June 16, 2025 • 11 mins
Whitney Tilson, NYC mayoral candidate and former hedge fund manager, talks about his candidacy for NYC mayor ahead of the Democratic primary next week.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news for.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All of you nationwide. We are transfixed in New York
City by a mayoral race. There is an election in November,
which months ago was like no big deal because there's
twelve Republicans in New York City. But all of a sudden,
it's like, Okay, this could be a really interesting election
because this candidate is an independent. This one's an independent.
There'll be four even five people on the ballot. Governor
(00:31):
Cromo was in the other day. As a disclaimer, I
want to make clear that he's received the endorsement of
mister Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg is the owner of various Sundry
Bloomberg events, including Bloomberg LP in, Bloomberg Television, in radio.
Whitney Tilson joins us right now after surviving the race.
(00:51):
Is mister Krome said, Whitney Tilson is a financial guy
in a hedge fund community and such, and has gone
through the public process of being a candidate. This word
cross indors in rank voting. Can you cross endorse Governor
Cuomo this morning?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yes, And it's not a cross endorsement because I haven't
asked for his endorsement. In return, but at the on
the mayoral stage. At the last debate on Thursday night,
when asked, I was the only candidate who was willing
to say who I would vote, No, just that, why
are you.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
The only candidate just lining up buying Cuomo Jessica did
in the Queens. I believe it was as.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well because the rest of the candidates are more progressive
lefty types, and Cuomo and I are the only two
people in the moderate lane. So I'm happy to throw
my support behind him and just say, don't rank zero
on Mom Dannie, who's the far lefty thirty three year
old inexperienced Democratic socialists.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Whitney crime, homelessness. If you ask I think the average
New Yorker, those two topics would be at or near
the top of their list of concerns.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yes, second only to housingford ability.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yep, how do you deal with that issue? Brobably tied together. Well,
it's a tough one.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
There's no quick solution, but a bunch of legislation passed
five years ago that effectively decriminalized all low level crime.
Not surprisingly, shocker, you had a huge increase and New
Yorker has got upset and we're in the process slowly,
too slowly rolling some of that back, but it demoralized
police and we've were down to a thirty four year
(02:32):
low in the number of police officers. The good news, however,
is that on his fourth attempt, is fourth police commissioner
in three years.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Eric Adams, our.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Current mayor, was sort of forced to hire a competent person,
Jessica Tish, who has came in in November. She's done
a great job, got more police out in the streets
started and forcing quality of life stuff. The murder rate
is down twenty eight percent year to date, shootings are
down twenty one percent. Almost every type of crime is
down smaller amounts, So I'm hopeful that we're going in
(03:02):
the right direction for the first time in five years.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Housing affordability top of the list. I've been in this
city for a long time. It's always been an issue.
Everybody wants to come to New York and we know why.
I don't care what's going on in the world or
what's going on with the city. People keep flooding into
the city. You see him every single day. How do
we house these folks?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, I should say one more just got added to
that list yesterday. My youngest daughter graduated from college in
Minnesota on Saturday, and she has already.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Accepted a job back in New York.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
My third daughter, all three of them are now back
in New York working building their lives here. It's the
greatest city in the world, but housing is key. My
youngest daughter is going to be living at home because
she can't afford on a teacher's salary to live in
New York.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
So what do you have to do to do about it?
Four words?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
If I were to summarize unleash the private sector, all
the candidates have their various proposals because voters are screaming
about this issue. I'm the only one who said there's
not primarily a governmental solution.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Trust me.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
The private sector wants to invest in the richest city
in the world with a sixty year low vacancy rate.
