By Gus Saltonstall
The 2026 New York City primary election is almost upon us, and early voting in the five boroughs, including on the Upper West Side, begins on Saturday.
There are a slew of races taking place across the city, including multiple contests that affect the Upper West Side.
Here’s what to know about in our neighborhood, including the elections that will appear on the ballots of Upper West Side and Morningside Heights residents; background on those contests; how to find your local polling sites for early voting and Election Day; and more.
Dates to Know
Early Voting Period is Saturday, June 13 to Sunday, June 21
- June 13-15: Polling sites open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- June 16-17: Polling sites open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- June 18: Polling sites open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- June 19-21: Polling sites open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Election Day is Tuesday, June 23
- Polling sites open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
How to Find Your Polling Sites
The vast majority of people will have different polling sites for Early Voting and Election Day.
You can find all of your polling sites by typing in your address on the Board of Elections website — HERE.
Once you submit your address, you’ll be able to see a personalized sample ballot by clicking on the blue box with a magnifying glass.
Some of the Early Voting polling locations in the neighborhood include the American Museum of Natural History, the William O’Shea Campus, the West Side High School, P.S. 75, and the Red Oak Apartments.
Local Elections
Now, what about who is on the ballot?
Let’s start with the race for New York-12 congressional district, the contest to succeed Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who is retiring after more than three decades in Congress.
On the west side of Manhattan, the NY-12 district stretches from around West 100th Street all the way down to West 15th Street, along with a similar area on the east side. The district also includes blocks west of Broadway up to around West 113th Street.
Here are the Democratic candidates and the interviews the Rag did with most of them:
- Nina Schwalbe: Schwalbe’s WSR Profile
- Patrick Timmins: Timmins’ WSR Profile
- Chris Diep
- George Conway
- Laura Dunn: Dunn’s WSR Profile
- Micah Lasher: Lasher’s WSR Profile
- Alex Bores: Bores’ WSR Profile
- Jack Kennedy Schlossberg: Schlossberg’s WSR Profile
Caroline Shinkle is the lone Republican candidate to make the ballot, which means she will be in the November General Election. Here’s her WSR profile.
There are also four Independent candidates in the NY-12 election: Karen Ortiz, Wilneida Negron, Robb Huhn, and Lucian Wintrich. There is no primary for the Independent candidates and you can read our profile of Ortiz — HERE.
And here are links to helpful coverage from other publications on the NY-12 race, including reporting on candidate debates, super PAC spending, and more:
- A Fiery Five-Way Debate for a Manhattan Congressional Seat (NY1)
- NY-12 Debate: Lasher, Bores and Schlossberg Spar Over AI and Camelot (The Daily News)
- AI Foe or Crypto Bro? Big Tech Spending Dominates Debate for Manhattan House Seat (Gothamist)
- Lasher Leads Among Older Voters in New Poll, But 1 in 5 Remain Undecided (AMNY)
While the vast majority of Upper West Side residents will be voting in the NY-12 election, most residents who live east of Broadway, from West 100th to 113th streets, and then the entirety of Morningside Heights, are constituents of New York’s 13th Congressional District. That district also includes Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and parts of the Bronx.
Here are the Democratic candidates on that ballot:
- Rep. Adriano Espaillat (Incumbent)
- Darializa Avila Chevalier
- Theo Chino-Tavarez
- Oscar Romero
Republican candidate Manual Williams has advanced to the General Election.
Reporting on the race indicates that it is a two-way contest between Espaillat, who has been in the office since 2017, and Chevalier, who has been endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- Espaillat Ramps Up Efforts to Fend Off DSA-Backed Challenger (THE CITY REPORTER)
- The Race for NY’s 13th Congressional District Heats Up (NBC New York)
On a more local level, there is the race for State Assembly District 69 between Eli Northrup and Stephanie Ruskay, which includes all Upper West Side residents north of West 93rd Street through Morningside Heights.
