,' Ariola wrote. 'Considering the resources your administration has poured into its 'War on Rats,' we expected that tackling these filthy areas in every borough would be a priority.' Adams' proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $820,277 for lot cleaning, increases the unit's staff to 15 and it's funding to $1.6 million by fiscal 2029. That's not enough, said council members who have been forced to use their discretionary funds to supplement nonprofits and city sanitation workers cleaning filthy weed-strewn lots and traffic medians. 'Having a severely deficient lot cleaning program only undermines other efforts by DSNY and your administration to 'Get Stuff Clean,'' wrote Ariola, referring to the mayor's campaign to cleanup city streets. 'It also sends a hypocritical message to New Yorkers that, while residents are required to comply with the rules, to containerize their garbage and clean their own properties or else face fines and penalties, their own city government has no such responsibility. 'We once again ask that you provide DSNY the funding they need to rectify this problem.' The backlog of vacant lots desperately needing a cleaning include one on Chandler Street near Motts Basin in Far Rockaway, Queens, and another disaster at 75 Baltimore Street in Great Kills, Staten Island, according to council members. Both are garbage-filled, weed-strewn eyesores that have become neighborhood dumping grounds covered with abandoned shopping carts, mattresses, furniture and other debris. Rodent complaints to 311 spiked nearly 8% during Adams first two years in office — despite his ballyhooed multi-million dollar war on rats and vow from Day One to make headway against the vermin, The Post has reported. Updated statistics were not immediately available. Sanitation Department spokesman Joshua Goodman insisted Mayor Adams proposed budget for next fiscal year 'makes greater investments in a cleaner city than ever before.' 'The increased funding for cleaning vacant lots allows us to focus on those that pose health risks, those located near schools or parks, and those receiving 311 service requests – not just in the coming year, but for years to come,' he said. 'We can always do more with more, and we look forward to working with the Council to ensure resources are allocated efficiently to areas of greatest need.'

NYC Council trashes Mayor Adams over Sanitation budget cuts
NYC Council trashes Mayor Adams over Sanitation budget cuts

New York Post

time31-05-2025

  • Politics
  • New York Post

NYC Council trashes Mayor Adams over Sanitation budget cuts

Mayor Eric Adams is losing his 'war on rats' — in large part because his administration refuses to fully fund a Sanitation Department unit dealing with a backlog of more than 1,700 garbage-strewn lots that need to be cleaned, a majority of City Council members said this week. Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens) fired off a bipartisan letter last week to the mayor signed by 30 council members demanding the city pump another $2.6 million yearly into agency's Lot Cleaning Unit back to pre-pandemic levels of 108 employees in 2019. The unit has since shrunk to 10 workers assigned to clean city-owned lots and vacant lots in the five boroughs. Advertisement 4 This debris-filled vacant lot on Baltimore Street on Staten Island is one more than 1,700 such abandoned or city-owned lots on a waiting list for the Sanitation Department of clean, according to the City Council. Obtained by the New York Post 'These [lots] are not only unsightly and unsafe, but they are also infested with rats and other vermin that spread disease,' Ariola wrote. 'Considering the resources your administration has poured into its 'War on Rats,' we expected that tackling these filthy areas in every borough would be a priority.' Advertisement Adams' proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $820,277 for lot cleaning, increases the unit's staff to 15 and it's funding to $1.6 million by fiscal 2029. 4 Twenty-nine City Council members signed off a letter demanding Mayor Eric Adams pour another $2.6 million yearly into cleaning up vacant lots. Luiz Rampelotto/ZUMA / That's not enough, said council members who have been forced to use their discretionary funds to supplement nonprofits and city sanitation workers cleaning filthy weed-strewn lots and traffic medians. 4 Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens) suggested in the letter that Adams is losing his 'war on rats' – in large part because his administration refuses to properly fund the Sanitation Department. Michael Nagle Advertisement 'Having a severely deficient lot cleaning program only undermines other efforts by DSNY and your administration to 'Get Stuff Clean,'' wrote Ariola, referring to the mayor's campaign to cleanup city streets. 'It also sends a hypocritical message to New Yorkers that, while residents are required to comply with the rules, to containerize their garbage and clean their own properties or else face fines and penalties, their own city government has no such responsibility. 'We once again ask that you provide DSNY the funding they need to rectify this problem.' 4 A debris-filled vacant lot on Chandler Street in Far Rockaway. Obtained by the New York Post Advertisement The backlog of vacant lots desperately needing a cleaning include one on Chandler Street near Motts Basin in Far Rockaway, Queens, and another disaster at 75 Baltimore Street in Great Kills, Staten Island, according to council members. Both are garbage-filled, weed-strewn eyesores that have become neighborhood dumping grounds covered with abandoned shopping carts, mattresses, furniture and other debris. Rodent complaints to 311 spiked nearly 8% during Adams first two years in office — despite his ballyhooed multi-million dollar war on rats and vow from Day One to make headway against the vermin, The Post has reported. Updated statistics were not immediately available. Sanitation Department spokesman Joshua Goodman insisted Mayor Adams proposed budget for next fiscal year 'makes greater investments in a cleaner city than ever before.' 'The increased funding for cleaning vacant lots allows us to focus on those that pose health risks, those located near schools or parks, and those receiving 311 service requests – not just in the coming year, but for years to come,' he said. 'We can always do more with more, and we look forward to working with the Council to ensure resources are allocated efficiently to areas of greatest need.'

Public Services prepares for the Spring Folly
Public Services prepares for the Spring Folly

Yahoo

time03-05-2025

  • Yahoo

Public Services prepares for the Spring Folly

Every year, over 30,000 people descend on Kernersville for the three days of Spring Folly, Kernersville's largest festival, but that only follows days of work by town crews to try to the visitors have a pleasant experience. About a month before the Spring Folly, workers with various town divisions begin to do beautification projects such as landscaping and maintaining public spaces, Streets Division Supervisor Edgar Colon said. 'It goes with our image. We're a small town that's very neat and organized,' Colop said. Spring Folly gives Kernersville an opportunity to showcase the town and visitors might be drawn in by the town's overall impression, Public Services Supervisor Mike Tester said. 'If they're visiting and riding through, they might like what they see and stay,' he said. Crews from Public Services work in tandem to eliminate safety hazards and spruce up downtown Kernersville, Public Services Dupervisor Joshua Levins said. 'We go around downtown, and we'll grind out the concrete to get rid of trip hazards on the sidewalk and we'll reset any bricks that are loose. We also have crews putting out mulch,' Levins said. Levins emphasized the importance of public safety during Spring Folly. 'We're putting up signs and barricades for the road closures. The Kernersville Police Department will have their cars there and the Sanitation Department will have their trucks there making sure no vehicles can get in, keeping it safe for everybody,' Levins said.

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