But we've just put up so much the zoning ranks,
environmental ranks, the city bureaucracy where they have to hire
expediters to try and navigate the city bureaucracy. We've got
to clear that out and shorten what's a four year
process on average down to a two year process, which
(04:22):
is what it was under Mike Bloomberg, and the difference
in two years and four years to project start to
finish in a higher interest rate environment like today, is
a viable project or a non viable project?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I look at it. I brought this up with Governor
Cuomo the election to ed coch One, where Mario Cuomo,
Governor Cuomo's father took Staten Island, and I believe Brooklyn
I can't remember, but Doo took Bronx. You know, Bella
Abzug took Manhattan, but ed cotch One. With this Democratic primary,
(04:55):
how does Whitney Tilson frame the first Tuesday of November
all of a sudd sudden. It's complex.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yes, it's particularly complex is we have the primary coming
up in eight days and it's ranked choice, so voters
can rank up to five candidates. The way the polling
looks right now is whatever round of ranked choice, as
other candidates are eliminated, it's going to come down to
Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, and Zoron Mamdanni, the thirty
three year old sort of phenom who's run a great
(05:24):
campaign but is very dangerously in experience, has radical views.
I'll just point your listeners read the new York Times
editorial today. New York Times, the liberal lefty paper of record,
just destroyed Zoron Mamdanni and their editorial today said he's
completely unqualified, his ideas are extremists, would be the ruin
of this city is effectively what they just said. So
(05:46):
they said, don't rank Mom Donnie. And then they said,
whatever your feelings are about Cuomo, rank him somewhere. They
had a mixed view of Cuomo. And then they said
Whitney Tilson is the heir to Mike Bloomberg, and if
you're a moderate, vote for him. So that I was
thrilled by that.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
What are we going to see in November? If Whitney
Tilson doesn't get traction.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well I will.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I am only running in the Democratic primary, and realistically,
with eight days left, there's a very narrow path for
me to win the primary.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
If I don't win the primary, I will not be
there in November. November.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
What's interesting is is both Mom Donnie and Cuomo, regardless
of which one wins and loses, is likely to be
in November. And then you have the current mayor, Eric Adams,
Curtis Sliwa on the Republican side. In all likelihood, and
it's not ranked choice, So you could have a scenario
where someone gets forty percent and becomes.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Mayor with only a minority of the.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Vote because three or four other candidates could split the
remaining sixty.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
We've seen some very troubling images for many people coming
out of Los Angeles as the deportation a plan with
President Trump ramps up. What's your view and how New
York should deal with it? How how would you deal
with that?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
This is great, Paul, thank you for bringing us up.
Whitney Tilson, one of our staff had a close friend's
husband picked up this weekend in New York City.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
H Yeah, I strongly support New York status as a
sanctuary city. I do not think we should be cooperating
anyway with the Trump administrations lawless, I would argue campaign
of terror against our immigrant communities. We though, as Democrats,
need to be smart and not lose the narrative and
not appear to be or in reality be protecting the
very small number of people who are here illegally, who
(07:26):
have joined gangs and are making our city less safe.
So there needs to be limited cooperation there. But you know,
I was asked on the debate stage. What would you do,
you know, if Los Angeles, you know, protests came here
and I'd be like, I'd get out in front. I'd
be out there protesting as well what the Trump administration
is doing, but.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Critically in a peaceful way.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And the flags we should be waving shouldn't be Mexican
or Palestinian flags. We should be waving American flags. We
are patriots fighting for our country, for our democracy against
an authoritarian power grab, which is what I think is
going on here.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
What's the biggest issue from your perspective that you want
to get across when you go out and meet New
Yorkers on the street.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well, I was one of the founders of Teach for
America thirty six years ago, my first job out of
college a few blocks from here.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I've been on the board of KIP Charter School.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
So I've been trying to elevate the issue of education reform,
improving our public schools where we spend more and get
less than any city or state in the country. It
just hasn't been a big issue, honestly, and it always
comes back to, you know, housing slash affordability and crime and.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Safety and so but I do my best.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
To elevate an issue that I care about a lot.
Is by far the single biggest part of our city budget.
