New York’s 12th Congressional District, theManhattan district running from the Upper West and Upper East Sides down to Chelsea and Stuyvesant Town, is the city’s wealthiest. It is home to Billionaires’ Row, Museum Mile, Broadway, Meta’s New York City headquarters and the United Nations.
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Two of NY-12’s many influential residents – Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin – have stayed conspicuously silent about their picks in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler. But they’re not the only bold-faced names casting votes in this election. City & State spoke to some of the district’s other notables – and a handful of engaged voters we met along the way at the race’s televised debates, forums and other campaign events – about which of the eight candidates they’re backing, the issues that matter to them, and what NY-12 should be known for beyond its money and power. Conversations have been edited for length and clarity. Shoutout to New York Magazine’s Look Book, which inspired this format.
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