The N.Y.C. Mayoral Election, as Processed in Therapy

"After Zohran Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, in June, Governor Kathy Hochul spoke to hundreds of business leaders, telling them not to panic. "I've become the therapist-in-chief, it seems," she said, during an appearance on MSNBC, over the summer. "I'm saying to everybody, 'We're going to be O.K.' " Although it's almost impossible to imagine someone more therapeutic than Kathy Hochul, many New Yorkers, in the lead-up to the general election, on Tuesday, have been seeking reassurance from actual therapists."

"For some people, the anxiety is straightforward: much like the business leaders whom Hochul tried to comfort, they're worried about the future of the city under a democratic-socialist mayor. But, others, including those who support Mamdani, have been shaken by the ugly tenor of the race-the allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and the sheer fact that Andrew Cuomo, who resigned from the governorship back in 2021, amid a torrent of sexual-harassment allegations, has any sort of constituency at all."

"A lot of Mamdani anxiety is present on the Upper East Side, where large swaths went for Cuomo during the primary. Gabrielle Schreyer-Hoffman, a licensed psychologist and the founder of Upper East Side Psychology, said that Mamdani has come up in many appointments. "This is someone with very little experience that's saying a lot of big things that are causing a lot of people to feel unsafe," she said, citing Jewish patients of hers who have come in conc"

Zohran Mamdani's primary victory has generated considerable voter anxiety in New York City. Governor Kathy Hochul publicly sought to calm leaders, describing herself as a therapist-in-chief and reassuring people the city will be okay. Many residents have turned to actual therapists to process fears about a potential democratic-socialist mayor, campaign allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and the persistence of Andrew Cuomo's constituency despite his 2021 resignation amid sexual-harassment allegations. The bitter tenor of the race has unsettled both supporters and opponents, with Upper East Side patients, particularly Jewish residents, reporting heightened feelings of unsafety.

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