NYC NOW - Midday News: AI Training Center Concerns Some Educators, Mamdani Nabs Huge Endorsement, and Why Some Asian Americans New Yorkers Voted for Both Trump and Mamdani

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

A new artificial intelligence training center for New York City teachers is raising concerns among some educators about creating a harmful environment that stunts student learning and critical thinking. Meanwhile, the United Federation of Teachers has voted to endorse Zohran Mamdani in the mayoral election. Also, a WNYC analysis finds Mamdani won about 30 percent of districts that previously voted for Donald Trump. Data show many of the voters in those Trump-Mamdani neighborhoods are Asian American. WNYC’s Joe Hong has been speaking with some of those voters in Bensonhurst and Flushing. He discusses his findings.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, July 9th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. A new artificial intelligence training center for New York City teachers is prompting concern from some educators. WNYC's Jessica Gould explains. The United Federation of Teachers says tech companies, including Microsoft and OpenAI, will offer free software and coaching at its headquarters. in downtown Manhattan. The companies are spending $23 million to train teachers nationwide on using

AI. The union's leaders say the goal is to help teachers save time on things like lesson plans and worksheets so they can focus more on individual students. But some educators say they're worried the partnership opens the door for technology that could harm the environment and stunt student learning, including critical thinking skills. The city education department says it's still figuring out its rules around AI and declined to comment on the initiative. New York City's second biggest union is throwing its support behind Zeran Mamdani. The United Federation of Teachers has voted to endorse Mamdani in the general election. Last month, the union declined to endorse anyone to the Democratic primary.

The union had said members were split between Mamdami and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Democratic nominee has been racking of union support since the pre-examination. primary with endorsements from groups that had previously backed Cuomo. Mamdani is competing against a crowded field of candidates on the November 4th ballot. That includes Cuomo, Mayor Adams, and Jim Walden, all running as Independence and Republican Curtis Slewa. 86 and partly sunny now, a 30% chance of mid-to-late afternoon showers and thunderstorms, partly sunny and 90.

Stick around. There's more to come. NYC. Many of the people who voted for Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 general election also voted for Democratic Socialist Zeran Mamdani in the mayoral primary this year. WNYC analysis finds that Mamdani won about 30% of the same districts that went for Trump. And data show that many of the voters in those Trump-Mam-Dani neighborhoods are Asian-American. WNIC's investigative data reporter, Joe Hong has been speaking with some of those voters in Bensonhurst and Flushing, and he joins us now.

So, Joe, when we talk about Asian American voters, who are we really describing here? So the first thing I should say is that the Asian American community in New York City is the fastest growing minority population in New York City. We've seen the population grow by about 34% between 2010 and 2020. When it comes to sort of ethnicity and lineage, though, I should add that Asian Americans are an extremely diverse group. Right. So, for instance, we see huge disparities in educational attainment, median income, and unemployment between groups like Bangladeshi Americans and Japanese Americans. As an electorate, though, about 40% of Asian American voters in the city are Chinese American, which makes them the largest demographic among, Asian American voters. And over half of Asian American voters are registered Democrats. But a number of Asian American voters in the city, Joe, supported Trump. What led to this swing?

I think first off, Asian Americans are generally more likely to be party agnostic, meaning they really vote on the issues rather than sort of a loyalty to a single party. For instance, last year, Kamala Harris and the Democrats sort of hit record lows in a lot of these Asian American communities. There was one district in Diker Heights, Brooklyn, which has a large Asian American population, where Biden won 61 percent of the vote. And for Harris, it was flipped. Trump won 61 percent of the vote in 2024.

And I think last year, immigration was a big issue. You know, we saw a large influx of migrants. And for a lot of the folks living in these neighborhoods that led to the perception of of a sort of public safety crisis. But the big issue, I think, was just affordability. I think Trump, for a lot of Asian immigrant voters, just spoke to the affordability crisis in the city. The cost of groceries were high and rent was high.

And I think a lot of Asian American immigrants in particular just remembered having more money in their bank accounts during the first Trump administration. And now we're saying, Domani, winning in some of the. Asian American districts that Trump won. What can we glean from this, Joe? So I should start by adding a caveat, which is that we're comparing a general election to Democratic primary results. But I should add that it is notable that voters in these areas went for such different candidates,

right? Like on the political spectrum, Trump and Mamdani could not be more different. And I should also add that, like I said, said earlier, most Asian-American voters are Democrats. And so I think overall, the appeal of both of these candidates is pretty straightforward. I spoke to Glenn Magpantai. He's a commissioner to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and he's an expert on Asian-American voting rights. Though they are politically diametrically opposed, are also both of the candidates from the outside who are seen to dress the economy, affordability, the cost of groceries, the cost of

housings in this country and in this city. So pretty straightforward, right? These are two candidates who spoke directly to the affordability crisis and the high cost of living in the city. With Mamdani, his big issues were sort of the rent freeze and free bus rides and more affordable municipal grocery stores. And, you know, I shot, Mom Dani himself is Indian American. And so that just sort of naturally gave him an advantage with South Asian voters in the city. But I also want to add, it is a little surprising that Asian American immigrant communities supported Mam Dani because he does identify as a Democratic socialist. And a lot of these immigrants left communist and socialist nations in search of, um,

sort of a democratic and capitalist lifestyle. But I think it comes back to sort of their issues-based voting habits where, you know, Mamdani's focus on affordability really sort of transcended that sort of stigma behind socialism. And the last thing I'll say is that Mamdani really listened to voters and spoke to them in their own languages. You know, we've all seen sort of the videos he's made in Urdu and in Bangla and Spanish and various other languages. And his campaign really captured sort of the beautiful diversity of the city. Kind of meeting the people where they are. Is there any sign, Joe, that Asian Americans who supported Trump last year are now souring on Trump and on Republicans?

Well, I think for a thorough and robust analysis, we really need to wait for general election results to see whether Republicans in these districts are supporting Mamdani. I did speak with one voter from Bensonhurst named Shirley Wong, who, she's a 70-year-old Chinese-American woman who voted for Trump last year and voted for Mom Dani this year. And she sort of changed her mind on Trump. She said the recent cuts to Medicaid and social services that were included in President Trump's big, beautiful bill, which has been in the headlines, I think really turned her away from the current president. And I think for voters like her, Mom Dani's vision for the city might be a more appeal. alternative and what these Asian-American voters might be looking for. WNYC's investigative data reporter, Joe Hong, Joke, thank you for this.

Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.