Our Time Press, 257 Nostrand Avenue, Ste. 506, New York, NY (2025)

06/28/2025

By Mary Alice MillerNorman Oder’s skepticism long foreshadowed the possibility that the deadline for more than 800 affordable housing units and the platform on which the apartment buildings would be built would not be met. Oder’s watchdog blog, AtlanticYardsReport, has painstakingly chronicled the entire saga from the beginning when the project was announced in 2003.

Back in 2019, Oder blogged that “May 31, 2025 is the deadline for the required 2,250 affordable housing units, with potentially onerous $2,000/month fines per missing unit facing developer Greenland Forest City Partners. Two towers starting this year and likely next year should include 25% to 30% affordable apartments, leaving a gap of some 900 units to be built.”

And later that year, Oder wrote “The year 2022 is a key year in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park timetable, as I wrote last month, because 6/15/22--the last date to start a building under the current Affordable New York tax-incentive program--could be a deadline to start any building contemplated to meet the 5/31/25 deadline for the project's affordable housing.”

That 2022 deadline was amended due to the settlement of a 2014 lawsuit brought by BrooklynSpeaks, a coalition led by the Fifth Avenue Committee and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Council (PHNDC). BrooklynSpeaks stepped into the void left by the demise of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB).

(DDDB disbanded when its leader, Daniel Goldstein, settled with New York State for $3 million to vacate his apartment in a timely manner to allow the sale of the Brooklyn Nets to Russian Oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov. Goldstein was the last holdout who filed numerous lawsuits against Atlantic Yards and the eminent domain taking of his property.)

The Brooklyn Speaks settlement included a “new 2025 deadline for the project's 2,250 units of affordable housing, with $2,000/month penalties for each unit not delivered,” according to a 2020 blog from Oder. The new deadline to start the platform over Vanderbilt Yard, MTA’s working railyard, was May 12, 2025.

Oder wrote in 2010, “When the project's Development Agreement first surfaced, the section regarding the project's platform stated that the developer must begin construction of the platform over the railyard no later than the 15th anniversary of the Effective Date.”

He explained, “That deadline was one of several that indicated that the project likely would not, as often projected, be completed in ten years but rather could take 25 years, until 2035.”Other factors that impacted the development of affordable housing at Atlantic Yards (rebranded Pacific Park Brooklyn in 2014) included COVID, uncertainty regarding state tax abatements, and Shanghai-based Greenland Holdings that bought out the majority share from Forest City Ratner, then faced debt default woes, both in China and in the United States.

At issue is 876/7 affordable housing units yet to be built on Atlantic Avenue east of Barclays arena. Despite the transfer of ownership to Greenland, the affordable housing commitment remained.

According to a statement from BrooklynSpeaks, “When the Atlantic Yards project was announced in December 2003, its 2,250 promised affordable apartments were seen as a solution to a burgeoning housing crisis in Brooklyn. By building platforms over rail yards along Atlantic Avenue, the project would remove blight and connect neighborhoods by creating new open space and high rise apartment towers.

Twenty years later, the platforms haven’t been started, and neither have the remaining 877 affordable apartments. The $2,000 per month charge for each unfinished apartment agreed upon in the 2014 settlement means ESD must collect $1,754,000 each month from developer Greenland USA beginning in June. The funds are to be used by the City of New York to create and preserve affordable housing in the neighborhoods surrounding the project.

Empire State Development Corporation is reviewing a new developer application. ESDC is hesitant to impose millions of dollars in penalties that they say would make it harder to build housing at Atlantic Yards.

ESD has established a new project timeline. The current owners of the Atlantic Yards location have until August to transfer the development rights to a new company. Apparently, a new real estate firm is involved, and the state said that it is reviewing the application for a new developer.

Under this new timeline, they have until August to transfer the development rights. A new community planning process is scheduled to commence by December.“ESD has allowed the Atlantic Yards developers to delay the costliest parts of the project – deeply affordable apartments and platforms over the rail yards – until the last possible moment,” said Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee.

