Race, gender, class, and ethnicity in New York mayoral elections

New York Mayor Series: Part Three

This Tuesday, New Yorkers from all over the five boroughs will go to their local polling stations to vote for – according to the most recent polls – a white man for mayor.

This is typical in New York City history, but there have been a few exceptions to the rule, and in this election 44 percent of the candidates are non-white. Only one woman is running, Francisca Villar, even though women make up 53 percent of the city’s population.

The only real competition for mayor comes from City Comptroller Bill Thompson Jr. If Thompson is elected, he will be the second black New York mayor in history.

I have listed below how four factors have influenced the mayoral race:

Gender

Aside from 89 years of voting power, women have played a very small role in mayoral elections. No woman has ever been elected mayor and, as evident by this election, there tends to be few female candidates.

Villar – a Dominican female immigrant – is remarkable in how much she stands out from the 2009 candidates. She is mainly running on an economic justice platform but is only one of two candidates (the other being Billy Talen of the Green Party) to mention fighting racist profiling by police in the 2009 General Election Guide. Villar is also part of the second and third largest races in the city, Hispanic and black.

She was not allowed entry to the mayoral debates.

Ethnicity

Historically, New York has been a city run by white Protestants. Although only a few candidates have been Catholic or Jewish, that may be changing. The last two mayors – Guilliani was Catholic and Bloomberg is Jewish – may be a sign of the times.

Race

The voting power of the minorities in New York City are staggering for most major American cities. Whites make up the largest group, at 35 percent, but Hispanics (27 percent), blacks (27 percent), and Chinese (5 percent) make up a sizable portion.

Minorities will continue to play an important role in choosing the mayor and will probably be the greatest voting force in the future. For example, there is a black solidarity rally for Thompson today in Brooklyn. Rev. Al Sharpton has endorsed Thompson.

Aside from the only black mayor, David Dinkins, the population of the city has not actually factored into the candidates for mayor.

Class

Bloomberg has spent more campaign money on a public office – over $100 million - than any other American in history. Considering the median income of New York households is around $50,000, Bloomberg has no problem buying this election as the richest New Yorker.

This reporter has saved every single advertisement I’ve got in the mail for mayor. I have eleven advertisements for Bloomberg. I have none for Thompson.

In one my previous posts I mentioned the vast powers of the mayor of New York possibly being harmful to the democratic process in the city. I now also feel that this election is out of control and Bloomberg is using his vast wealth to control the race.

NYC Mayoral Cadidates on YouTube

New York Mayor Series: Part Two

(In alphabetical order)

Mike Bloomberg:


Tyrrell Eiland:


Daniel Fein:


Jimmy McMillan:


Billy Talen:


Bill Thompson:


Frances Villar:

The Power of the New York City Mayor

New York Mayor Series: Part One

The immense powers held by the Mayor of New York today would make Robert Moses blush.

Some examples of Michael R. Bloomberg’s eight-year impact on New York City are the smoking and trans-fat ban, increasing property taxes, and opening up Times Square to pedestrians. In any other large city in the world, such a list of accomplishments would be unheard of.

Based on the New York City Charter and several articles I have read, I have identified - what I believe - to be the three most important powers of the Mayor:

1. The appointment and removal of heads of departments

Arguably the most important job of the mayor is to name the deputy mayors and officers of the 10 departments. These officers, who are not democratically elected, have the immense power to shape and control life in New York City.

The mayor also has the power to remove any officer as he sees fit. As stated in the charter, the mayor may “remove from office any public officer holding office by appointment from a mayor of the city.”

In the mayor’s role as magistrate, he essentially controls the finances of New York City through the deputy mayor for economic development. Except for a stipulation where he must work with the comptroller to determine obligation terms, he can exercise powers of the finance board without regard to provision of law.

2. The ability to create or abolish bureaus, divisions, or positions within the executive office.

The charter does not define bureau and department roles, so it is up to the mayor to decide what they do. If he so wishes, entire departments can be removed and new ones created.

In addition to being able to use executive power to remove positions, he can also require that information obtained by city employees be kept confidential.

Both being able to create departments and hide information from the public could be seen as undemocratic, but also as a source of strength for the mayor. Following most definitions of democracy, the powers of the mayor here enter some questionable territory.

3. Power to coordinate the criminal justice system

The mayor is in charge of appointing the coordinator of criminal justice, another position that greatly affects New Yorkers. The coordinator advises and assists the mayor in planning operation in criminal justice activities. This position is also limited in its description, stating, “[the coordinator will] perform such other duties as the mayor may assign.”

In Bloomberg’s eight years, he has overseen NYPD spying on protests and social and political gatherings. He also continued his predecessor’s crackdown on so-called quality-of-life crimes. Both of these activities disproportionately target the poor.

Decisions that will affect 8 million people are largely in the hands of one man, the mayor, making it one of the most powerful positions on Earth.