New Yorkers start early primary voting in mayoral race, dozens of contests

New York City residents began going to the polls Saturday to vote in primary elections for the next mayor and a host of citywide and local offices, in what are some of the most hotly contested races in years.

Voters not only had to sift through a crowded field of mayoral candidates — 13 on the Democratic ballot and two on the Republican — but were being asked to rank their choices for the first time in a citywide election. “It was a challenge to rank all five; it was very easy for number one,” Democratic mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia quipped Saturday morning outside the polls at John Jay High School in Park Slope.