“In the meantime, rising housing costs have pushed out thousands of low-income households from the surrounding neighborhoods. The Governor has a responsibility to ensure her agency fulfills its commitment to address the housing crisis in Brooklyn.”

“The 2014 settlement we reached with ESD does not allow the agency to rewrite its terms without our agreement,” said Danae Oratowski, Chair of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. “How can the public possibly have any confidence in a new plan if Governor Hochul continues to let Atlantic Yards slide on its commitments?”

Most of the already built housing at Atlantic Yards serves middle-income people making 80-120% of the Area Median Income, people making six figures. Affordable housing advocates want even deeper affordability so that truly low-income or lower-middle-income people can afford to live there.

By Mary Alice MillerNorman Oder’s skepticism long foreshadowed the possibility that the deadline for more than 800 affordable housing units and the platform o

06/28/2025

1.(Breathe)Why is it that my heart is so heavy.Why is it that I spend so much time (gasp) twisting my mind (gasp), my thoughts (gasp), my heart.(Gasp)Breathe.Breathing is hard,The air consuming my lungsAnd I know you’re probably thinking, “London, that’s what's supposed to happen.”Well, my mind must not be able to comprehend that logic because I take it as a threat.An attack on my life.A will to take me out, anyway it can.I’m sure it’s not a foreign thought.I’m sure when we are shot and killed our people feel the air.Blood.Right, they feel the blood rushing, draining.The only air that is filling their lungs is the type they can’t grasp onto.

London Little

2.Breathe. (breath)Since we are on the topic let’s talk on the constant discrimination of our people.Nah, bigger than that, let’s go over names:Daunte WrightAndre HillManuel EllisGeorge FloydBreonna TaylerAtatiana JeffersonAura RosserStephon ClarkBotham JeanPhilando CastileThe list goes on.

So many of our people suffering from the dehumanizing treatment by those who are supposed to be here to protect us.Those same acts draw back decades even though they might look a little different.Those same acts are the reason families are torn apart.Leaving another mother without a daughter or son.Leaving another young Black boy not growing past the age of 21.I've heard what happens to kids that look like me.You thought this was just adults?Nah, they target our kids too.Taking us out left and right, making sure we can’t put up a fight.My sources say they track killings all the way back to 2013, there’s more than that.It makes me want to scream(Scream)

175 fatalities of people younger than 18.You know what that means.Another story on 12 o’clock news.Another protest.Another family without their child.When is it going to be enough.How long will they keep breaking our families, our communities, our minds.(Breathe)

3.They try and steal our power, our thunder.They want to be like us so bad but would never want to be us.My ancestors who live through me, they inform me of how they were treated.I've heard of gunshots that fire through little Black kids' bodies.I've heard how their bodies drop down on the concrete, I can see it now.They use our blood to paint over their sinsThey dissect and pick apart our brain stripping away pieces, hiding them in a locked box.They say our lives are insignificant and not to be given a second thought,That when we are murdered in the street, it is justified by the twisted sense of — “I thought he had a weapon” “He was reaching” “I was scared for my life.”Phrases used to justify their actions.

My heart aches for every person they strip life from.When I breathe, I will think of them.Of their lost breath.Of their lost time.Let us breathe.

1..2..3…………….Oh, wait.I forgot.I can’t breathe.

(London Little, 15)

1.(Breathe)Why is it that my heart is so heavy.Why is it that I spend so much time (gasp) twisting my mind (gasp), my thoughts (gasp), my heart.(Gasp)Breathe.Br

06/28/2025

All Photos Courtesy of: Juneteenth Tech™

By Jeffery Kazembe BattsOn Saturday, June 24th, hundreds of mostly young and middle-aged Black people gathered at the Stevan Dweck Cultural Center inside the Brooklyn Central Library for the second “Juneteenth TechNYC.”

This year, led by the creator Etophia “Biz Girl” Lane, the “Level Day 2025” conference had the theme “Future Forward.” During panel discussions, attendees were empowered with information from institution builders such as Cordeiro Brown, Yvonne Elosiebo-Oguntolo, TeLisa Daughtry, and J. Alexander Martin, among others.

