In every street and subway, on every television channel, even in Ms. Joslin’s 9th Grade Foundations of Research class, the 2025 New York City Mayoral Election has been a hot topic of conversation. In the last few months, former Governor Andrew Cuomo has managed to make an ambitious return to the public sphere after his controversial resignation in 2021. Zohran Mamdani has gone from a relatively unknown Astoria-based Assembly member to a household name across America and the world. Even Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate and noted founder of the Guardian Angels, the non-police unarmed crime protection group, has made a return to the spotlight with his unlikely bid for mayor. As the United States has shifted to the right politically, we wanted to analyze this monumental election that may well lead to a progressive Democratic Socialist mayor (Mamdani) taking office here in New York, the largest city in the United States. We asked members of our student body to voice their thoughts on the candidates. By considering how this election will impact us as New Yorkers, we can make assumptions about our futures as young people.
Unlike most American elections, this election has three major candidates: Zohran Mamdani for the Democratic Party, Andrew Cuomo on an independent line (technically called “Fight & Deliver”), and Curtis Sliwa for the Republican and, oddly, “Protect Animals” parties (Sliwa is a noted cat owner, at one point possessing 17 cats). Cuomo’s third-party candidacy is a result of Mamdani’s upset victory in the Democratic Primary, forcing Bill Clinton’s onetime Secretary of Housing, Andrew Cuomo, to run as an independent candidate. Zohran Mamdani is a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist and a State Assemblyman for Astoria whose support for progressive policies and an “affordability agenda” has won him popularity among rent-burdened New Yorkers. Cuomo is a centrist Democrat running independent, who resigned as governor when 13 women accused him of harassment and assault. Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, is a radio show host and the founder and leader of the Guardian Angels, a non-police defense group specialized in patrolling streets and subways. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, dropped out of the race due to his various federal charges of conspiracy and bribery; he has recently endorsed Andrew Cuomo.
All three of these candidates have significant initiatives planned for education. Zohran Mamdani has argued for the expansion of the Bronx-based “Every Child And Family Is Known” program, setting up regular check-ins between homeless students and families and assigned teachers. Mamdani has also advocated for the elimination of the Gifted and Talented program in Kindergarten, limiting it only to grades 1-5. The Gifted and Talented program is an advanced program for gifted students in elementary schools that has been criticized for the fact that 70% of its students are comprised of white and Asian students, while students of those ethnicities make up only 30% of the entire Public Elementary School population in New York City. This gap is largely attributed to the fact that the Gifted and Talented program requires students to pass an exam at the age of four to get in, a process that is often not accessible to lower-income families of color. Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, however, both advocate for the expansion of the program to more elementary school students. Cuomo also supports doubling the number of Specialized Public High Schools.
With all these policies on the table in the coming election, we set out to interview Millennium Brooklyn’s students on their opinions on the election. Here is what we’ve learned from our interviews over the past few weeks:
How invested are you in the 2025 Mayoral Election?
While we did make an effort to talk to students who have been following the election more closely than the average New Yorker, we found that just about the entire student body knows a bit about the election, even if they only know the names of the candidates. Of the students that we interviewed, there was a variety of levels of interest in the election. Freshman Jacob Weisel feels “very invested because I feel like all three of them would really impact my life.” In contrast, an anonymous sophomore says she is “in the middle. I do [follow the race] but I don’t.” Junior Emmanuel Gray offers that he is interested in “getting all the perspectives, so I put a lot of work into seeing both sides.” Some politically attuned students, such as junior Gavin Chen, have been diligently following the race. “I’m not sure of the last time New York City had three candidates,” Gavin says.
Which candidate do you personally support and why?
While we were distinctly aware of his popularity among America’s youth, we were surprised to learn that every single student that we spoke to supported Zohran Mamdani to some extent. However, the extent to which these students supported Mamdani varied, although everyone surveyed for this piece listed him as their preferred candidate. One anonymous sophomore says, “I was split between Cuomo and Zohran because I think they have some interesting points that they made during the debate, but Cuomo I am not really so sure of now, as he is working with Trump. So for that I will say Mamdani.” Emmanuel also admits mixed feelings. While he supports Mamdani, “some of his beliefs are flawed. We live in a capitalistic society and the people who have money deserve to have their money and the people who don’t have money should be able to make money. But I don’t believe that there should be no billionaires. …I deeply disagree with that.”
Some were firmer in their support of Zohran. Gavin staunchly stands behind him “solely because of his policies being much more clear-cut and appeasing younger voters and young people in general in New York City.” In a similar vein, sophomore Ryder Vesperman firmly says that he supports “Mamdani, because he’s a Democrat. Not Cuomo [though] because he has ties with Trump.” Jacob bluntly says that Mamdani would “be the best for the future, [raising] the minimum wage by 2030, by the time we get out of high school. Sliwa’s policies aren’t good [and] Cuomo as a person and as a lawmaker isn’t good.”
