Elections have consequences. New York is experiencing them now, a year after the country made its choice in last year’s presidential election.
Masked federal agents are taking men, women and children away from their families on a daily basis at immigration court.
Millions of New Yorkers already struggling to make ends meet are wondering how they’re going to buy their groceries if SNAP benefits are cut off.
Patients, doctors and hospital administrators alike are dreading potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding. New Yorkers who bought health insurance at discount rates through the Affordable Care Act are seeing their monthly premiums skyrocket because a crucial federal tax credit has lapsed.
The prices of goods are rising again due to tariffs on imported products. The job market is starting to stall; big corporations, from Amazon to UPS, are slashing tens of thousands of jobs both locally and nationally.
Indeed, President Trump has kept his campaign promises about mass deportations, tariffs, gutting the social safety net and dismantling big government.
Another election is now before us, and it comes down to electing a mayor — an official who has an even more consequential impact on our immediate futures than the president. We must choose wisely.
The mayor of New York City is responsible for leading a population of 8 million people and addressing the various challenges and crises that impact them every day — affordability, public safety, transit, education, the basic operations of government to keep the lights on, the streets clear and the garbage picked up. We must choose wisely.
The mayor of New York City must take on the “second toughest job in America” with unique skill and expertise — to command hundreds of thousands of municipal workers and supervisors, and address the needs of labor unions, developers, business leaders, and ordinary residents to keep the city as strong as it is today, and make it stronger tomorrow. We must choose wisely.
The mayor of New York City must be someone who does not need to be all things to all people, but must recognize the good of every New Yorker regardless of their background — who can uplift every social, ethnic and religious group, celebrate who they are, and protect them always from hatred and violence of any kind. We must choose wisely.
The choice of New York’s future is in your hands. We, as a news organization, have fulfilled our responsibility to the best of our ability to inform you of the choices before you on Election Day. The fate of our city rests with you, as well it should in our democracy.
We must choose wisely — and remember that every election has consequences. Go vote!