Code Culture, Culture + Community PanelModerator: J. Alexander Martin, P.h.D (FUBU), TeLisa Daughtry (Women.nyc), Cordelro Brown (Techstars), Yvonne Elosiebo-Oguntola, Esq. (Pierson Ferdinand/Diversiply)

Community Partners: Fiqi's Sips and Scents, Etophia Lane, Ardis Carlos (J.P. Morgan & Chase), Winnie Siclait (Brooklyn Public Library,

Etophia Lane (JuneteenthTech Creator & Executive Producer), Matthew Fraser (CTO Office of Technology and Innovation City Of New York).

Future Forward Panel: Moderator Athenia Rodney (Juneteenth NYC), Derrick Stroman (The Knowledge House), Kenrick Small (Manhattan Business Academy), Nyamekye Wilson (Black Sisters In Stem).

Johanne Brierre (BKLYN Commons)

Stephanie Hammond (JuneteenthTech Producer/The New York Collaborative), J. Alexander Martin (FUBU)

After the panel discussions and a complimentary lunch, breakout rooms were available. These smaller sessions allowed people to network and focus on business creation, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. At the end of the five-hour conference that celebrated New York Black Tech makers, many participants expressed a new determination to use technology to better themselves, the Black community, and the world.

All Photos Courtesy of: Juneteenth Tech™ By Jeffery Kazembe BattsOn Saturday, June 24th, hundreds of mostly young and middle-aged Black people gathered

06/28/2025

By Yvette MooreHands-on learning and career exploration is the pedagogic theme at Bed-Stuy’s P.S. 5, the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Elementary School. Currently the school offers music—woodwinds, violins, keyboards, African drumming— a dual language French program; STEM enrichment classes including coding, computer lab, virtual reality creation; visual arts, a student-run bookstore and a student-run restaurant, swimming, cooking, and more. Students have built and launched a rowboat.

The school also has a drone program, an aviation program, and its newest initiative, a global gardening network to teach student urban farmers how to grow their own food using AI and more.Building community partnerships is how school principal Dr. Lena Gates makes all this happen. Several of the partners came to the school for the recent visit by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

Gregory Jackson of Alpha Drones, one of those partners, described what Dr. Gates is doing at P.S. 5 this way:“Growing up when I was in school, we had home economics. I learned how to sew. I learned how to cook. I learned how to do wood shop. Some schools had mechanics, and they learned how to take care of cars. Somewhere down the line, all of that phased out. What you’re doing here is home economics 2.0. Because the world has changed.”

Alpha Drones volunteers teach students to operate drones, which are now used commercially in scores of industries from farming and agriculture to eco-friendly skyscraper cleaning, to film and cinematography, to public safety, to entertainment, and more.

“I met Ms. Gates in 2022, and her vision is just amazing,” said Capt. Paul M. Pierre, a pilot with American Airlines, a key partner in the school’s aviation program. “We came. The pilots came. We painted the classroom, and step by step, we have what you’ve seen today.”

The school’s aviation room has several flight simulators, drones, and pictures of the students visiting American Airlines facilities at LaGuardia Airport. Students come to the center for instruction and practice twice a week and sometimes during the school’s afterschool program.Juan Hinojosa, managing director of global government affairs for American Airlines, said the aviation field needs the new generation of workers the school is helping to create.

“One of the things we care about in American Airlines is the aviation workforce. There have been shortages that have been impactful in the industry,” he said. “We need more pilots, and we need more mechanics. You don’t have enough pilots, and you don’t have enough mechanics; you can’t fly the aircraft. So, we talk a lot about inspiring folks to pursue a job in aviation by introducing it to them at an early age. What this school is doing has multiple layers of benefits because, hopefully, some of these students are going to want to become a pilot or a mechanic.”

Capt. Pierre explained that the pilot shortage is largely due to the 60-year-old mandatory retirement age. Many pilots come into the profession from the military. A significant number become pilots through civilian channels, but that route is very expensive, he said.

