Dev Awasthi

NY-12, which includes both the Upper West and Upper East Sides, is the smallest and most population-dense congressional district in the country, one that candidates can crisscross several times over in an afternoon. It is among the wealthiest and oldest districts in the United States and is also the district with the most college graduates. If you listen to the candidates, the battle for NY-12 is not just about who will be the next member of the city’s congressional delegation but a contest among factions of the island’s Democratic base: the old-money elite, the anti-Trump resisters, the tech-world crusaders, and the old-school party Establishment. While nearly a dozen candidates are vying for the district’s congressional seat, the primary is coming down to just four: Micah Lasher, a state assemblyman from the Upper West Side and a longtime political hand who is Jerry Nadler’s anointed successor; Alex Bores, an assemblyman from the Upper East Side whose calls for AI regulation have led to millions of dollars being spent both for and against him; George Conway, the onetime Republican lawyer who has achieved notoriety as a leader of the #Resistance; and a previously little-known social-media influencer who is trying to rewrite the rules of New York City politics. “It’s New York-sized,” that social-media influencer, Jack Schlossberg, said when asked why this campaign is different. Schlossberg’s presence in the race proves the point. For our Cover Story, David Freedlander reports on how four liberal-but-not-left Democrats are racing to be the face of Manhattan: nymag.visitlink.me/Os2_Oz