Meet Your Mayor
Answer the questions below to see which candidates for NYC mayor agree with you most
Welcome to Meet Your Mayor, which shows you how the candidates’ stands fit with your take on the issues that matter most to New Yorkers.
If you’re new to Meet Your Mayor, learn more about how it works and what to expect now through the June 22 primary.
Answer the following four questions on criminal justice to see which candidates for mayor most closely match the future you want to see for New York City.
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In April 2021, New York legalized possession of up to three ounces of marijuana for personal use, while paving the way for a regulated sales industry. (Note: Candidates were surveyed before state law changed.)
Question 1 of 4
“I support 100% legalization of marijuana.... I don't support legalizing crack, cocaine. It is devastating when you see what it does. I don't support the legalization of heroin. I don't support the legalization of, you know, those hard, serious drugs at all.”
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
"I am for decriminalizing marijuana. I think that is absolutely fine, but there are other substances — not only fentanyl, but even things like cocaine — where you don't know how your body's going to react."
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
"We should stop criminalizing addiction. That people who are addicts have a different problem. It's not a criminal problem. It is a health problem."
from THE CITY Interview, April 30, 2021
“I am certainly for decriminalizing certain substances.... I do have some concerns about decriminalizing completely into all substances. ... I do have concerns about the devastation I've seen with highly, highly addictive and deadly drugs where even small amounts can have life-altering consequences and even cause death.”
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
Asked about decriminalizing small amounts of all drugs, including cannabis, heroin, and crack, cocaine, Morales said, “We need to move toward that in the response to the war on drugs, so it's all of those things.”
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
“We need to make sure that there's opportunity for whether it's morphine or different drugs. We can't just simply incarcerate.”
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
“We have to start, obviously, with where we have already a lot of public support with marijuana.”
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
“I'm for the total decriminalization of cannabis and marijuana. … I'm for the decriminalization of many of these prescription opioids that, frankly, the drug companies have generated billions of dollars of blood money from. … I'm for legalization of psilocybin mushrooms, and I'm open to the public policy impact of legalizing other substances.”
from VOCAL-NY’s Mayoral Candidate Forum, March 17, 2021
No candidates selected this answer
Curtis Sliwa, Fernando Mateo, Isaac Wright Jr., Aaron Foldenauer
NYC is pursuing a 10-year timetable to close Rikers Island and replace it with four new borough-based jails at accessible locations intended to make incarceration less inhumane.
Question 2 of 4
In backing a new jail for downtown Brooklyn, Adams urged "rehabilitation over incarceration, providing workforce and educational opportunities for inmates, providing mental health services and mindfulness training to those struggling with trauma, as well as finally addressing the taboo around the prevalence of people with learning disabilities in our jails."
from Statement as borough president, July 9, 2019
“I would finally close Rikers within my time as mayor.”
from Uptown Community Democrats Present: NYC Mayoral Candidate Forum, Jan. 15, 2021
“I do believe that we need to close Rikers. I do believe that you know this is the opportunity to fundamentally change what happens there.”
from NYC Criminal Justice and Reentry Mayoral Forum, April 5, 2021
Foldenauer said the it is hard to project the city's tax base and its ability to pay for new jails: "The cost of these new jails looks to be astronomical."
from THE CITY Interview, April 29, 2021
“I was the first elected official to say shut it down and close Rikers. I was the first.”
from NYC Criminal Justice and Reentry Mayoral Forum, April 5, 2021
"We have to close Rikers Island. It is a human rights violation, what is happening at Rikers.… There is a plan in place. It's a plan that will be implemented, and.... I support the plan."
from Queens Post Podcast, March 19, 2021
“We need to re-examine the four borough jail project really from A to Z because I've met many New Yorkers who did not feel properly included in that plan. … I do think that we should be moving to close Rikers as soon as possible, but we need a better plan that more community members are on board with in terms of what comes next.”
from NY1’s “Inside City Hall, Jan. 14, 2021
“I wouldn't shut Rikers Island down, I would reform it.... I would change the name, and I would make sure that we make it a rehabilitation center.”
from Republican Mayoral Debate, March 31, 2021
Sliwa said he wouldn’t close Rikers when he was asked.
from WABC Radio Republican Debate, March 31, 2021
"If you build it, you will have to fill it. Do we actually know that we need an expansion in our jail system?"
from THE CITY Interview, April 30, 2021
“I've pledged to close Rikers and to open NO new prisons or jails as we dismantle a ‘justice’ system built to criminalize Black and Brown communities.”
from Twitter, Nov. 9, 2020
“I am opposed to spending $11 billion on jails.... There are so many other things that we can utilize those funds for.… In the short term, it will continue to be on Rikers.”
from THE CITY interview, Sept. 24, 2020
Ray McGuire, Isaac Wright Jr.
The city jails board has restricted who may be put in solitary confinement and proposed rules to limit the number of hours of isolation but has stopped short of full abolition.
Question 3 of 4
“I think they need [penal institutions] to be something else. Reimagining them is going to be a powerful part of that, and that includes getting rid of solitary confinement.”
from NYC Criminal Justice and Reentry Mayoral Forum, April 5, 2021
“We need to ensure that there is no solitary confinement.”
from NYC Criminal Justice and Reentry Mayoral Forum, April 5, 2021
“Solitary confinement is inhumane, and I urge Gov. Cuomo to sign #HALTSolitary immediately.”
from Twitter, March 18, 2021
Asked if solitary confinement should be ended, Stringer replied "Of course, yes."
from Mental Health Town Hall, Citizen Action of New York, Dec. 15, 2021
“I want to make sure there's no solitary confinement.”
from Empire State Indivisible's Mayoral Candidate Forum, Feb. 8, 2021
Foldenauer said solitary confiment should be discouraged but not banned since "there might be limited circumstances where it's necessary."
from THE CITY Interview, April 29, 2021
Adams said he would end solitary confinement only for non-violent detainees.
from Mental Health Town Hall, Citizen Action of New York, Dec. 15, 2021
Fernando Mateo, Isaac Wright Jr.
Bail reform has prompted increasing reliance on supervised release programs for people facing criminal charges as an alternative to jail — as well as concerns that the programs themselves may be too punitive.
Question 4 of 4
Adams recommended expanding the city’s supervised release programs to include a “broader range of non-violent crimes.”
from The Brooklyn Eagle, July 9, 2019
"The data has not shown a correlation between supervised release and crime, especially violent crime. "
from THE CITY Interview, April 30, 2021
“It really has happened that the nonprofit sector being stepping up and then also using technology, so they can have supervised release. You know, this is, we don't want people to be in jail. I mean, there are some people who like obviously need to be there but, for the most part, you're waiting trial. That you should be presumed innocent to a certain hearings, like the presumption is you are presumed innocent.”
from THE CITY interview , April 13, 2021
"We need mentors and love agents that work to help folks deal with the issues that led them to committing a crime."
from THE CITY Interview, May 3, 2021
“While supervised release is a good step for reducing the harms and costs of jail, it should not be used for those who do not require supervision, because community supervision (including more intrusive forms like parole and probation) can become trip-wires to more incarceration and counterproductive involvement with the justice system.”
from Statement to THE CITY, April 29, 2021
"When you have a serious crime take place, you can't just release the perpetrator and allow him or her to commit another crime."
from THE CITY Interview, April 29, 2021
No candidates selected this answer
Curtis Sliwa, Andrew Yang, Fernando Mateo, Isaac Wright Jr.
Reporting by Ann Choi and Mónica Cordero, development by Will Welch, editing by Alyssa Katz. Candidate images from Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY, Alejandro Durán/THE CITY, Shutterstock and campaign websites.