Dr. Gates said introducing children to a wide variety of career options at an early age is essential to help overcome such obstacles and free them to dream before they learn to fear.“Our goal is to get into these industries,” Dr. Gates said. “We want to make sure our children have all the opportunities that they need to make their choices. There’s nothing they can’t do. You can be a doctor or a lawyer, and you can also be a plane pilot or a drone pilot.”Or they can be urban farmers.

The students were wrapping up a Zoom call comparing notes with fellow student gardeners in Kenya through the One Planet Education Network, the day the Congressman visited. One Planet Education Network connects students from Kenya, Jamaica, Liberia, Namibia, and the United States as they learn cutting-edge technology to get more productive yields and healthier food on a planet facing impactful climate changes.

After the call, students escorted the visiting delegation to their “smart” outdoor school garden.“We have peppers and tomatoes,” one second grader said.They excitedly spoke over one another to explain that moisture sensor meters in the some of the garden plots send data to their class phones and computers to let them know when plants need water or other supplements. In their other garden plots, the students explained, they used regenerative gardening techniques that focuses on using organic material to enrich soil and address pests without harmful chemicals. The children pointed out the straw spread over their plots as an example of the technique.

“This makes our vegetables grow super big and healthy,” said another second grader.Dr. Gates said it’s important to strengthen and expand these programs at P.S. 5.“The only way we can fund these programs is based on ‘funding availability.’ So, this is where we reach out to our community to help us be able to fund these programs,” Dr. Gates said. “Everyone has seen here today what these programs can do for our children.”

Yvette Moore is a YA writer and grandmother living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She is the author of novels Freedom Songs and its sequel Just Sketching, both available on Amazon.

By Yvette MooreHands-on learning and career exploration is the pedagogic theme at Bed-Stuy’s P.S. 5, the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Elementary School. Currently the

06/28/2025

Last Sunday, the Patricia F. Robinson Music Studio presented its annual summer student recital at St. Philips Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY. Following the presentation, sponsored by the Brooklyn Branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians, parents showered the beloved instructor with awards, gifts and certificates from local leaders, for her birthday that day. Of course, for Ms. Robinson, every recital is a birthday of sorts. She never misses an opportunity to celebrate excellence and provide awards to her cherished students.

Pat Graham

Caleb Roach

John Williams

Leilani Minnas

Mason Goddard

This year, among the top prize winners were Caleb Roach, receiving Patricia F. Robinson Music School (PFR) and Winnifred J. Thompson Scholarships Competition Awards (WJT), John Williams, Most Outstanding Student and 3rd Place WJT scholarship award winner; Mason Goddard, Most Improved Student and second place WJT scholarship award winner; and Leilani Minnis, Most Outstanding Musical Achievement PFR and WJT Scholarship Award.

The school, one of the oldest -- if not the oldest music school of its kind in New York City, was founded in 1930 by Mrs. Robinson's mother, the iconic L. Elsie Graham. For more information, or to make a donation, visit: www.pfrmusicschool.com.photos courtesy Patricia F. Robinson Music School

Last Sunday, the Patricia F. Robinson Music Studio presented its annual summer student recital at St. Philips Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY. Following the pr

06/28/2025

By Nayaba ArindeEditor-at-LargeRank Choice Voting and cross endorsing created a historical result in the mayoral candidate showdown with Assemblyman Zohran Kwame Mamdani declaring victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“In the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘It always seems impossible until it is done.’ My friends, we have done it,” Mamdani told his ecstatic Long Island City watch party crowd. “I am your Democratic nominee for the Mayor of New York City.”

The 33-year-old Kampala, Uganda-born, Cape Town, South Africa-raised, New York transplant at seven years. old, has campaigned on his progressive platform for months, and may just become New York’s first Indian-American and first Muslim mayor in November.

While the Board of Elections will not officially call the primary day election results until July 1st, many were stunned this Tuesday, June 24th, when Mandani was unofficially declared the Democratic mayoral nominee. He won 43% of the vote with 432,305 votes, compared to Cuomo’s 36.4% and 361,840 votes.

With a brief five-minute speech, complimenting Mamdani, Cuomo conceded within a couple of hours of polls closing, “Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani's night, and he put together a great campaign. He touched young people and he inspired them and moved them, and got them to come out and vote."

