‘Hope and potential’: What Election Day looks like on campus

NYU students joined thousands of Village residents as they filed into polling sites at university residence halls to cast their votes in Tuesday’s mayoral election. At around 9:35 p.m. — just over half an hour after polls had closed — New Yorkers were celebrating in the streets as the city’s 34-year-old Muslim Queens assemblyman, Zohran Mamdani, won with nearly a 12-point lead.

Hundreds of votes were cast from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. across six on-campus polling sites — including Palladium Hall and Brittany Hall — and three locations at Washington Square Village, where voters walked out with “I VOTED!” stickers on their shirts. 

“There’s a lot of positive energy, a lot of good hope and potential,” Wagner graduate student Monica Martinez told WSN. “We’re all excited about what it could mean for the city and what it could mean for livelihoods here, especially as a silver lining, given the turbulent political state of the country.”

In the morning, NYU Votes tabled on the second floor of the Kimmel Center for University Life to address election-related questions. Liberal Studies first-year Emmet Carlson told WSN that he registered as a first-time voter when NYU Votes held a block party on LaGuardia Place in September with outside organizations. NYU’s official Instagram account also posted a reel on Tuesday encouraging community members to vote.

Over 2 million registered New York City voters cast their ballots this year — a record breaking number since 1969. Early voting saw over 735,000 New Yorkers — over 100,000 of which were under the age of 35 — which is four times the record low turnout in 2021. 

“There is significant interest in the elections this fall,” NYU Votes spokesperson Jason Hollander wrote in a statement to WSN. “Through this central effort, NYU student voting rates have consistently increased through the years.”

NYU College Democrats President Mikala Gruber told WSN that the organization will host an Election Day recap on Thursday. Around two weeks ago, its members campaigned for Mamdani — who has appealed to young voters with his affordability proposals and viral social media videos — in the East Village to bolster voter turnouts. NYU College Republicans posted a picture on Instagram of Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday morning with a “#votesliwa.”

“We’re seeing people that aren’t typically involved in politics get really excited,” Gruber said. “There’s been this added momentum, especially among people who haven’t been super involved before.” 

Last year, Mamdani joined faculty unions at on-campus rallies to bargain for better wages and benefits from NYU amid a rising cost of living. In February, he called out NYU Langone Health in an op-ed in Jacobin for caving to President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration and anti-gender-affirming executive orders. He vowed that he will demand the hospital to “pay its fair share of city taxes” to “strengthen New York City’s public hospital system.”

Four Wagner student clubs — including the Wagner Student Association and Wagner City Government — hosted a watch party at sports bar Amity Hall Downtown. Around 30 students packed the space surrounded by TVs as they watched the ballot count tick up for the three candidates. When Mamdani’s victory was called, the crowd screamed and cheered.

“Mamdani has brought a new, younger generation into politics. He’s brought new voters in and new energy and new enthusiasm, and it’s great to see,” Wagner Dean Polly Trottenberg, who attended the event, told WSN. “I think what we’ve seen is he did an incredible job of organizing and speaking to issues that were on New Yorkers’ minds.”

Individuals also danced, sang and cheered around the fountain in Washington Square Park.

“I am glad that Cuomo has been repudiated by the people,” CAS senior George Lounsbery-Scaife told WSN. “It’s nice to see people in New York taking ownership of the city — high turnout in the election for a candidate who actually has a positive vision for change and not something with fear.”

Contact Paige Ablon and Eva Mundo at news@nyunews.com.

This story ‘Hope and potential’: What Election Day looks like on campus appeared first on Washington Square News.

NYU students joined thousands of Village residents as they filed into polling sites at university residence halls to cast their votes in Tuesday’s mayoral election. At around 9:35 p.m. — just over half an hour after polls had closed — New Yorkers were celebrating in the streets as the city’s 34-year-old Muslim Queens assemblyman, Zohran Mamdani,…