On November 5th, the weight of New York City and its more than 8.337 million inhabitants will fall on the shoulders of one man. That day, New Yorkers will vote to elect a mayor for New York City. After a 12 years as mayor, Michael Bloomberg will hand his office over to either the Republican nominee Joe Lhota or the Democratic nominee Bill de Blasio.
Joe Lhota and Bill de Blasio’s views regarding charter schools are radically different. Mr. de Blasio would like charter schools to pay rent and close some of them. Mr. Lhota would like to increase the number of charter schools. Sophomore Sabina Thomas says “Charter schools are great when beneficial to the children attending them. But if they are underfunded by the government and not giving the children the excellent education that they deserve then they are unnecessary. If that becomes the case, the government should focus its efforts on improving public schools.”
Both candidates are pro-choice, support same sex marriage and support the decriminalization of marijuana. Junior Emma Bhayani said, “I am so happy about both candidates being pro choice and pro same sex marriage. I think the growing support for equal rights for homosexuals and for women is amazing and maybe a little overdue.” Sabina said, “Since they both support same sex marriage that evens the playing field, because people can’t decide which candidate to vote for based on that belief.”
Mr. Lhota would like to improve New York City’s economy by creating new jobs, lowering property and business taxes and making housing more affordable. Mr. de Blasio would like get rid of the wealth disparity by raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and also wants to make housing more affordable. Sophomore Akira Shindo agreed, saying “I think Lhota’s plan is better than de Blasio’s plan because it seems more reasonable.”
Despite the fact that both Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Lhota are very active on Twitter and Facebook, they each have less than 15 thousand followers. In past mayoral elections the average age of the population has been much older than the average age of the City’s adult population. Both candidates have used social media to reach out to potential, young adult voters. But in an election that has so far seen extremely low voter turnout it seems that the candidates have struggled to fill that gap with social media. The lack of media attention of the Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Lhota could have something to do with the media circus that has surrounded the Anthony Weiner Scandal. When asked what he knew about the NYC mayoral elections Senior Ben Cockins said, “I know Anthony Weiner plans on running.” Sophomore Julia Stevenson said “I have seen Anthony Weiner.” Anthony Weiner dropped out of the race in early September but he is still the focus of the media when it comes to the election.
Most Hackley Students do not live in New York City but the NYC mayoral elections may still affect them. According to the Wall Street Journal the new mayor will likely have a great impact on the economy of the city. Many Hackley parents work in New York City or their jobs are closely linked to the city. If the economy in the city takes a turn for either the better or the worse this will have an effect on the jobs of Hackley parents.