Standing on the stage, embracing each other, now-former competitor, Comptroller Brad Lander declared, “We are sending Andrew Cuomo back to the suburbs. With our help, Mamdani is the Democratic nominee for the Mayor of the City of New York.”

Political talking heads were stunned. Touting free buses, child care, healthcare, and rent freezing and affordable housing, the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist beat the moderately conservative 67-year-old career politician, with a million knocks on doors, and a stringent grassroots and focused social media campaign. The “Don’t rank Cuomo" rallying cry spread far and citywide across multiple candidate campaigns.

Even though the New York Times called Mamdani "uniquely unqualified,” evidently, the electorate decided it wanted to take the chance.

“I will be the mayor for every New Yorker,” Mamdani proclaimed on election night.Unimpressed, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams slammed Mamdani as a “snake oil salesman” who “was saying anything to get elected.” This, as he scheduled the launch of his Independent candidate campaign on Thursday, June 26th, 2025.

With the General Election on November 4th, 2025, Cuomo said he is weighing up his options, but would not commit to continuing his campaign as an Independent candidate. Republican Curtis Sliwa will also be on the ballot.

“Mamdani is going to win the general election whether Cuomo gets in the race or not,” Barron predicted. “He has the white progressives, and the Asian and Latinos will come out for Mamdani.”

The summer and political seasons are here. Early voting had Brooklynites in a chokehold! They led the city in turnout. Believers in the election process enthusiastically exercised their right to let their political choice be known in their lead 5-way ranked-choice voting for mayor. Other races included Public Advocate, City Comptroller, all five Borough Presidents, City Council, District Attorney, and judicial races.

Main issues considered are crime fighting, gun violence, education, real affordable income-sensitive housing, the Sanctuary City issue, immigration, tackling food in/security, and police and community.

In the nine days of early voting from June 14 to June 22nd, Brooklyn beat all the other boroughs in voter turnout. By Sunday, only three days in, citywide, 384,251 people had voted early—compared to the 191,197 during the 2021 election. The Board of Elections said 261,000 Brooklynites cast their ballots by the paper’s press time.

Public Advocate Jumanne Williams sailed through his primary with over 630,000 votes. Thanking his supporters “who have again placed their trust in me to connect people to their government and hold the powerful to account,” he said, “I’m going to continue to fight for the needs of New Yorkers.

Whether we have a mayor who stands with us in fighting for progressive policies that make New York safer and more affordable, or one who stands in the way, I’ll keep showing up for New Yorkers, and standing up in the face of injustice, not standing by.”

Speaker Adrienne Adams won over 40,000 votes, placing fourth after Mamdani, Cuomo and Lander. Mamdani endorsed and fund-raised for her, as he cross-endorsed with Lander, who came in third place.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso faced off against challenger Khari Edwards. “I am deeply humbled and grateful for the continued trust and confidence the people of Brooklyn have bestowed upon me with this victory,” he said.

“As I look forward to the next four years, I am energized and excited about the possibilities that lie ahead…as we work to ensure that all Brooklyn families can thrive.”

On election day morning, maybe it was the 100-degree-plus baking heat, but at least a couple of the Bed Stuy school polling sites were quiet. Noticeable, though, was the number of white poll site workers and voters in the heavily gentrified neighborhood.

“This is gentrification,” said Barron, “where you have appointed poll workers, and the DSA fronting Black or brown candidates until they can finally come out and present who they really want to.”

A common political season refrain of ‘Black folks asked for nothing, so won’t get anything’ was mumbled as the Mamdani campaign gathered speed in the last few months.

“He never met with Black leaders, or made himself well known in the Black community,” Barron told Our Time Press. “Unfortunately, and undeservedly so, Cuomo also promised nothing, but got a lot of the Black vote. But he still lost.”

The former Brooklyn elected official advised, “Black people must liberate themselves from the colonial mentality of being so blindly loyal to the Democratic party and the colonial capitalist system that takes us for granted and oppresses us, if we are ever going to be a liberated people.