Forty billion dollars of one hundred and fifteen billion dollar
budget goes into the DOE, and it's not well spent.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Waiting until soon. I want to ask a delicate question
here in that there's such a distrust of Governor Cuomo.
There are those that support them. You know, we all
know the debate here in New York, and I think
frankly nationwide people know the debate. If we have Mayor Cuomo,
how does he move on from the baggage that was
(09:00):
in Albany. Are you optimistic that he can if he's mayor,
that he can move on from the train wreck that
was his term in Albany?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yes, And I would not characterize his years in Albany
as a train wreck.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
He's got a lot, he got a lot of study on.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Politically I'm talking about and I'm on the cover of
the New York Post.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I know how I know how it ended. But I
have had some interactions with him over the years. Back
when he was governor, he was a strong supporter of
charter schools, and at the end of the day. He's experienced, competent,
and can get things done. And to those who you know,
he's referred to as a vindictive followed by an expletive
(09:43):
by many people. And my argument back to them is
is there's a lot to be said for someone with
a fearsome reputation trying to get things done here in
a very fractious city where you've got to deal not
only with the city council but with Albany and now
with the federal government is going to be a real
challenge as well. We need I think we need someone
like Cuomo, and I'm optimistic he'd be up to the job.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I guess as a relates to the federal government, can
he work with the Trump administration, because perhaps that's maybe
one of the things the city needs someone to work
with the Trump administration on behalf of New York's interests.
Is that's something you think he could do.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
I think Trump is a bully and he respects other
bullies and people who will stand up to him, and
I think Governor Cuomo fits that bill. They've known each
other for a long period of time, and I think Cuomo,
I would hope, would be smart in standing up to Trump.
But not needlessly provoking him. And when the alternative for
us is a thirty three year old socialist, I think
(10:40):
he would just get destroyed by city politics, would get
destroyed and all, but it would be destroyed by Trump.
And so you know, that's an easy decision between those two.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Winny Tilson, thank you so much for joining us today,
whatever our political persuasions, and thank you for your public
service of running for office.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I accept your condolence stetting out there and running.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I hope it is RESTful as time moves out
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news for.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All of you nationwide. We are transfixed in New York
City by a mayoral race. There is an election in November,
which months ago was like no big deal because there's
twelve Republicans in New York City. But all of a sudden,
it's like, Okay, this could be a really interesting election
because this candidate is an independent. This one's an independent.
There'll be four even five people on the ballot. Governor
(00:31):
Cromo was in the other day. As a disclaimer, I
want to make clear that he's received the endorsement of
mister Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg is the owner of various Sundry
Bloomberg events, including Bloomberg LP in, Bloomberg Television, in radio.
Whitney Tilson joins us right now after surviving the race.
(00:51):
Is mister Krome said, Whitney Tilson is a financial guy
in a hedge fund community and such, and has gone
through the public process of being a candidate. This word
cross indors in rank voting. Can you cross endorse Governor
Cuomo this morning?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yes, And it's not a cross endorsement because I haven't
asked for his endorsement. In return, but at the on
the mayoral stage. At the last debate on Thursday night,
when asked, I was the only candidate who was willing
to say who I would vote, No, just that, why
are you.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
The only candidate just lining up buying Cuomo Jessica did
in the Queens. I believe it was as.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well because the rest of the candidates are more progressive
lefty types, and Cuomo and I are the only two
people in the moderate lane. So I'm happy to throw
my support behind him and just say, don't rank zero
on Mom Dannie, who's the far lefty thirty three year
old inexperienced Democratic socialists.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Whitney crime, homelessness. If you ask I think the average
New Yorker, those two topics would be at or near
the top of their list of concerns.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yes, second only to housingford ability.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yep, how do you deal with that issue? Brobably tied together. Well,
it's a tough one.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
There's no quick solution, but a bunch of legislation passed
five years ago that effectively decriminalized all low level crime.
