It’s Upper East Side vs. Upper West Side as Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney via for the Same Congressional Seat

Intelligencer

The race has not only pitted two prestigious lawmakers against each other but also rammed together two distinct, if gentrifying and homogenizing, cultures: Daniel against Zabar’s, Carl Schurz against Riverside, Gossip Girl against Seinfeld. Staunchly liberal, the Upper West Side has, over time, shed some of its distinctly Jewish and socialist character, though it’s still easy enough to corner a red-diaper alte kaker on Broadway. The East Side, traditionally patrician enough to have its old congressional seat nicknamed the Silk Stocking District, has grown much more Democratic over time. Even the celebrities — those who pay attention to politics, at least — have taken notice. “It’s what I call bagels versus croissants. Whether it’s real or not, it’s important to make that notation,” says Alec Baldwin. “There’s still a perceived culture gap between the two spots.” The district also composes what Nate Silver, the FiveThirtyEight founder, calls “no-man’s-land.” That’s where he lives, a few blocks south of Penn Station. “What kind of people live in midtown essentially? Probably people who prioritize convenience, probably people who have a job in finance, almost for sure someone with a decent income that does not have kids. You have a lot of people who work in high-income jobs, and they’re progressive up to a point, not the type of anti–Wall Street Democrats.” More

Maloney, Nadler and relative new-comer, Suraj Patel held a debate Tuesday night. The big take away being the two incumbents are really old (Nadler’s 75, Maloney 76) and Maloney is still prevaricating about Biden’s re-election run. Here