Join us!
News & Updates

  • 2025 GSD Ranked Choice Voting Guide

    Who does GSD endorse in the 2025 Primary?

    Based on votes by the membership, GSD recommends:

    NYC Mayor: Rank 5 candidates

    1. Scott Stringer
    2. Brad Lander
    3. Zohran Mamdani
    4. Adrienne Adams
    5. Zellnor Myrie

    Public Advocate: Jumaane Williams

    Comptroller: Mark Levine

    District Attorney: Alvin Bragg

    Borough President: Brad Hoylman-Sigal

    City Council: Christopher Marte

    How does ranked choice voting work?

    NYC’s ranked choice voting is an instant runoff — if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote right away, then counting continues in rounds.

    At the end of each round, the last-place candidate is eliminated and voters who chose that candidate now have their vote counted for their next choice.

    Your vote is counted for your second choice only if your first choice is eliminated. If both your first and second choices are eliminated, your vote is counted for your next choice, and so on. (You can vote for up to five candidates in ranked choice races.)

    This process continues until there are two candidates left. At that point, the candidate with the most votes wins.

    https://vote.nyc/page/ranked-choice-voting

    Why is GSD recommending five candidates for Mayor?

    There are eleven candidates for Mayor in the Democratic primary. You can rank up to five of them.

    Polling indicates there is one clear front-runner, former Governor Andrew Cuomo. In a traditional primary, his lead would probably be enough to win, because in a traditional primary a candidate only needs to win a plurality — more votes than any other candidate.

    But with ranked choice voting, it’s possible for a runner-up in the first round to gain enough second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-choice votes from other voters to become the eventual winner.

    Because GSD specifically recommends not voting for Cuomo, it’s important to vote for the five candidates most likely to be the last person standing against Cuomo in the final round.

    What if I want to vote for only one or two candidates?

    Obviously that’s your choice. But you run the risk of voting for candidates who are eliminated before the final round, and then you won’t have a say in the final matchup.

    Ballots that don’t rank enough candidates to make it to the final round are called exhausted ballots. In 2021, Eric Adams defeated Kathryn Garcia in the final round by just over 7,000 votes, while there were over 140,000 exhausted ballots — voters who hadn’t ranked either Adams or Garcia, but who, if they had ranked one or the other, could have helped determine (and change) the outcome.

    Why is GSD recommending only one candidate for the other races?

    The other races have fewer candidates — only three or four — with really only two viable candidates in each race. So the candidate endorsed by GSD in those races will certainly be either the winner or runner-up in the final round. Since our endorsed candidate won’t be eliminated until the very end, our second- and third-choice votes won’t end up being counted.

    Why is there no ranked choice option on the ballot for District Attorney?

    The District Attorney for Manhattan is technically a state office, and ranked choice voting has been legislated only locally for NYC offices (in primaries and special elections).

    Is Paperboy Love Prince running for Mayor again?

    Yes.

  • GSD recommends five candidates for Mayor

    At the beginning of the primary season, GSD members endorsed Scott Stringer for NYC Mayor, and subsequently helped petition to qualify Stringer for the June primary.

    In April, the club approved a resolution encouraging voters to not rank Andrew Cuomo on their ballots.

    But that still leaves room for four more names to select on this year’s ranked-choice ballot, with nearly a dozen candidates to choose from.

    In fact, if your preference is to defeat Andrew Cuomo, who is currently the front-runner in multiple polls, it’s important to take advantage of all five ranking options on your ballot, to ensure that your vote continues to have an effect even if your first (or second, or third …) choices do not gain enough votes city-wide to survive the instant runoff process.

    With that in mind, GSD members voted again in May to recommend five candidates (Stringer plus four) for Mayor:

    Scott Stringer
    Brad Lander
    Zohran Mamdani
    Adrienne Adams
    Zellnor Myrie

    Make sure your vote counts — rank all five for Mayor.

  • May 22: Albany update & bylaws amendments

    May General Meeting
    Thursday, May 22, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
    Seward Coop Community Room
    266 East Broadway

    Featuring:

    • Albany update from Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assemblymember Grace Lee.
    • Ranked choice voting primer.
    • Vote on proposed GSD bylaws amendments.
    • Vote on mayoral slate.

  • Restore the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center

    At our last general meeting, GSD heard from Sommer Omar of the Coalition to Save the Public Recreation Center Downtown, and voted to co-sign the letter to elected officials below.

    The City’s announced plan to demolish the Tony Dap — without any commitment to maintain a recreation center at that location, or preserve the Keith Haring mural at the public pool — is in direct opposition to promises made since 2019 that the facility would be repaired and re-opened for public use.

