NY Times endorses Garcia in crowded mayoral race

The New York Times editorial board endorsed Democratic New York mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia on Monday.

In its endorsement, the Times says that New York needs someone who “will make progress on persistent problems like transportation, housing, education and poverty.”

“All of the candidates in the June 22 Democratic primary are concerned with the welfare of their city and have thoughtful ideas about how to better it,” the editorial board wrote. “It is Kathryn Garcia who best understands how to get New York back on its feet and has the temperament and the experience to do so.”

The Times notes that Garcia, the former commissioner of the city’s Department of Sanitation, does not have as high of a public profile as other candidates in the race, such as former Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang and former city comptroller Scott Stringer, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct.

“Many primary voters say they haven’t made up their minds. So we’d like to help them,” the Times wrote.

The newspaper notes that Yang himself has heaped praise onto Garcia and even suggested he would hire her if he won the election.

“If Andrew Yang thinks I need to run his government, then maybe I should just run the government,” Garcia told the paper.

In Opinion

“It is Kathryn Garcia who best understands how to get New York back on its feet and has the temperament and the experience to do so,” The New York Times editorial board writes in its endorsement for the city’s Democratic mayoral primary. https://t.co/knBHKG2dAP

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 10, 2021

The editorial board praised Garcia as a “go-to problem solver for the past decade.”

“She has a zeal for making government work better and was often known to show up ahead of a 6 a.m. shift for roll call not to micromanage but to find out how her people were doing,” the Times wrote.

They lauded Garcia for her work modernizing the Sanitation Department’s internal system and for leading an overhaul of the New York City Housing Authority in the wake of a lead paint scandal in 2019.

“Kathryn Garcia can run a government that delivers for all New Yorkers. She would be the first woman to hold the office, but there are many other reasons to give her the job,” the Times said.