With the Democratic mayoral primary less than three weeks away, Hell Gate is hitting the streets to hear from New Yorkers about the issues that are most important to them, and who they like (and don't like) in the race.
Eric Adams's block in Bed-Stuy
On the block in Bed-Stuy where Eric Adams still owns the rat-plagued townhouse that he maybe lived at during his first run in 2021, talk of the mayor and the upcoming primary election this week was often met with a head shake, a pained smile, and a chuckle (and often in that order).
In the June 2021 Democratic primary, the neighborhood went for Eric Adams, with Maya Wiley a fairly close second. This time around, Adams won't be on the Dem ballot. Hell Gate could not find one person on Adams's Bed-Stuy block who plans to support his quixotic run for mayor as an "independent"—but who do people plan to vote for in the Democratic primary?
"I don't know how you could skirt so many corruption scandals," said Michael Roberts, a 27-year-old freelance editor who's lived on the block since 2019, of the current mayor. "When [Adams] is gone, does it really matter who's there?"
Roberts, a registered Democrat, said he doesn’t remember who he voted for in 2021 but knows it wasn’t Eric Adams. He admitted he hadn’t been tuned into this year's election until receiving a voter guide in the mail the other day, and said he needed to do more research into who to vote for during the Democratic primary. All he knows for sure is that he doesn't care for Adams, and is pretty sure a lot of his neighbors agree.
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