NYC mayoral candidates make final pitches ahead of Primary Day voting

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — It's a race to the finish for the candidates hoping to become the next mayor of New York City.

With early voting done, the candidates have just one more day to convince the undecided to vote for them in Tuesday's primary.

It was a busy week of campaigning for all of the Democratic candidates in a crowded field.

The most amplified turned out to be former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang who joined forces in an apparent attempt to siphon voters from frontrunner Eric Adams.

Supporters of the Brooklyn Borough President claimed the alliance was a form of voter suppression and Adams did not disagree.

"On June 19th, that is when they did, while we were celebrating liberation and freedom from enslavement they sent a message and I thought it was the wrong message to send," Adams said.

The partnership led to comparisons to the reality show "Survivor."

"I don't think that we've got quite to 'Survivor' level but this is about being positive for New York City, we need to come back strong," Garcia said.

New York City's mayoral primary is using ranked-choice voting, a system that lets voters rank up to five candidates instead of choosing just one, and Yang encouraged supporters to rank him first and Garcia second.

"I want to work with Kathryn, I want to work with anyone who's going to help New York City get back on its feet," Yang said.

Garcia did not return the favor for Yang, who will be crisscrossing the city Monday in a van the campaign is calling the "Yangatron."

Current Mayor Bill de Blasio also critized the joint campaigning effort by Yang and Garcia.

"What I saw was simply an opportunistic move by candidates that's how I would characterize it. Two people who don't seem to agree on a whole lot teaming up for their own political needs, that's what I see, not something much more than that," de Blasio said.

Yang later fired back on MSNBC saying, "I don't see how getting more people voting for candidates is somehow anything but a positive, and I think a lot of New Yorkers agree with me that we need the kind of leadership that's going to unify us, that brings us together, and Kathryn and I don't see eye to eye on everything, but this is what New Yorkers want. New Yorkers know that we have to pull together to get our city heading in the right direction."

De Blasio has not endorsed any of the candidates.

Most of the contenders said they did not want his endorsement.

Maya Wiley, who is also polling in the top four and is aiming to be the city's first Black female leader, greeted voters at the Jamaica Center and hold a "Get Out the Vote" rally at the Brooklyn Museum.

"I'm feeling great. To be out here in Jamaica such an important community, suffering with not enough resources. We're going to change that," said Wiley as she greeted commuters while sipping on tea with honey and lemon at the end of an intense effort to get out the vote.

Garcia, who is banking on endorsements from the New York Times and New York Daily News as well as her experience as an elected official to put herself over the top, greeted voters Monday morning at a subway station in Briarwood, Queens.

"Making government work for everyone is actually progressive. That's what we need right now someone who can get it done who cares about our families," Garcia said.

Meanwhile, a new poll from IPSOS shows Adams has pulled away from the rest of the pack.

The poll has him with 28% of the vote.

Yang is his closest competitor, coming in at number two with 20% and Garcia in third with 15%.

Wiley has dropped to 13% following her rise in the polls after an endorsement from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The IPSOS pollsters say the race is definitely not a done deal, especially with ranked choice voting.

The Board of Elections reports 191,000 people took advantage of nine days of early voting, which came to an end Sunday night.

Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Mayors, prosecutors, judges and city and county legislators will be on the ballot, along with other municipal offices.

The contests include one likely to decide who becomes the district attorney in Manhattan and inherits an ongoing investigation of former President Donald Trump.

Voters are also deciding whether to stick with Rochester's incumbent mayor, who has been buffeted by personal and political scandals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images