Not surprisingly, shocker, you had a huge increase and New
Yorker has got upset and we're in the process slowly,
too slowly rolling some of that back, but it demoralized
police and we've were down to a thirty four year
(02:32):
low in the number of police officers. The good news, however,
is that on his fourth attempt, is fourth police commissioner
in three years.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Eric Adams, our.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Current mayor, was sort of forced to hire a competent person,
Jessica Tish, who has came in in November. She's done
a great job, got more police out in the streets
started and forcing quality of life stuff. The murder rate
is down twenty eight percent year to date, shootings are
down twenty one percent. Almost every type of crime is
down smaller amounts, So I'm hopeful that we're going in
(03:02):
the right direction for the first time in five years.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Housing affordability top of the list. I've been in this
city for a long time. It's always been an issue.
Everybody wants to come to New York and we know why.
I don't care what's going on in the world or
what's going on with the city. People keep flooding into
the city. You see him every single day. How do
we house these folks?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, I should say one more just got added to
that list yesterday. My youngest daughter graduated from college in
Minnesota on Saturday, and she has already.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Accepted a job back in New York.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
My third daughter, all three of them are now back
in New York working building their lives here. It's the
greatest city in the world, but housing is key. My
youngest daughter is going to be living at home because
she can't afford on a teacher's salary to live in
New York.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
So what do you have to do to do about it?
Four words?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
If I were to summarize unleash the private sector, all
the candidates have their various proposals because voters are screaming
about this issue. I'm the only one who said there's
not primarily a governmental solution.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Trust me.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
The private sector wants to invest in the richest city
in the world with a sixty year low vacancy rate.
But we've just put up so much the zoning ranks,
environmental ranks, the city bureaucracy where they have to hire
expediters to try and navigate the city bureaucracy. We've got
to clear that out and shorten what's a four year
process on average down to a two year process, which
(04:22):
is what it was under Mike Bloomberg, and the difference
in two years and four years to project start to
finish in a higher interest rate environment like today, is
a viable project or a non viable project?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I look at it. I brought this up with Governor
Cuomo the election to ed coch One, where Mario Cuomo,
Governor Cuomo's father took Staten Island, and I believe Brooklyn
I can't remember, but Doo took Bronx. You know, Bella
Abzug took Manhattan, but ed cotch One. With this Democratic primary,
(04:55):
how does Whitney Tilson frame the first Tuesday of November
all of a sudd sudden. It's complex.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yes, it's particularly complex is we have the primary coming
up in eight days and it's ranked choice, so voters
can rank up to five candidates. The way the polling
looks right now is whatever round of ranked choice, as
other candidates are eliminated, it's going to come down to
Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, and Zoron Mamdanni, the thirty
three year old sort of phenom who's run a great
(05:24):
campaign but is very dangerously in experience, has radical views.
I'll just point your listeners read the new York Times
editorial today. New York Times, the liberal lefty paper of record,
just destroyed Zoron Mamdanni and their editorial today said he's
completely unqualified, his ideas are extremists, would be the ruin
of this city is effectively what they just said. So
(05:46):
they said, don't rank Mom Donnie. And then they said,
whatever your feelings are about Cuomo, rank him somewhere. They
had a mixed view of Cuomo. And then they said
Whitney Tilson is the heir to Mike Bloomberg, and if
you're a moderate, vote for him. So that I was
thrilled by that.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
What are we going to see in November? If Whitney
Tilson doesn't get traction.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well I will.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I am only running in the Democratic primary, and realistically,
with eight days left, there's a very narrow path for
me to win the primary.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
If I don't win the primary, I will not be
there in November. November.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
What's interesting is is both Mom Donnie and Cuomo, regardless
of which one wins and loses, is likely to be
in November. And then you have the current mayor, Eric Adams,
Curtis Sliwa on the Republican side. In all likelihood, and
it's not ranked choice, So you could have a scenario
where someone gets forty percent and becomes.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Mayor with only a minority of the.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Vote because three or four other candidates could split the
remaining sixty.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
We've seen some very troubling images for many people coming
out of Los Angeles as the deportation a plan with
President Trump ramps up. What's your view and how New
York should deal with it? How how would you deal
with that?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
This is great, Paul, thank you for bringing us up.