How do you think a Zohran Mamdani victory would affect New York’s citizens, or more specifically, students?
As was previously mentioned, all of the students we spoke to do support Mamdani, so they all had generally positive opinions of what a Mamdani administration would prioritize. Many noted that a Mamdani administration would improve quality of life for working class New Yorkers. Jacob notes, “Mamdani would make our lives all better because of taxing billionaires… [H]is policies would improve quality of life for the future of New York City.” Ryder noted that Mamdani’s policies “would help people in the lower classes” with rental assistance and improving housing access. Emmanuel notes that these policies could improve the lives of New York City students, “About 60% of Millenium’s students are low income,” he notes. “[These policies] would help them with housing, it would help their families, and things that help families help students.” Senior Jojo Rosenworcel is supportive but perhaps more skeptical, noting “I’m very pro-Zohran [and] I think he is going to do a lot of good stuff. I am questioning certain policies of his where he has very big ideas… I think that’s what we need, but I’m just not sure if any of it can be actually carried out by a mayor.” She notes that, “he wants to implement [the] banning [of] ICE raids completely and make buses completely free, and I just think that these things, if done, are literally amazing, incredible, yes, like I love that, but I just don’t trust that this will be completely fluid. I think there’s going to be a lot of problems if he tries to do these things.” Some students are taking more of a middle ground stance, such as Gavin. “For students,” he says, “I don’t think it would have a major impact. His promises of making prices cheaper may be fairly useful here in [Park Slope] since [things] here are really expensive. For the rest of the city, Mamdani will help a lot in Manhattan with the buses, they will be astronomically faster. [And] freezing the rent would be good for anyone in an apartment.”
How do you think an Andrew Cuomo victory would affect New York’s citizens, or more specifically students?
Generally, the students we spoke to held primarily negative opinions of a possible Andrew Cuomo administration, or at least believed that he wouldn’t change very much. Some expressed concerns over Cuomo’s character. A sophomore who requested anonymity says “He seems like he doesn’t really care and he’s kinda cold, you can’t get much of his character or what he’s offering.” Other students cited the reasons the disgraced governor was pushed out of office as evidence of their distaste for him., “I know the 13 accusations of alleged crimes against him,” Jacob recalls. “[H]e hasn’t really answered questions about that and the 6,000 who died in… nursing home[s].” Others note how a Cuomo administration might benefit those who are already doing well. “I think Andrew Cuomo would keep the rich rich,” says Emmanuel, “which is not the best way of accounting for everyone in a society. But the students who are already well off will not have to worry about losing money.” Likewise, Gavin notes his sense that a vote for Cuomo is a vote for the status quo. “Cuomo won’t really do much per say, he basically has the same policies as Mamdani,” Gavin says. “But based on his history of basically scamming New Yorkers and New York City, primarily those who take the subway and the women he abused, I believe that if Cuomo were elected he could definitely bring down New York City as one of the major cities in the United States.”
What is your opinion on Cuomo and Mamdani’s respective education policies?
Students had varied opinions on the educational policies of the major candidates. We asked about their opinions on the Gifted and Talented program, but we were surprised to learn that most students knew very little if anything about the program and often confused it with the Nest program, a separate special education program for autistic students. On the topic of doubling the quantity of specialized high schools, students were more aware of the policy but far more torn on its outcome. Some students, such as Ryder, stood by Mamdani’s policies, saying, “Cuomo doubling the high schools would no longer make them specialized. I like Mamdani’s policy because Mamdani will bring [in] students who are actually deserving of the honor.” Others, such as Emmanuel, stood closer to Cuomo, stating, “I think that the expansion of Specialized High Schools [would be] great… Specialized High Schools open up opportunities for students that learn differently and explore different interests. It’s one of my favorite things about the New York public high school system.” Gavin actually advocated for expansion of G&T to upper grades, saying, “I do personally believe that it should not be limited further…people in Kindergarten could easily be as talented as those who are in 8th grade or even 9th grade.” That said, he still feels that the doubling of specialized high schools is unnecessary. Jojo noted that the expansion of G&T would not alter the lives of students all that much in the long run. “For me it’s not the biggest concern,” she says. “Based on who your parents are, based on the situation you grow up in, you could have a completely different spectrum of experiences, and I think that switching one thing would not have an insane effect on the course of your childhood.”
What do you think about the harassment and assault allegations against Andrew Cuomo?
