NEW YORK—The polls were slow at noon on Tuesday for the primary elections, yet candidates and their supporters were no less motivated to bring in some last minute voters.
At the polling station at P.S. 163 on the Upper-West side, comptroller candidate David Yassky was among the crowd of campaigners passing out materials and speaking with passersby.
“In Brooklyn I’m pretty well known, so its a good chance to talk to voters who may be undecided,” said Yassky, who voted near his home in Brooklyn at 10:30 a.m. before heading into Manhattan.
The primary elections will determine the candidates in the general elections on November 3. The mayoral race has been heavy on the radar, as the preliminaries have been narrowed down to Council Member Tony Avella and Comptroller William Thompson.
The winner will go on to face current Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who convinced the City Council to extend term limits and is running as an independent for a third term.
Other high-profile positions are city comptroller and public advocate, which each have four democratic candidates competing in the primaries.
Despite there being more than 4,000 voting machines and 1,300 poll sites throughout the city, the turnout was expected to be low. A polling station volunteer at the Prince George Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan commented that votes were slow coming. “It hasn’t been that thrilling,” he said.
As of 5:50 p.m., one machine had only 96 votes, while another had only 42.
Near the P.S. 163 polling site, the pace was not much different. Only a handful of pedestrians walked the sidewalks, yet the majority of them commented that they were on their way to vote, or just voted.
Yassky commented that although he didn’t expect to see more people, “I was hopeful there would be a higher turnaround than we were predicting.”
Watching the Polls
Between shaking hands with pedestrians, Yassky commented on the job of the comptroller. “The agencies [and] the commissioners don’t work for you, they work for the mayor,” he said. “Audits give you the opportunity to get ideas on the table.”
Pulling from his past experience in the business sphere, Yassky said “I think the government can take some lessons from well-run companies in how to motivate the workforce.”
“I do believe the comptroller has a real role to play in increasing the efficiency of each agency,” said Yassky.
He added that he believes government production could be increased by 10 percent without a need for higher costs. “That’s what the private sector does year in and year out. It should be the same in government.”
Yassky’s mother, Harriet, joined in the day’s campaign. Wearing her son’s campaign shirt, she would occasionally bring people to meet him. According to Harriet, while speaking to potential voters she introduces herself and finds out what their concerns are. “It’s fun,” she said.
While answering questions about her son’s campaign, Harriet added that “the fact I know David’s voting record and legislative records is very helpful.”
Neisha Blandin, 24, a supporter of public advocate candidate Eric Gioia was standing a few feet from Yassky’s campaign site.
Blandin commented on the slow voter turnout. “I expected there to be more,” she said. “In New York State, we’re pretty democratic. Your voice is heard most in the primary [election].”
