NEW YORK — New York voters tried their hand at ranked-choice voting for the first time Tuesday, casting ballots following a drama-filled Democratic primary likely to decide the city’s next mayor — but it could be a while before the city knows who is set to take up the reins.
Polls closed at 9 p.m. without a clear winner in the crowded race after a rain-drenched day that saw anemic turnout across the five boroughs, the weather matching New Yorkers’ enthusiasm to head to the polls.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams led in polls leading up to Primary Day, trailed closely by former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley, a former lawyer with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
Things picked up a little by mid-afternoon at Public School 9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, where a short line stretched out the door as the storm passed through.
Duke Saunders, a real estate agent, blamed the low turnout on the pandemic.
“(Turnout) is low because of what we are still in, which is COVID-19,” he said. “And the weather’s not really helping.”
De Blasio, who is term-limited, pleaded with voters earlier in the morning to “get in the game,” as early voting and mail-in voting numbers show a dramatically lower turnout compared to last year’s momentous presidential election.
“We got to see people get out and make their choices known,” he said.
The mayor cast his own vote at the Park Slope Library in the afternoon, noting that he landed on his five candidates just moments before arriving at the polling site.
He refused to reveal who was his No. 1 pick, saying to a reporter, “I’m not telling you, brother.”
Primaries were also held Tuesday for comptroller, borough president and City Council races across the city as well as Manhattan District Attorney.
The drama-filled Dem contest to succeed de Blasio devolved into chaos at times with claims of racism hurled in all directions, odd alliances forged between competitors and sexual harassment allegations against city Comptroller Scott Stringer surfaced.
The crowded field of candidates sparred with one another over rebuilding a pandemic-ravaged city, police reforms, housing and a range of other topics as they sought to separate themselves from the pack.
Andrew Yang, the one-time clear frontrunner in the race whose campaign stalled in recent weeks, expressed optimism as he greeted voters at Broadway Junction in Brooklyn in the late afternoon.
“It’s going to be interesting how the numbers play out, because I think there were a lot of new voters over the last period of time,” he said. “And so, if turnout didn’t go up, then it could be that some voters stayed home and some new voters replaced them. We’ll have to see.”
Earlier in the day, there were no lines as Rachel Weiss walked right into Public School 22 in Crown Heights to vote. The 32-year-old librarian was confident about her top choices but was a little concerned about filling in the bubbles on the ballot properly.
“The only thing is, like, hopefully I filled them all in correctly,” Weiss said with a laugh.
In Washington Heights, voters trickled in and out of Fort Washington Collegiate Church to cast ballots. Some relished the options offered by the new voting system, which allows voters to rank their top five candidates in order of preference.
Jeffrey Roth, 31, ranked Wiley as his first choice because “she’s the most progressive candidate.”
Roth, an actor, ranked Stringer, nonprofit executive Dianne Morales and businessman Art Chang after Wiley.
“I think it’s great,” Roth said of the new system. “It’s a real positive thing.”
Zachary Tallman, 29, gushed about the new system, calling it “a breeze” after casting his ballot at P.S. 173 in Washington Heights.
“It’s a real luxury to be able to vote for multiple people,” Tallman said.
Others were still getting their bearings straight. Retired opera singer Bill Reynolds, 67, struggled to recall his No. 4 pick for mayor and couldn’t remember his No. 5 pick at all just minutes after leaving the upper Manhattan polling site.
Retired TV producer Ernest Baker picked just one candidate for mayor when he voted at P.S. 175 in Harlem.
“It’s overrated,” Baker, 81, said of the new system.
Hyram Laurel, 56, who runs a senior center, didn’t want to reveal any of his top choices. But he did say it’s time for a progressive woman to lead the nation’s largest city.
“The men have been messing up this country way too many times,” the Harlem resident said.
Gail Berson, 80, ranked Garcia as her first choice, then picked Stringer and ex-housing secretary Shaun Donovan as No. 2 and 3 choices, respectively. She didn’t rank a fourth or fifth choice.
“I didn’t want to take a chance on anyone else,” she said at the Fort Washington Collegiate Church. “I like Kathryn Garcia because she knows how the city works. Stringer is a nerd and a nebbish, but he knows how the city works too.”
Berson, a retiree, did not rank Adams, who emerged as a frontrunner in recent polls, because “he’s a demagogue and a liar.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends most of his time in Fort Lee,” she said, referring to accusations that Adams actually resides in New Jersey. “He says what people want to hear.”
In total, 13 Democrats and two Republicans were vying to get their name on the ballot for the November general election and become the next occupant of Gracie Mansion.
Republican voters didn’t have to worry about ranked-choice voting since Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and businessman Fernando Mateo were the only two candidates. Neither has much chance of winning in the fall as Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 7 to 1 margin in the Big Apple.
All of the wanna-be leaders crisscrossed the city Tuesday as a last-ditch attempt to get their supporters to the polls, with watch parties and events planned after the sites closed at 9 p.m.
The big question is how much anyone will know Tuesday night about the final tally.
Official results won’t be available until next week at the earliest when the last of the mail-in ballots must be received.
As of Monday, more than 87,000 absentee ballots had been received by the city. More are expected to arrive in the mail in the coming days.
Only then will officials start tallying voters’ lower choices as candidates are ruled out of the competition.
It’s possible one candidate may take a strong enough lead to claim likely victory, de Blasio said.
But in an interview with CNN, the mayor refused to call the race, “This one is going to be potentially a real nail-biter.”
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