While none of the students we interviewed supported Cuomo, they all expressed opinions of horror at the numerous harassment allegations made by 13 women against him, along with his controversial policy of allowing Covid-19 infected seniors into nursing homes, possibly leading to the deaths of many residents. All of the students we talked to did believe that there was truth to the accusations, which they agreed were serious. Some framed it very bluntly, such as Ryder who says, “I know he harassed his former assistants. I think it’s disgusting.” Others noted that they were not fully informed about the accusations, such as Emmanuel who said “I’ve heard a little bit. I’m not well versed on it, but I think that Cuomo has done some really questionable things to women, and done some unrelated questionable things with his funding, and I can’t support that fully, which is why I am arguing towards Mamdani.” Most stood on the side of the accusers such as Gavin who said, “They are definitely true, just judging by the sheer amount of people reporting on it, and judging by how he didn’t do much as governor and even indirectly ended the lives of several seniors, I believe that the allegations are true, and there is plenty of evidence.” Jojo also notes her disgust with Cuomo over the allegations. “I think 13 is just an insane number,” she says, “and I think he’s kinda disgusting… I don’t know if you’ve seen his TikToks, but he interviews random people on the street, it really rubs me the wrong way. It looks creepy, I just don’t like his energy. A lot of the ways he talks to people, it looks like he’s pushing things onto them rather than asking questions. I believe all the cases against him, it really does make sense he has all those allegations.”
What is your opinion about the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams?
Most of the students we spoke to were less knowledgeable on the current mayor than the candidates running, the students who knew of him were generally opposed to his administration. Some noted his policies of expanding the NYPD and the extension of the force’s presence on subways, along with his allegations of bribery by the Turkish government combined with other corruption controversies. Opposition to Adams is near universal among New Yorkers, and based on our interviews, the same is true here at Millenium. An anonymous sophomore simply states, “He’s very corrupt and doesn’t care about people. He shouldn’t be able to run again, in my opinion.” Others expressed their frustration with his public persona and effectiveness as an artist administrator; Emmanuel explains his frustration in greater detail, saying “I think that mayor Eric Adams is a disgrace of a mayor, I think that he does not stand by what he says, and he would say anything to win. I am very glad he dropped out of the mayoral race. He did not serve the people–he served himself. I understand that is a sacrifice you will have to make now and again as a leader, but Eric Adams did that more often than not, and I find that appalling.” Ironically, students seem less aware of Adams than the current candidates despite the fact he currently holds the position of mayor. Jojo notes, “I don’t know very much about him. I don’t know his policies.”
Do you know who Curtis Sliwa is, and if so, what do you think about him?
Generally, the students we spoke to were aware of Curtis Sliwa, and despite being Mamdani supporters, believed he would still make a better mayor than Andrew Cuomo. While many opposed a lot of his policies, especially relating to crime and the Trump administration, they did believe he was an honest figure and a distinctly New York sort of character. Opinions on Sliwa varied amongst the students we spoke to, but most students had some cursory knowledge of his background. Jacob says “I looked at his policies, and they weren’t that good. He is the republican nominee.” Ryder notes, “He was a part of the Guardian Angels when NYC was dangerous and he is a Republican running for office.” However, some, such as Emmanuel, expressed stronger sentiments about the man and his policies. “I consider myself a conservative Democrat, so there are things that he says that I can hear and reason with, …but he does not stand for what I believe in.” Some other students expressed mixed feelings on him such as Gavin,who said that “He’s honestly much closer to Mamdani than your run of the mill Republican. He’s basically a Republicanized version of Mamdani–[but] he was pretty late in campaigning towards the youth, as opposed to Mamdani who has been constantly campaigning towards the youth since the primaries. …So in general, he’s my choice #2.” While Jojo says, “I think he’s better than Cuomo, but I don’t think he’s great. I don’t really know how to describe him. He has his little red hat? I don’t respect a lot of his policies and beliefs but I do respect his transparency. I think he’s incredibly authentic. He doesn’t try and hide anything, which I’ve seen both Cuomo and Mamdani do. Mamdani has done it much less, but I haven’t seen anything like it with Sliwa which is very refreshing.”
MBHS Students Would Overwhelmingly Support a Mamdani Victory
Based on our interviews, students largely support Mamdani. We would have liked to interview a student who supported Sliwa or Cuomo, but we were simply not able to find one despite numerous conversations with various students. We would still love to hear from students with alternate opinions, so we encourage those of you who might prefer a Cuomo or Sliwa mayorship to reach out to our intrepid reporting team. Our reporters were also pleasantly surprised by how well-informed the student body is on the various candidates and issues, as the average teenager is not typically considered to be as politically literate as the students we spoke to.
Our ultimate takeaway is that the student body of Millennium, across ideologies, is united in support of Zohran Mamdani. While a Mamdani victory seems nearly inevitable, whoever becomes the new mayor will be sure to leave a lasting impression on New York–and by extension, Millennium as well.