We must move from ‘plantation politics’ to ‘liberation politics,’ and build a strong, independent Black Radical electoral movement. I’m glad Cuomo lost, but did we win anything as a result of last night's election? Time will tell. No matter who gets elected, not one of them has made a serious commitment to specific Black issues.”

By Nayaba ArindeEditor-at-LargeRank Choice Voting and cross endorsing created a historical result in the mayoral candidate showdown with Assemblyman Zohran Kwam

06/28/2025

By Fern GillespieWhen Cecil Bailey was 16, he became a mentor to other Black youths. He was a high school student in Far Rockaway and got involved with an after-school program teaching kids from middle school to high school how to play basketball.

He still is a mentor to youth. At Brooklyn’s Eagle Academy in Ocean Hill, he’s a One-to-One Paraprofessional on the scholar support staff, where he advises students. Brooklyn’s Eagle Academy is an award-winning school that educates young Black men from 6th grade to 12th grade to be critical thinkers and active citizens for lifelong success.

Black mentorship is part of Bailey’s family’s mission. Although he grew up in Queens, Bailey was born in Brooklyn and was mentored in community service by family members who were community activists. His grandfather renowned union leader Rabbi William Tate, who served on the Board of Directors of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and chair of One Hundred Black Men of Brooklyn.

His mother, healthcare advocate Divinah “Dee” Bailey, is the founder of Watchful Eye, and also New York State Affiliate Director of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDs and the Executive Director of the New York City Black Leadership Commission on AIDS.

Currently, Bailey is majoring in child psychology at Medgar Evers College. Our Time Press recently spoke with him about mentoring 12-year-old boys to 18-year-old young Black men at Brooklyn’s Eagle Academy.

OTP: A recent study reported that only 26 percent of students at HBCUs were Black men. How do you tell these young Black men it important for them to look at going to college?CB: At Eagle Academy, we have a 97 percent to 98 percent graduation rate. Usually about 92 percent of our students go to college.

So, we really pushed for our young men to further their education. We tell young men it's important for them to get into college and stay in college because it will open up doors and take them places that they probably wouldn't get to. It will give you a different perspective on life because when you do go to college, depending on where you go, you're meeting different people from all walks of life. That gives you a different perspective.”

OTP: What advice do you give to teenage students about preparing for college?CB: For my high school kids, I give a short college preparation speech based on what they're doing in high school or what colleges look at. They pretty much know you're just getting in in the ninth grade, and they know you're leaving in the 12th grade. But the 10th and 11th years, while you're in high school, that's what colleges look at.

Your grades and how you are when you're studying. What's your work ethic looking like? That’s where you stack up those accolades. I tell them all the time that's where it really counts. It’s not just when you first get there and when you're trying to leave school. You have to put the work in all the way through. So somebody sees it.”

OTP: What is the unique process for the sixth graders when they begin at Eagle Academy?CB: When our kids first come in, we do something called Bridge Week. That’s the last two weeks of this summer, just before they come into the school. So that they know what’s expected of them when they come into this building. We have this tie ceremony that takes place, and we teach all the young men how to tie a tie. Because we wear uniforms in school. You have some moms who don't know how to tie a tie for their son.

We are trying to interact with our boys and make sure that they're just prepared for what's coming. A tie is important. It's professionalism basically. Keeping your uniform tight and sturdy. That tie is a symbol of you’re here now. That you made it. The Tie Ceremony is not at the beginning of the year. They have to earn that tie after a few months of being in the 6th grade.”

OTP: What impact has working with the young Black men and boys at Eagle Academy had on you?CB: At Eagle Academy, a lot of the young boys come from broken homes. It's just them and their mom. So, parents love that there are men in the building that the boys could actually look up to and learn something from. My Eagle career has really opened me up to some different ideas.

Seeing these young men in a different light and understanding where they come from. The things that they have to deal with as young Black men and how much it affects them. You can always help somehow. I have a student who graduated during the pandemic. I still talk with him once or twice a week just to check in with him and make sure he's doing well. That's basically what the Eagle family is. We take care of our guys.