That Assembly seat opened up when Micah Lasher announced that he would vacate it in January of 2027, in order to run for the NY-12 congressional position.
The one other race that will appear on all Upper West Side ballots is the election for New York State Comptroller.
Here are the Democratic candidates:
- Thomas DiNapoli (Incumbent)
- Drew Warshaw
- Raj Goyle
Republican candidate Joseph Hernandez has advanced to the General Election.
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For anyone who doesn’t vote, or only votes sporadically, please get into the habit of voting regularly. Your vote DOES count. We have now seen many elections throughout the country that were won by a mere handful of votes – and in a a couple of cases, by a single vote. So it is simply not true that your vote doesn’t count just because (i) you are only one person out of tens or hundreds of thousands voting, or (ii) a given Party (or specific candidate) is “going to win anyway.”
That way lies the end of electoral democracy. VOTE!!!
Good reminder.
Do I need to bring my driver’s license?
I didn’t need mine (though I had my State ID with me), but it may depend on the polling site, so best to bring it anyway.
Why bother? They’re all the same.
This is incorrect for anyone paying attention.
My choice is Bores but Micah would be strong as well.
The story is missing a crucial fact. Not everyone can vote in this primary.
Only voters who are registered Democrats will be able to cast a ballot.
Why? Because NY does NOT have open primaries and — as the article does point out — there are no Independent or Republican candidates on this primary ballot.
Yes that is how primaries work
Not all primaries work like that. It varies by state.
So switch to voting as a Democrat – if you want to be heard here it is worth doing, whether that is what you really are or not.
To that point, I wish all elections were ranked choice. There are a lot of people in this one so votes will get diluted. Ranked choice is truly ideal so people can express their real preference, even if their true favorite candidate doesn’t have much of a chance. I am glad that ranked choice is used more frequently but it would be great if it was even more universal.
Ranked choice gave us Eric Adams.
‘Nuff said.
Eric Adams would have won on a straight ballot as well and ranked choice almost gave us Kathryn Garcia instead
Any recommendations for NY State Comptroller?
I’ve always thought that the job of Comptroller is one where, if no one accuses you of any wrongdoing before they are running against you in an election, you must be doing a good job. It’s not an exciting position and someone doing it well will not get any attention.
Tom DiNapoli has been doing that job for several terms and, until others decided they wanted the job, no one had anything bad to say about him or his performance. (Compare Alan Hevesi’s disastrous tenure in the role.). I’m going to vote for him because I don’t have any reason not to. It’s that kind of unexciting job, and if he’s been doing it without criticism I would just as soon he continue doing it. Those other guys can go start their political careers somewhere else.
Anyone else infuriated by the BARRAGE of flyers from campaigns (esp. Bores and Lasher) and assorted Democratic PACs in the mail?
While I don’t mind the junk mail so much, the constant barrage of texts is what is getting to me. That is really an invasion of my privacy. I must be getting 8 a day from single candidates. A great way to not get my vote…and they didn’t.
It’s “traditional” and happens with every election. I would think that most people would be used to it – even expect it – by now, even if it is annoying. I just take them and immediately put them in my paper recycling box.
It’s an open seat. Bores and Lasher are young guys. So this is the last competitive election in this district for the next 30 years
My point was that there’s been an absurdly large number of them this election. Sure I simply put them into the recycling bin, but they’re ineffective and a terrible waste of money, paper, trees.
Thanks for your perspective, on behalf of “most people.”
I think it’s worse this year than in the past. Last Thursday I received 18 (count ’em) cards from Boras and Lasher, one from Ruskay, and, oddly, one from Adriano Espaillat, who is not even in my Congressional district. But I had already sent my mail-in ballot. Oh, well, some of them were amusing and it’s work for a few graphic designers, copywriters and printers, I guess.
Yes. I wish I had saved them all so I could now count and vote for whoever had sent me the fewest.
I had the same thought! Or maybe I would have sent them back to the candidates after the election – “so, how’d that work out for you?”
That photo would be even more eerie in black and white.