# NYC Mayor election thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 24, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085 "2025-06-24T17:40:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/381 "2025-07-12T10:09:16Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Is this where the shoplifted products end up? No. The bodegas (and small restaurants) are buying soda and snacks that are stolen by organized theft by the route drivers themselves. The coke guy will pull up behind XYZ Supermarket and deliver 15 pallets of coke. The “receiver” at the store will sign for 16 pallets. One pallet will be delivered to a van waiting on the next corner. The van driver will then sell this for cash to a bodega or pizza place for half the price Coke/Pepsi would charge. Ironically if someone then steals a can of coke from the bodega, the bodega owner will complain about rampant criminality. The receiver is known to be lazy and not verify anything or actually paid to sign for a higher quantity than was actually delivered. There are supposed to be processes to detect this kind of fraud. Supermarket chains with weak inventory control systems are the ones that lose the most, and the delivery drivers know which ones to target. “Receiver” in this case is an actual job in the retail sector, not a name for a person who buys stolen goods. In US English that’s called a “fence”. A fence is where shoplifted high value items ended up (small appliances, cosmetics, baby formula, shaving cartridges), but now these are sold on Facebook Marketplace and other online outlets. A shoplifted steak or avocado is likely just eaten by the shoplifter’s family. Retailers play fast and loose with statistics on retail theft and fraud. They want more enforcement of shoplifting (and more leeway in using force to stop shoplifting themselves). You can contrast what they say in press releases with what they are willing to say in notes to financial statements. The latter are very guarded because it’s a criminal offense to exaggerate or straight up fabricate numbers in the notes to your financial statements. So the CEO on Monday will be out there saying the Mike’s Friendly Supermarkets lost $50m to “organized retail crime” and the DA and judges refusing to prosecute and jail shoplifters is a huge problem. The CEO knows that of the $50M, $10M was taken by shoplifters and $40M by vendors and employees. So when the quarterly earnings results go out on Tuesday there will be no mention of shoplifters. Or the statement will be worded differently so as to not imply that shoplifters made off with $50M. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/382 "2025-07-12T12:21:23Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > You need proof that Columbia engaged in affirmative action? Seems like common knowledge, but this seems like a reasonable history: No, that misses on two scores. First, the purpose of affirmative action isn’t discrimination; it’s to decrease discrimination. And second, proof that the purpose of that form is affirmative action? And again: If you think that he filled out the form wrong, how do you think he should have filled it out? I contend that anything else he could have put down would have been even more inaccurate. The argument that he filled out the form wrong basically boils down to “people with complicated ethnic identities shouldn’t be allowed to apply to college”. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/383 "2025-07-12T13:04:05Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > No, whole truckloads of goods go astray. When i lived in NYC, i learned to read the “best by” dates, because it wasn’t uncommon for the local grocery store to sell expired goods. Once, i opened some dried fruit with no “best by” date, and wrote to the manufacturer to complain. They replied that the shelf life was highly dependant on temperature, so they had complex formulas for merchants to use instead of a simple date, and also, the box I’d purchased has been reported as “expired and discarded” by whoever bought it from them. That supermarket got a refund for unsold goods. And someone diverted those goods to my shitty supermarket. Huh, I had no idea this was a thing. > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > No. The bodegas (and small restaurants) are buying soda and snacks that are stolen by organized theft by the route drivers themselves. The coke guy will pull up behind XYZ Supermarket and deliver 15 pallets of coke. The “receiver” at the store will sign for 16 pallets. One pallet will be delivered to a van waiting on the next corner. The van driver will then sell this for cash to a bodega or pizza place for half the price Coke/Pepsi would charge. Ironically if someone then steals a can of coke from the bodega, the bodega owner will complain about rampant criminality. The receiver is known to be lazy and not verify anything or actually paid to sign for a higher quantity than was actually delivered. There are supposed to be processes to detect this kind of fraud. Supermarket chains with weak inventory control systems are the ones that lose the most, and the delivery drivers know which ones to target. That’s all very interesting. So not only are the supermarket chains losing money directly, it also allows the bodegas to undercut them. It’s not a wonder they are driven out of business. Why don’t they do more to stop this kind of organised theft? It sounds like to some extent, New York’s economy relies on this criminal enterprise. That makes it even more dysfunctional. Can New Yorkers not afford to buy groceries at normal prices, with no theft involved? My sister lives in London, and not in an expensive area (well, it’s all expensive, but comparatively). She shops at normal chain supermarkets that are within walking distance. Granted they are smaller and the prices higher than elsewhere, but she doesn’t have to worry about expired products. Surely you weren’t living in that bad a neighborhood, @puzzlegal ? > [@Chronos](#): > > And again: If you think that he filled out the form wrong, how do you think he should have filled it out? I contend that anything else he could have put down would have been even more inaccurate. He should have ticked ‘South Asian’. The same way a white South African would be expected to tick ‘white’. I don’t understand why you think it’s complicated. Americans can be of various different ethnicities; so can Ugandans. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/384 "2025-07-12T15:25:05Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > And again: If you think that he filled out the form wrong, how do you think he should have filled it out? I contend that anything else he could have put down would have been even more inaccurate. > > He should have ticked ‘South Asian’. The same way a white South African would be expected to tick ‘white’. I don’t understand why you think it’s complicated. Americans can be of various different ethnicities; so can Ugandans. I applied to college the same year or the year after Mandani. Since I’m exactly as African American as Mamdani is, and was applying to college at the same time, I don’t think it’s a stretch for me to say that it was not confusing at all. African American means Black, not _American from the geographic continent of Africa_. Doe it matter? No; it’s certainly not a reason to oppose Mamdani over. I just think it’s silly to pretend that he would have done this for any reason but the obvious one: putting down African American gives an advantage, and so if you’ve got even a spurious claim to being “African” American, you may as well apply as an African. Like I said up thread, I thought about precisely that, but decided not to do it because I figured there was _some_ level of enforcement that would say ‘Hey, you’re not black - we don’t want someone who lies on their forms to go to our school’. Obviously, that was _extremely_ naive. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/385 "2025-07-12T15:29:54Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Surely you weren’t living in that bad a neighborhood, @puzzlegal ? I lived on the cusp of two neighborhoods. That grocery store was in Black Harlem. There was an expensive specialty grocery store a little father from my home in the opposite direction, and a convenience store with some groceries literally in the basement of my building. We went out to eat a lot when we lived in NYC. It was often cheaper than cooking for ourselves. > [@Babale](#): > > I applied to college the same year or the year after Mandani. Since I’m exactly as African American as Mamdani is You were born in Africa and lived there until you were 5? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/386 "2025-07-12T15:30:05Z")
If there’s anything we know about seventeen year olds, it’s that everything they do is calculated, and they never make little mistakes or fail to understand something perfectly. An error? Impossible! ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/387 "2025-07-12T15:30:27Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > No. The bodegas (and small restaurants) are buying soda and snacks that are stolen by organized theft by the route drivers themselves. The coke guy will pull up behind XYZ Supermarket and deliver 15 pallets of coke. The “receiver” at the store will sign for 16 pallets. One pallet will be delivered to a van waiting on the next corner. The van driver will then sell this for cash to a bodega or pizza place for half the price Coke/Pepsi would charge. Ironically if someone then steals a can of coke from the bodega, the bodega owner will complain about rampant criminality. The receiver is known to be lazy and not verify anything or actually paid to sign for a higher quantity than was actually delivered. There are supposed to be processes to detect this kind of fraud. Supermarket chains with weak inventory control systems are the ones that lose the most, and the delivery drivers know which ones to target. It seems to me that if NYC really wants to address this, the problem needs to be attacked from both ends. Find stores that aren’t doing this and subsidize or aid them (or as Mamdani proposes, create your own stores… Government run enterprises are a whole other kettle of fish with its own risks and potential for corruption, but assuming you’re doing a good job creating them, it could work also). And at the same time, increase enforcement - go after corruption and theft with sting operations and the like. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/388 "2025-07-12T15:31:12Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Obviously, that was _extremely_ naive. He wasn’t accepted. Who knows, maybe that’s why not. I really doubt it makes much difference, but you do you. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/389 "2025-07-12T15:32:54Z")
By the way, the euphemism for stolen groceries in NYC is that they “fell off a truck”. And everyone knows it happens, even people like me who are basically pretty innocent and out of the loop. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/390 "2025-07-12T15:33:20Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > You were born in Africa and lived there until you were 5? Nope, but that doesn’t make you African American, does it? Both Mamdani and I come from non-Black African ethnic groups; and both of those groups are equally African American (IE, _not_.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/391 "2025-07-12T15:36:03Z")
No, zero people think that descendants of non-black people who have ancestors from Africa are “African American”. That is literally 100% of Americans, if you go back far enough. Lots of people use “place American” for people who were born in “place” and live in America, though. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/392 "2025-07-12T16:44:02Z")
Really, it’s getting kind of annoying how people are reaching for _ANYTHING_ in Mamdani’s past. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If there’s anything we know about seventeen year olds, it’s that everything they do is calculated, and they never make little mistakes or fail to understand something perfectly. Or, being 17-year-olds, if they calculate, they calculate badly and end up looking silly. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/393 "2025-07-12T18:36:52Z")
Do the ethnicity forms go to whoever makes the admission decisions anyway? I’m used to their being separated from the rest of the application papers; there’s a common ID number, so that the outcome is noted in a separate database for monitoring in the aggregate to see what systemic inequities there might be across the whole population, but the monitoring forms aren’t a factor in individual cases ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/394 "2025-07-12T19:29:53Z")
