Illustration by Randy Jones After a contentious campaign, mayoral candidates face the voters.Like it or not, New Yorkers will have a new mayor very soon.
Today is your first chance to have a say in the process.
After a bruising, circus-like primary race, it’s time to vote.
For Democrats, the field is led by the public advocate, Bill de Blasio, the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, and William C. Thompson Jr., a former comptroller.
The Republican front-runners are a former transit chief, Joseph J. Lhota, and the grocery magnate John A. Catsimatidis.
Voters will also pick their party’s candidates for comptroller, public advocate and other offices. (You must be registered to party to vote in the primary.)
We asked The Times’s City Hall bureau chief, David W. Chen, what to look for over the day.
“If turnout is really heavy in brownstone Brooklyn and the Upper West Side, then that’s probably a very good sign for de Blasio because he’s doing very well there,†Mr. Chen said.
Mr. de Blasio is ahead in the polls and hopes to garner 40 percent, which would let him advance without an Oct. 1 runoff.
Ms. Quinn needs strong turnout in Queens and Hispanic areas, while Mr. Thompson is focusing on central Brooklyn, Harlem and the South Bronx, Mr. Chen said.
If more people vote, the better for underdogs.
Mr. de Blasio’s supporters “are the ones who are more likely to come out to vote,†Mr. Chen said.
VOTING
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. To find your polling place, go to nyc.pollsitelocator.com or call 866-VOTE-NYC (212-868-3692).
Not sure if you’re eligible to vote? Click here.
The Times has a candidate guide.
Call 311 to report problems at the polls. Or try (212) 822-0282, a hotline run by the New York Public Interest Research Group and Common Cause/NY.
TELL US
Did you vote? Let us know where, how long it took, and whether there were problems.
Whom did you vote for, and why?
Respond in the comments below, or on Twitter, with hashtag #TellNYT.
Here’s what else you need to know for Tuesday.
WEATHER
Chance of an early-morning shower, then turning mostly sunny, with a high of 83 degrees. A little sticky, perhaps, but you have no excuse not to vote.
TRANSIT & TRAFFIC
- Mass Transit: O.K. so far. Click for latest M.T.A. status.
- Roads: No major delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.
Alternate-side parking is in effect.
COMING UP TODAY
- Vera Wang, Maison Martin Margiela and more as Fashion Week heads into the home stretch.
- “Chicago†(the movie musical) screens at Havemeyer Park in Williamsburg, preceded by a live dance orchestra. Music starts at 6 p.m. [Free, donation suggested]
- What is that 12-foot-high inflatable sculpture in Union Square? It is the “Rollin’ Colon,†placed there by Beth Israel Medical Center and the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation to raise awareness of colon cancer. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. [Free]
- Attention, Kiss fans: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will be signing copies of their new memoir, “Nothin’ to Lose,†at the Barnes & Noble on Staten Island. Limit five copies per customer! 7 p.m.
- For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- Lazy pedicab drivers are using illegal motors. [New York Post]
- In an interview with Anthony D. Weiner on MSNBC, Lawrence O’Donnell grilled the candidate relentlessly on the subject “What is wrong with you?†[Buzzfeed]
- Violent crime is down sharply in the Bronx so far this year. [Daily News]
- Gracie Mansion hopefuls recall the cramped or otherwise charmingly lousy apartments where they once lived. [New York Times]
- Yanks fall to Orioles 4-2. Nationals trounce Mets 9-0.
- Rafael Nadal won his second United States Open.
AND FINALLY…
Joseph Burgess, David W. Chen and Nicole Higgins DeSmet contributed reporting.
New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till about noon.
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