
Nearly 1.7 million people in the five boroughs turned out to vote for governor in Tuesday’s general election, a significant increase from the June primary but still fewer than the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial race in 2018.
Adi Talwar
Voters checking in at the polling place at JHS 80 on Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx.
This story was produced by CUNY Lehman College journalism students: Nathaly Cisneros, Coral Reyes, Dennis Casiano, Ryan Pullido, Aminata Gueye, Keiwana Grant-Floyd, Amber Rivers, and Emmanuel Valerio. With additional reporting by Jeanmarie Evelly and Adi Talwar.
Nearly 1.7 million New York City residents turned out to vote for governor in Tuesday’s general election, a significant increase of the June primaries but still less than the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial general election in 2018, when more than 2 million people participated.
Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul, the state’s first woman to take office as governor, won her first full term Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin. While Zeldin won 47 percent of the statewide votefared worse in the left-leaning city, with 30 percent of the votes.
In other races, New Yorkers re-elected Attorney General Letitia James, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and US Senator Chuck Schumer. Incumbents retained their seats in all of the city’s House races, including Republican Nicole Malliotakis, who defeated Democrat Max Rose in Staten Island. republican george santos he won the vacant 3rd constituency that spans eastern Queens and Long Island, while Democrat Dan Goldman was elected to represent the newly redrawn 10th ward in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan.
City Limits reporters spent Election Day speaking with voters at polling places in all five boroughs, who cited a multitude of reasons for their votes: cost-of-living concerns, crime, lack of housing and climate change were common sentiments, as were access to abortion and reproductive health. Rights.
“People should always have a choice over their body,” said Sylvia Turner, who voted at PS 53 in Morrisania around noon Tuesday, choosing Hochul over pro-life Zeldin.
“Women’s rights,” Brooklyn voter Ann Stanislaus, 68, cited as one of the many reasons she voted for Democratic candidates. “Hopefully having a female governor will address these issues.”
“I voted yes for Kathy Hochul because of her views on abortion,” Bronx voter Irene Stanton repeated. “It’s a personal decision that the government should have no control over.”
“Since I became a citizen, I have voted for the Democrats because, for me, they are the ones that help the Hispanic community the most,” Francia Reye told a Spanish-language reporter while voting at PS 94 in the Bronx.
Several voters said public safety was top of mind, an issue that has dominated this election cycle, particularly among Republican candidates, including Zeldin, who has pushed to link a rise in crime since the pandemic to the state’s 2019 bail reforms. although most experts say there is no evidence of a connection between the two.
“I’m really worried about crime, inflation and I’d like to walk my streets at night,” said Rosemary Moran, who voted around 1 pm in Woodside, Queens.
“I also switched to Republican, because of the same issues,” said Joseph Moran, who voted with her. “Crime went up, inflation went up, crime in the subways, and these politicians don’t listen to us.”

Adi Talwar
Voters at the Good News Assembly of God on Van Cortlandt Avenue in the Bronx
Joseph Implatini, 40, who voted in the Riverdale Hebrew Institute, had another common complaint: The cost of living in New York is too high.
“I feel like the rent has been extremely high recently and I’m afraid it will continue to go up, and it would be hard for my children to live on their own with the way things are going,” she said.
Implatini voted in favor of the ballot proposal that would require the city to develop a “real cost of living” measure, which supporters say would help lawmakers develop housing and welfare policies more closely aligned with the New Yorkers’ budgets.
“It’s about time someone investigated,” Jessica Perez, 23, told a reporter while voting on IS 166 in the Bronx. “I started working at a very young age just to try to save money and move, but I never seem to make enough for a down payment. I know they have rental lotteries, but you [have to] Good luck with that.
Tuesday brought to an end the city’s tumultuous 2022 election cycle, a year in which redistricting and the subsequent legal battle over how to do it resulted in two separate summer primaries. New York City voters will return to the polls in June 2023, where they will vote for the next batch of New York City Council members.
“I want them to implement other plans to help develop New York and the diversity of New York and listen to the needs of the people,” Loretta Sow, 64, said while voting Tuesday at MS Houses in Upper Manhattan. “Housing, crime. We have that homeless problem. Health and things related to the elderly. How are things getting better for us?”