Whitney Tilson, one of our staff had a close friend's
husband picked up this weekend in New York City.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
H Yeah, I strongly support New York status as a
sanctuary city. I do not think we should be cooperating
anyway with the Trump administrations lawless, I would argue campaign
of terror against our immigrant communities. We though, as Democrats,
need to be smart and not lose the narrative and
not appear to be or in reality be protecting the
very small number of people who are here illegally, who
(07:26):
have joined gangs and are making our city less safe.
So there needs to be limited cooperation there. But you know,
I was asked on the debate stage. What would you do,
you know, if Los Angeles, you know, protests came here
and I'd be like, I'd get out in front. I'd
be out there protesting as well what the Trump administration
is doing, but.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Critically in a peaceful way.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And the flags we should be waving shouldn't be Mexican
or Palestinian flags. We should be waving American flags. We
are patriots fighting for our country, for our democracy against
an authoritarian power grab, which is what I think is
going on here.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
What's the biggest issue from your perspective that you want
to get across when you go out and meet New
Yorkers on the street.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well, I was one of the founders of Teach for
America thirty six years ago, my first job out of
college a few blocks from here.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I've been on the board of KIP Charter School.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
So I've been trying to elevate the issue of education reform,
improving our public schools where we spend more and get
less than any city or state in the country. It
just hasn't been a big issue, honestly, and it always
comes back to, you know, housing slash affordability and crime and.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Safety and so but I do my best.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
To elevate an issue that I care about a lot.
Is by far the single biggest part of our city budget.
Forty billion dollars of one hundred and fifteen billion dollar
budget goes into the DOE, and it's not well spent.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Waiting until soon. I want to ask a delicate question
here in that there's such a distrust of Governor Cuomo.
There are those that support them. You know, we all
know the debate here in New York, and I think
frankly nationwide people know the debate. If we have Mayor Cuomo,
how does he move on from the baggage that was
(09:00):
in Albany. Are you optimistic that he can if he's mayor,
that he can move on from the train wreck that
was his term in Albany?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yes, And I would not characterize his years in Albany
as a train wreck.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
He's got a lot, he got a lot of study on.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Politically I'm talking about and I'm on the cover of
the New York Post.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I know how I know how it ended. But I
have had some interactions with him over the years. Back
when he was governor, he was a strong supporter of
charter schools, and at the end of the day. He's experienced, competent,
and can get things done. And to those who you know,
he's referred to as a vindictive followed by an expletive
(09:43):
by many people. And my argument back to them is
is there's a lot to be said for someone with
a fearsome reputation trying to get things done here in
a very fractious city where you've got to deal not
only with the city council but with Albany and now
with the federal government is going to be a real
challenge as well. We need I think we need someone
like Cuomo, and I'm optimistic he'd be up to the job.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I guess as a relates to the federal government, can
he work with the Trump administration, because perhaps that's maybe
one of the things the city needs someone to work
with the Trump administration on behalf of New York's interests.
Is that's something you think he could do.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
I think Trump is a bully and he respects other
bullies and people who will stand up to him, and
I think Governor Cuomo fits that bill. They've known each
other for a long period of time, and I think Cuomo,
I would hope, would be smart in standing up to Trump.
But not needlessly provoking him. And when the alternative for
us is a thirty three year old socialist, I think
(10:40):
he would just get destroyed by city politics, would get
destroyed and all, but it would be destroyed by Trump.
And so you know, that's an easy decision between those two.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Winny Tilson, thank you so much for joining us today,
whatever our political persuasions, and thank you for your public
service of running for office.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I accept your condolence stetting out there and running.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I hope it is RESTful as time moves out
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