NYC Mayoral Race: New Poll Shows Kathryn Garcia At Top Of Pack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The gloves are off after a new poll in the Democratic mayoral primary has turned the race into a tight contest for three candidates at the top.
Let's just say that Andrew Yang's slip is showing.
A surprising drop in the polls had the normally cheerleader-like mayoral contender showing a venomous side on Wednesday, as he slammed former Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia for not picking up the garbage, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported.
"Right now, New Yorkers complain to me just about every day about the piles of trash that we're seeing around us that get higher and higher," Yang said.
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But Yang, who once said he'd hire Garcia to run the city in his administration, didn't stop there.
"We need someone very different than Mayor de Blasio and Kathryn, despite her service to the city, is part of an administration that a lot of New Yorkers know has not worked," Yang said.
What apparently set Yang off was a new WPIX-Emerson poll that had Garcia at 21%, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams at 20%, Yang at 16% and city Comptroller Scott Stringer at 10%.
Garcia, who said she would start major infrastructure projects in all five boroughs to jump-start the economy, seemed unfazed by the attack.
"I guess he's watching the polls and I guess he's watching the fact that the New York Times, the Daily News, the League of Conservation voters are saying that I'm the right person for the job," Garcia said.
Yang, who has been at the top of the pack in previous polls, also dropped in popularity in a Fontas Advisors/Core Analytics poll. It showed Adams at 18%, Yang at 13%, Garcia at 11% and Maya Wiley at 9%.
Adams, a former cop, continued his claim to have the chops to keep the city safe.
"We can't allow our city to go backwards," Adams said.
Stringer touted his fourth-place finish in the Emerson poll.
"I'm right on schedule for my greatest comeback. Get ready. Get ready," Stringer said.
What's interesting about the latest polls is that with the June 22 primary getting closer, voters seem to be coalescing around the more moderate candidates as they seek someone to lead the city out of the pandemic.
