Seven Weeks and Counting: The N.Y.C. Mayoral Primary Is Heating Up

This is The Sprint for City Hall, a limited-run series on the critical Democratic primary race for mayor.

In seven weeks, New Yorkers will vote for the Democratic nominee for mayor. We’re not big on public predictions, but you can bet on one thing: The incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, will not win the primary. He is running as an independent in November and will not be on the June 24 ballot. (More on that in a bit.) That still leaves 11 Democrats in the primary race, and a mountain of policy papers, endorsements, retail politicking and, eventually, two debates, to digest.

That’s what we’re here for. I’m Dean Chang, and I oversee a fantastic team of reporters covering the race. Each Tuesday through Primary Day, they’ll be sharing a mix of news, observations, trends and campaign ephemera that might otherwise be overlooked. We’ll start with a quick overview, move to some news, and get to Fran Lebowitz’s ranked choices a bit further down. No surprise: She has thoughts.

After months of mostly under-the-radar jockeying for attention, endorsements and donations, the mayoral primary race is kicking into high gear. Campaign commercials are hitting the airwaves, adding to the wider array of online ads (we examine one of them below).



https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/nyregion/nyc-mayor-race.html