Jimmy Vielkind talks NYC mayoral race, vaccine access

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Andrew Waite

Published September 5, 2025 at 2:47 PM EDT

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani arrives at the NBC studios to participate in a Democratic mayoral primary debate, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)

They say Labor Day is when campaigns kick into high gear, and that’s certainly been true for New York City’s mayoral contest. That race is where WAMC’s Andrew Waite and the New York Public News Network’s Jimmy Vielkind began their discussion on some of the week’s biggest New York state news, a discussion that also got into the ratcheting up of a political battle between potential 2026 foes Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

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Andrew Waite

Andrew Waite is WAMC’s news director. His journalism career dates to 2009, when he was a cub reporter for community newspapers in Montana and Alaska. He has since worked as an editor at the inflight magazine for Seattle-based Alaska Airlines and as the featured news columnist for The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. Andrew has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, an MFA in creative writing from Pacific University and is a proud Albany High School graduate. He's honored to be back home helping to cover news in the Capital Region, where he lives with his wife, daughter and son.

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