Mara Gay

Editorial Board Writer at The New York Times

@nyt editorial board, covering politics and all things New York. @msnbc analyst. Subway rider and beachgoer. Go Blue.

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Articles

Opinion | Cuomo’s Candidacy Is a Symptom of a Bigger Democratic Problem

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Mara Gay

To understand what ails the Democrats, consider the mayoral primary unfolding in New York City. Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is one upset away from winning the Democratic nomination, leaving much of the political establishment stunned. But the actual problem for Democrats is Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor insisting on a comeback bid despite representing so much of what many voters have come to disdain about the Democratic Party.
Key Issues in N.Y.C.'s Mayoral Election

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Mara Gay

June 12, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ETThe New York mayor's race has supposedly been about the paths of two men: the comeback of Andrew Cuomo after he resigned in disgrace from the governorship and the independent bid of the current mayor, Eric Adams, whom federal authorities indicted on bribery charges last year - charges withdrawn after Mr. Adams cultivated a relationship with President Trump.
Opinion: The people who want institutions to stand up to Trump

2 months ago | mercurynews.com | Mara Gay

Like so many other powerful people, companies and institutions, the partners of the elite law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom bowed to President Trump in a matter of weeks.
How Skadden Arps Alumni Are Challenging the Firm's Leaders Over Trump

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Mara Gay

The coveted Skadden Fellowship is a two-year program that pays the salaries of dozens of recent law school graduates who engage in legal work free of charge for Americans living in poverty. It is work that many Skadden fellows continue long after they leave the fellowship. In its deal with the White House last month, Skadden pledged $100 million toward causes that the administration supports.
Opinion | ‘There’s a Big Market for Fighters Now’: Four Opinion Writers on the Democratic Party and Andrew Cuomo

Mar 6, 2025 | businessandamerica.com | Mara Gay |Brent Staples |Nicole Gelinas |Andrew Kirtzman

Gelinas: “Corporeal vacancy” is such a great term!Staples: Nicole, thanks for the shout-out to my 12th-grade English teacher, Ms. Riley. Kirtzman: To Brent’s point, polls have found vast numbers of New Yorkers feel the city is going in the wrong direction. And fear of crime is, arguably, the No. 1 driver of that. I was on a stalled subway train recently, trapped in a tunnel for five to 10 minutes as a large, deranged man screamed at us.
'There's a Big Market for Fighters Now': Four Opinion Writers on the Democratic Party and Andrew Cuomo

Mar 6, 2025 | nytimes.com | Mara Gay |Brent Staples |Nicole Gelinas |Andrew Kirtzman

Mara Gay, a New York Times editorial board member, hosted an online conversation with her fellow board member Brent Staples; Nicole Gelinas, a contributing Opinion writer; and Andrew Kirtzman, a former New York political journalist and the author of two biographies of Rudolph W.
Democrats Don't Need a Perfect Message Against Trump, They Need to Show Some Fight

Feb 10, 2025 | nytimes.com | Mara Gay

I asked Senator Chuck Schumer what Americans want from Democrats right now. "They want us to beat Trump and stop this shit," he told me. "And that's what we're doing."It was a welcome sign of life. For three weeks now, President Trump and the world's richest man have ransacked from within a democracy that took 250 years to build. The country faces a second crisis: an opposition party that doesn't seem to know how to respond.
Nueva York necesita un giro para demostrar que las grandes ciudades aún funcionan

Jan 13, 2025 | clarin.com | Mara Gay

NUEVA YORK — Cualquiera que preste atención podría ser perdonado por preguntarse qué está pasando en Nueva York, que últimamente parece empeñada en confirmar los peores y más cansados tropos de los críticos del liberalismo de las grandes ciudades. Los crímenes que ocurren en los subterráneos son realmente alarmantes. Durante las vacaciones, un hombre prendió fuego a una mujer en el tren F en Brooklyn, matándola.
New York Needs a Turnaround to Show That Big Cities Still Work

Jan 9, 2025 | nytimes.com | Mara Gay

Anyone paying attention could be forgiven for wondering just what is going on in New York, which lately seems hellbent on affirming the worst, most tired tropes of critics of big-city liberalism. The crimes taking place in the subways are genuinely alarming. Over the holidays, a man lit a woman on fire on the F train in Brooklyn, killing her. The man, who is an undocumented immigrant, has pleaded not guilty and told investigators he was too drunk to remember what happened.
Helping Students Find Their Way to College

Dec 1, 2024 | nytimes.com | Mara Gay

Nomar Leonardo Melo Cabral was weeks into his first semester in college when an unexpected bill from Stony Brook University arrived in his inbox. Nomar, 19, is the first in his family to attend college in the United States, and he was tempted to panic. Instead, he called upon a resource many young people in his position don't have: an advocate from OneGoal New York, a mentorship program that has been working with him since high school.