Ramps season + gearing up for the NYC primaries
First off, I wrote a story this week explaining ramps: the hype, the history, and how they went from Appalachian staple to city restaurant trend. You can read it here!
Secondly, New York City’s primary elections are coming up on June 22, and in New York, the primaries largely determine the outcome of the general election. I recognize that many people who read this newsletter are not New Yorkers, so this might not be useful to you! Feel free to skip ahead to the rest of the newsletter.
But I do have many newsletter readers who live in New York, and if you’re at all like me, you probably looking for things to read to learn more about the candidates and the races — certainly the mayor’s race is the big one, but also the various other downballot races too.
I’ve been doing a ton of reading myself, so I wanted to compile a bunch of the resources I’ve found most helpful as you prepare for the elections next month:
Mayor’s race
Reporter Ross Barkan’s substack newsletter has some of the best analysis of the mayoral race I’ve read. A good place to start is with these pieces on some of the candidates: Eric Adams, Andrew Yang, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer.
There have been several deep profiles of the candidates that I’ve found helpful: The New Yorker on Kathryn Garcia; Rebecca Traister profiled Maya Wiley; Astead Herndon of the NYT on Eric Adams.
The New York Times’ whole section on the mayor’s race has been helpful.
The New York Times Editorial Board endorsed Kathryn Garcia for mayor, and so did the New York Daily News.
Maya Wiley has been endorsed by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, New York’s top ranking House Democrat.
Borough Presidents
Four of the five boroughs (Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island) are electing new borough presidents. The City’s guide to the borough president races has been the most helpful resource I’ve found.
If you live in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Paper has a guide to the Brooklyn borough president candidates, and so does Gothamist. Here’s how the polling in Brooklyn looks.
Public Advocate
Gothamist has a helpful guide to the public advocate candidates, and so does The City.
City Council
This guide from The City is a helpful starting point to learn who’s running for City Council in your district. (And this tool can help you figure out what district you live in.)
Other general stuff to know
The deadline to register to vote is Friday, May 28. And if you moved since you voted last November, like I did, don’t forget to re-register with your new address.
New York has ranked choice voting now, so you’ll get to rank your candidates in order of preference. Here’s how that works.
Good things to read
Crocs are ugly!, Buzzfeed News. I truly do not understand why every hipster in Brooklyn is wearing crocs lately??
Your least favorite gross viral food videos are all connected to this guy, Eater.
The jean war between millennials and Gen Z cannot be won, Washington Post.
The clock-out cure, The Cut. On quitting your job as self-care.
Love yoga? India’s Covid crisis demands your attention, Elle.
A once in a lifetime chance to start over, The Atlantic. On using the pandemic as a reset.
People aren’t “addicted” to wearing masks, they’re traumatized, Vice.
Gotta have that cute mug? Act fast, New York Times.
Who should John Mulaney be now? Vulture.
Why millennials can’t grow up, The Atlantic.
Good things to cook
This week I made: this incredible baked tofu with peanut sauce. This pork and asparagus stir fry. And this miso glazed fish.
Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter, you can click the “heart” at the top of this post on Substack or share it on social media or forward to a friend — they can subscribe at nishachittal.substack.com. You can also leave a comment on this post to tell me what you think! And you can follow me on Twitter here and Instagram here.