(New York) At the end of the quay, Andrew Yang poses for the photographer of a New York weekly. Manhattan’s skyscrapers stand against the backdrop. The end product could intensify the political phenomenon of the hour in New York: against all odds, the ex-presidential candidate dominates all his Democratic rivals in the race to succeed Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Posted on April 3, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.
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At the same time, in the middle of the platform, Mitchell Taylor explains why the inexperience of the 46-year-old entrepreneur in municipal affairs would not prevent him from voting for him on the occasion of the Democratic primary, scheduled for the 22 next june.
“I have not yet supported a candidate,” said the pastor of a church in Hunter’s Point, in the borough of Queens. “But I’ll tell you this: I judge any candidate on their ability to mount an effective campaign. It becomes a determining test for me. I have seen candidates run botched campaigns, without discipline or follow-through. It told me they wouldn’t have made good leaders. This is not the case with Andrew Yang. His campaign is very well conducted. ”
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Andrew Yang poses for a photographer at the Long Island City Pier in New York on Wednesday.
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On this wharf along the East River, the two men took part in a press conference on Wednesday where Andrew Yang gave his support for the construction of a renewable energy plant in Long Island City, a neighborhood near Hunter’s Point.
“We are here to talk about two things that are going to be essential to the recovery of New York City: building things and creating green jobs,” said the candidate enthusiastically, before explaining the project, of answer journalists’ questions and go pose for a photo that may end up on the cover of a New York publication.
“Media darling”
Will he be able to keep pace until June 22? During the first week of March, Emerson College released a jaw-dropping poll. Andrew Yang collected 32% of the voting intentions among voters likely to participate in the Democratic primary, far ahead of Eric Adams, president of the borough of Brooklyn (19%), Maya Wiley, former member of the administration of Blasio (9%), and Scott Stringer, Comptroller General of New York (6%), among others.
PHOTO EDUARDO MUNOZ, ARCHIVES REUTERS
Maya Wiley, Democratic candidate for mayor of New York
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Andew Yang’s lead was not as pronounced in a subsequent poll, but he remained the clear leader. How to explain this unexpected performance? Most analysts attribute it to the notoriety he acquired by running for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election. This campaign – his very first in politics – allowed him to show his mastery of social networks and traditional media. Master’s degree that continues to serve him well in New York, where he offers a modified version of his central idea: a guaranteed minimum income.
“He’s the media darling. He’s the new kid on the scene, ”says John Mollenkopf, a political scientist at the University of the City of New York.
He gives the press better elements to write a story about him than the other candidates.
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John Mollenkopf, political scientist at the University of the City of New York
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But this specialist in urban policies does not hide his skepticism towards Andrew Yang. On the one hand, he gives no credit to the most recent polls, which, according to him, do not reflect the electorate who will participate in the June 22 primary. On the other hand, he questions the candidate’s abilities to manage America’s largest city as it goes through one of the worst crises in its history.
“The guy doesn’t even know which subway lines go to Yankee Stadium,” he quipped about the native of Schenectady, a city in upstate New York.
Outsider : an advantage
In contrast, Nicole Gelinas, a researcher at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, takes the Yang phenomenon seriously. She believes New York voters tend to seek a outsider in times of crisis. She cites the example of Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, who were elected mayor of New York after making their mark outside of politics and when their city was facing major problems (crime in 1993 and the attacks of September 11 in 2001).
According to Nicole Gelinas, Andrew Yang is one of two mayoral candidates who can qualify asoutsiders, the other being Raymond McGuire, ex-African-American vice-president of Citigroup. But Yang may have an advantage over McGuire, not being from Wall Street.
PHOTO MARK LENNIHAN, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Scott Stringer, New York Comptroller General and Democratic Mayoral Candidate
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” Be a outsider politics and business is an asset in the eyes of many voters, ”says the Manhattan Institute researcher.
[Les électeurs] maybe don’t want to have someone who has been in political office for several years, like Scott Stringer, who is responsible for part of the problems we have. But they also don’t want to elect a banker, who is also partly responsible for the problems we have.
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Nicole Gelinas, researcher at the Manhattan Institute,
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If he managed to win the Democratic primary and the mayoral election, Andrew Yang would be New York’s first mayor from the non-profit world, notes Nicole Gelinas. In 2011, the trained lawyer founded Venture For America after becoming a millionaire by selling his tutoring business. His organization, whose mission is to prepare young graduates for entrepreneurial careers, has earned him the inclusion of the list of “champions of change” announced by Barack Obama in 2012.
Political and racist attacks
But this atypical journey has also exposed him to a fierce attack recently. Attack launched by one of his biggest rivals, Eric Adams, retired NYPD captain and Brooklyn Borough president since 2014.
PHOTO EDUARDO MUNOZ, ARCHIVES REUTERS
Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President and Democratic New York City Mayoral Candidate
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“We need a blue collar mayor to run a city of blue collar workers,” said this African-American politician, accepting the support of a union on March 24. “It is not an emerging company. It is a city where a leader must have been a worker. People like Andrew Yang have never had a job in their entire lives. And you’re not going to come to this city and think you’re going to despise the people who make this city run. ”
Yang denounced his rival’s attacks, calling them “false and reprehensible”. But this may be just a prelude to what awaits the leader of the race.
At the same time, Andrew Yang occupies a unique place in this race. Son of Taiwanese immigrants, he is the only Asian-American candidate to run for mayor of New York at a time when members of his community are victims of daily acts of racism in his city or elsewhere in the United States.
On Wednesday, he was invited to comment on the arrest of a 38-year-old man following the savage attack on a New Yorker of Filipino origin that occurred before the eyes of indifferent employees of a luxury building.
“It could easily have been my mother,” he said, adding that the behavior of the building workers was “the exact opposite of what we need here in New York.”
But that doesn’t stop him from campaigning with his Asian-born wife and their two children. When New York movie theaters reopened, the Yangs were there, followed by television cameras. On Thursday, they were also among the spectators who showed up at Yankee Stadium, where the Bronx Bombers season opener took place.
“I find his run for mayor comforting,” said Luna Wang, an Asian resident of Long Island City, after watching Andrew Yang’s press conference from afar. “It would be an incredible turnaround for New York to elect a first mayor of Asian origin. ”
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