I would love it if, before people criticized him for this application, they would lead by telling us the most foolish thing they did when they were 17, so we could understand where their criticism was coming from. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/395 "2025-07-12T19:38:50Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I applied to college the same year or the year after Mandani. Since I’m exactly as African American as Mamdani is, and was applying to college at the same time, I don’t think it’s a stretch for me to say that it was not confusing at all. African American means Black, not _American from the geographic continent of Africa_. Maybe you’re just smarter than him? I’m sure none of us are under the illusion that competence is necessary to win elections. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > By the way, the euphemism for stolen groceries in NYC is that they “fell off a truck”. And everyone knows it happens, even people like me who are basically pretty innocent and out of the loop. In the UK, stolen goods traditionally “fell off the back of a lorry”. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > No, zero people think that descendants of non-black people who have ancestors from Africa are “African American”. That is literally 100% of Americans, if you go back far enough. This is silly. Descendants of Moroccans have as good a claim to be African as descendants of Nigerians. It’s just that ‘African American’ as a phrase means black, and everyone knows it. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/396 "2025-07-12T19:46:14Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Do the ethnicity forms go to whoever makes the admission decisions anyway? I’m used to their being separated from the rest of the application papers; there’s a common ID number, so that the outcome is noted in a separate database for monitoring in the aggregate to see what systemic inequities there might be across the whole population, but the monitoring forms aren’t a factor in individual cases Race-based affirmative action was common in America until the Supreme Court ruled it illegal a couple of years ago. (And it probably still is common; IIRC some colleges are in the process of being sued.) A few states had already banned it by referendum, so in those cases the form would be separated and used for monitoring, but in most states it’s something that could have been taken into consideration in admissions. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/397 "2025-07-12T19:49:32Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > This is silly. Descendants of Moroccans have as good a claim to be African as descendants of Nigerians. It’s just that ‘African American’ as a phrase means black, and everyone knows it I’m saying there are two meanings of “African American”. The usual meaning is “Black American”, but it’s really not that uncommon to hear people use it to refer to an American born in Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/398 "2025-07-12T19:52:59Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The usual meaning is “Black American”, but it’s really not that uncommon to hear people use it to refer to an American born in Africa. Literally the only time I’ve heard that meaning is when people are making fun of the term “African American” by claiming that people like Elon (or me, or Mamdani) are African American. Maybe your mileage varies and you’ve seen people use the term earnestly, but I’ve never come across that usage. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/399 "2025-07-12T19:53:15Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Once again… Isn’t it possible that a 17 year old with an unusual background made an honest mistake? He made no mistake. In America you SELF-IDENTIFY. > [@Chronos](#): > > And again: If you think that he filled out the form wrong, how do you think he should have filled it out? Good point- if others decide what ethnicity a person is- that gets into racism. > [@Loach](#): > > There are no existing stores in much of the city. Outside of the occasional Whole Foods in expensive neighborhoods there are very few grocery stores. _There are 5658 Grocery stores in New York City as of May 5, 2025; which is an 0.02% increase from 2023. Of these locations, 4834 Grocery stores which is 85.44% of all Grocery stores in New York City are single-owner operations, while the remaining 824 which is 14.56% are part of larger brands. Average age of Grocery stores in New York City is 6 years and 6 months._ > **[List Of Grocery stores in New York City](https://rentechdigital.com/smartscraper/business-report-details/united-states/new-york/list-of-grocery-stores-in-new-york-city)** > > Download the list of Grocery stores in New York City. Smartscrapers provides an accurate directory and the latest data on the number of Grocery stores in New York City > [@Cervaise](#): > > I’m still waiting for any kind of explanation about why any of this fucking matters at all – considering that the opposition figures are wildly corrupt _in the present_ and one of them is a serial sexual harasser to boot – beyond the indulgence of white people getting to grind the axe of racial grievance. Exactly. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > But i think most of the shoplifted food is just eaten. Other than a small amount, most shoplifted items are not food, except baby formula. > [@DemonTree](#): > > That’s all very interesting It is interesting but not back up by any cites or solid information. > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > No. The bodegas (and small restaurants) are buying soda and snacks that are stolen by organized theft by the route drivers themselves. Cite? > [@JRDelirious](#): > > Really, it’s getting kind of annoying how people are reaching for _ANYTHING_ in Mamdani’s past. Yep. I mean, it is reasonable to discuss and criticize his platform and ideas for running the City. But not what he self-identified as many decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085/400 "2025-07-12T20:02:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There are 5658 Grocery stores in New York City as of May 5, 2025; which is an 0.02% increase from 2023. Of these locations, 4834 Grocery stores which is 85.44% of all Grocery stores in New York City are single-owner operations, while the remaining 824 which is 14.56% are part of larger brands. Average age of Grocery stores in New York City is 6 years and 6 months. How often have you been to NYC? That cite is useless and is probably counting bodegas (which are not full grocery stores). There are supermarkets in NYC but they tend to cluster in expensive neighborhoods. Poor and minority neighborhoods are not well served and tend to have more adverse health outcomes due to poor diet. I hate to just tell someone to just google, but just google food deserts NYC and you will see cite after cite about the issue and for how long it’s been an issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-mayor-election-thread/1020085.md?page=21)