  • Ice cream social in support of Brad Hoylman-Sigal for Borough President

    Ice cream social in support of Brad Hoylman-Sigal for Borough President
    Monday, May 12, 5:30 – 7:00 pm

    RSVP

    Join Caroline Laskow, Ella Leitner, Kate Nammacher, and Melissa Shiffman in support of GSD’s endorsed candidate for Manhattan Borough President, Brad Hoylman-Sigal.

    With NYC matching funds, your contribution is matched x8!

  • Turnout Tuesdays: Weekly phone calls & postcards for Alvin Bragg and Chris Marte

    Phone Calls and Postcards
    Every Tuesday until Primary Day, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
    Seward Coop Community Room, 266 East Broadway

    To help get out the vote for our endorsed candidates, GSD is sponsoring phone banks and postcard-writing for District Attorney Alvin Bragg and City Councilmember Christopher Marte.

    To make calls, bring a laptop, mobile phone, and headphones.

  • Bylaws amendment proposals

    At our May meeting, voting members of the club will have a chance to vote on a series of bylaws amendments proposed by a special bylaws committee and the Executive Committee.

    Below, Jeremy Sherber describes the proposals and explains the reasoning behind them.

    Update: All proposals passed at the general meeting on 5/22/2025.

  • GSD Meeting April 29th Recap

    Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado
    Councilmember Chris Marte
    Borough President candidate Brad Hoylman-Sigal and campaign staff
    District Leader Mariama James and Barbara Capparelli
    GSD member Pat Arnow

    Thanks to all for joining us on Tuesday night for an active, packed meeting.

    • Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado zoomed in to encourage everyone to stand up for our democracy, keep attending rallies, speaking up and resisting. We hope to hear more from him in the coming months on how he plans to lead Democrats in this endeavor.
    • MBP candidate Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Councilmember Chris Marte, District Leader candidates Joe Gordon and Jessica Kramer, staff from Mark Levine and Congressman Dan Goldman shared info to help them campaign.
    • Pat Arnow educated us on May Day history and rally.
    • Sommer Omar presented on a coalition to stop the destruction of the beloved Tony Dapolitano Recreation Center in the West Village. Members voted to join the coalition.
    • Mariama James and Barbara Capparelli presented the work of 9/11 Environmental Action World Trade Center Health Program Outreach, whose goal is to raise awareness of 9/11 health issues and options for treatment among community residents and those who worked, went to school or happened to be present in the area of the World Trade Center on September 11th. They service a continually growing list of health conditions and implore affected people to sign up for WTC coverage.
    • The club voted on a resolution “Don’t Rank Andrew Cuomo for Mayor” based on the 2021 sexual harrassment/retaliation findings, his violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Congress finding him accountable for his tragic Covid-19 nursing home policy and cover up. Grand Street Democrats encourages voters in New York City to leave Andrew Cuomo off their ranked choice ballots in the Democratic primary for NYC Mayor.

  • Resolution: Don’t Rank Andrew Cuomo for Mayor

    Grand Street Democrats encourages voters in New York City to leave Andrew Cuomo off their ranked choice ballots in the Democratic primary for NYC Mayor.

    Former Governor Andrew Cuomo entered the mayoral race hoping that New Yorkers don’t recall why he resigned in 2021. But we remember:

    • Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor after a thorough investigation by the Office of the Attorney General found he sexually harassed and retaliated against at least 11 women, including government employees.
    • According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Andrew Cuomo and his senior staff discriminated against female government employees in violation of Title VII by subjecting them to, and tolerating, a sexually hostile work environment created by Cuomo for eight years.
    • A 2024 House Select Committee held Andrew Cuomo publicly accountable for his involvement in issuing the disastrous March 25 Directive — which forced nursing homes to accept COVID-19 positive patients — and publicly exposed his efforts to cover-up the tragic aftermath of his Administration’s deadly decision.

    New York City’s ranked choice voting system for primaries lets voters select up to five candidates for Mayor on June 24. Ranking Andrew Cuomo anywhere on your ballot (even last!) means that there’s a chance your vote will count for him. To make sure Andrew Cuomo does not win the Democratic primary, remember: Don’t rank Andrew Cuomo on June 24.

    Resolution adopted April 25, 2025

  • April 29 General Meeting

    April General Meeting
    Tuesday, April 29, 6:30 pm
    Seward Coop Community Room
    266 East Broadway

    Join us for pizza and cake celebrating the successful end to our spring petitioning!

    We have a full agenda Tuesday with in-person and remote guests starting at 6:30 pm:

    • Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado
    • District Leader candidates Jessica Kramer & Joe Gordon
    • Representative from the campaign of Mark Levine for Comptroller
    • State Senator Brian Kavanagh
    • Councilmember Chris Marte
    • Borough President candidate Brad Hoylman-Sigal

    We will also be discussing local, political, and club issues:

    • Fate of the Tony Dapolito Rec Center
    • World Trade Center health program
    • Mayoral primary
    • Presentation of proposed amendments to GSD bylaws