By Fern GillespieWhen Cecil Bailey was 16, he became a mentor to other Black youths. He was a high school student in Far Rockaway and got involved with an after

06/28/2025

By Mary Alice MillerQueens Assembly member Zohran Mamdani became the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November General Election. “In the words of Nelson Mandela, it always seems impossible until it is done,” said Mamdani during his election night remarks. “My friends, we have done it.”

Mamdani received 432,305 votes (43.5%) in preliminary election results, over second-place Andrew Cuomo, who garnered 361,840 votes (36.4%). The next round of rank-choice votes may place Mamdani over the 51% needed to win, with second-rank votes from Brad Lander, who cross-endorsed Mamdani.

Thirty-three-year-old Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, was given a 1% chance of winning when he began his campaign eight months ago. But his campaign mirrored that of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley with a ground game that reached out to young voters and those disillusioned with the electoral process.

Mamdani campaigned on free city buses, city-owned grocery stores, and higher taxes on the wealthy. Born in Uganda, Mamdani became a citizen in 2018. If elected in November, Mamdani would become the first Muslim mayor in city history.

The Democratic establishment rallied around Cuomo, perhaps due to their relationship with him during his 10 years as governor. Those endorsements, Cuomo's hubris, his name recognition and the record millions in support from super PACs netted Cuomo a paltry second place in first rank votes.

Perhaps the nail in the coffin was during a rare debate appearance when Cuomo could not name one time he had visited a mosque during his years as HUD secretary, New York State Attorney General, and Governor. The increasing diversity of New York City is not impressed by candidates who cater to some demographic groups to the exclusion of others.

New York City voters might not have heard the last from Cuomo. He has positioned himself to run in the November General Election as an independent, along with Mayor Eric Adams. With the majority of NYC voters registered as Democrats, both men will have to make a compelling case to overcome voter party loyalty.

It's no surprise that Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine won the most first rank votes over City Council member Justin Brannan, 428,283 (48.1%) over 298,690 (33.5%). Most voters may not have known one candidate over another, but Levine's campaign worked hard to build his name recognition in the outer boroughs.

Those voters familiar with the candidates remember Levine's work in the city council and that in 1994 he founded Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, a cooperatively-owned financial institution serving low-income families in the Washington Heights section of Northern Manhattan.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams won a resounding re-election victory with 630,095 votes (71.3%). Williams is known throughout the city for his advocacy. And voters were offended when, during a debate, challenger Jenifer Rajkumar questioned his sleeping habits as if she is privy to what goes on in the Williams household.

Brooklyn showed how it is done when voters re-elected Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso with a decisive 241,149 votes (77.1%). Reynoso has used the power of his office to reach all neighborhoods in Brooklyn while making special efforts to provide opportunities to communities in need.

Central Brooklyn City Council race results were mixed.Boom! Crystal Hudson won re-election to her council seat with a staggering 32,560 votes (84.7%). Council member Chi Osse returns to the council with 22,368 votes (78.4%). And Mercedes Narcisse was re-elected with 12,768 votes (82.9%). These percentages speak to how well these incumbents serve their constituents.

The outlier was Council member Darlene Mealy, who got 6,603 first rank votes (43.2%). Her top three challengers, Lawman Lynch, Jammel Thompson, and Bianca Cunningham received combined almost as many votes as Mealy. It will be interesting to see how many rounds it will take for Mealy to win re-election.

Ultimately, the voters were the winners.The first weekend of Early Voting for the Mayoral Primary saw a record turnout of 66,000, dwarfing the first weekend of Mayoral Primary Early Voting four years ago by 36,000.Those numbers continued to grow. By the end of Day Nine of 2025 Primary Early Voting, turnout was a cumulative 384,338. As usual, Brooklyn showed everyone how it is done by leading the city in turnout.

Unofficial election night results include first-choice votes from early voting, election day, and any valid mail ballots canvassed, but do not include affidavit ballots.

The first preliminary Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) results will be released on Tuesday after election day (July 1). Updated RCV will then be posted every Tuesday until all ballots are counted and the election is certified.

By Mary Alice MillerQueens Assembly member Zohran Mamdani became the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November General Election. “In the words of Nelson

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