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The 2021 New York City mayoral Democratic primaries are around the corner, on June 22, and they will be the first ever to utilize a ranked-choice voting system—a fact that, apparently, is confusing some New Yorkers.
To clear up any sort of uncertainty, our current Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to give us a creative tutorial of the voting form using the city's favorite food: pizza.
Whipping out a cardboard sign with a list of potential pizza toppings, the politician went ahead and marked his first, second, third, fourth and fifth preference while leading a press conference this week. Needless to say, an analysis of de Blasio's choices quickly became the focus of the event, as the audience seemed to quickly forget that the point of the presser was to instruct New Yorkers on how to vote.
But can you blame us for taking a close look at the Mayor's choices? Following the slew of odd habits he has displayed throughout his tenure (don't forget he eats his pizza with a fork and a knife), we must say we're not surprised about his number one choice: green peppers (over mushrooms and olives, really?).
"A lot of people don't appreciate green peppers enough," he said, likely aware of the oddity of his selection. "I have Southern Italian roots, roasted peppers are a very big, important part of our life—number-one in a big way for me, okay? I didn't even have to question what my number-one vote would be: green peppers." We respectfully disagree, sir.
De Blasio proceeded to rank olives second ("Some people think [olives] always belong on a pizza, some people are really against it, but I have had very good experiences"), sausages third ("there's a place in Brooklyn and also in the Village [called] Faicco's. Incredible sausage, I'd recommend that), mushrooms fourth and pepperonis—which, historically, have been some of New Yorkers' favorite toppings—fifth.
But don't let us get carried away: so enthused was the Mayor's office about the stint that the city decided to ask residents to actually vote for their favorite pizza toppings. You can do so right here and expect the results to be announced some time next week. In the Mayor's defense, the funny gimmick seemed to have actually worked, at least drawing attention to the primaries.
Another thing we'll give the Mayor: his opinion on pineapple as a pizza topping is on point. "This is ridiculous, okay? Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza," he said. "We're not in California. [It] is sacrilegious in Italy to put pineapple on a pizza." Yours truly, an Italian immigrant, wholeheartedly agrees with Mr. de Blasio on this one.
So feel free to enjoy your pineapple fresh by one of the city's public pools or, perhaps, grilled after a meaty BBQ—but never put it on top of your slice, please.