Ray Makes the Case

Ray McGuire may not be a household name in New York, but the edge he holds over the dozen or so other candidates for mayor is paved with green, lots of it. At a time when the city’s business class worries about the post-pandemic reopening, he is the only one of those vying for the Democratic nomination to offer a vision without raising taxes.

McGuire, 63, stepped down from his position as vice chairman at banking giant Citigroup, a job he held for 15 years, to enter public service for the first time. He has raised millions of dollars, eschewing the city’s generous matching funds program that gives $8 for every dollar in small donations raised. This speaks to the apprehension of his backers, who worry that the next mayor will make it harder for them to operate.

McGuire stands six feet, four inches tall, which would tie him with John Lindsay as New York’s second-tallest mayor, if he were elected. (The term-limited incumbent Bill de Blasio reports his height as six feet, six inches.) It would also ensure, at the least, that mercurial governor Andrew Cuomo — with whom McGuire has a working relationship — would look up to him. McGuire is the second candidate for New York City’s top office to sit with Mishpacha to discuss his campaign priorities.

Social justice has been a painful subject. Many people now associate it with violent protest and looting. Over the last year we’ve seen previously unthinkable images of Manhattan streets burning and major department stores looted, with police standing by and not intervening, reportedly on orders from the top.

Regardless of your feelings on the underlying subject, can you assure storeowners that looting will never be tolerated, not for any reason or cause, not for one night or even for one hour?

The answer is, we need to make our streets safe. They’re not safe now. New Yorkers don’t feel safe in the streets. We need to deal with the gun violence, which has now gotten all too high — you got a 100-plus percent increase in gun violence. Murders are up. And we need to deal with increasingly big problems having to do with mental illness. And we obviously need to return respect and accountability and proportionality between the community and the NYPD. But we have to get the streets safe.