Andrew Yang Scrutinized During NYC Mayoral Race for Complaining About Living in the City During a Pandemic

Alex Montrose
·4 min read
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After dropping out of the presidential race last year, Andrew Yang announced in December he would be campaigning to become the next mayor of the country’s biggest metropolis.

But Yang’s chances of snatching the NYC mayor seat may have waned following the release of a New York Times profile about the candidate. In the piece, Yang laments about the difficulty of working from home in the city while his children do remote schooling.

“We’ve spent more time upstate than in the city over the last number of months, but I also spent time in Georgia, as you know, I spent time in Pennsylvania campaigning for Joe and Kamala,” Yang said. The family owns a weekend home in upstate New York.

“We live in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. And so, like, can you imagine trying to have two kids on virtual school in a two-bedroom apartment, and then trying to do work yourself?” he continued.

Well Yang, a lot of people can imagine trying to do that, because it’s been their reality for the past nine months.

“No one, except every parent in NYC,” actress Kristen Johnston tweeted in response to the story.

New Yorkers criticized Yang for his out-of-touch comment, noting just how many of them have spent their lives even before the pandemic making do with whatever real estate they had. People also pointed out the luxury of having two whole bedrooms in a place like New York. Others used this as an opportunity to promote Yang’s opponent Maya Wiley, a Democrat who is campaigning to be the first Black woman to serve as mayor of NYC.

Check out some of the reactions below.

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