Can we not make everything about race?

From the NY Post:

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would be wise to “reassess” the ranked-choice voting system if evidence suggests there were racial and class disparities in how voters used the instant runoff during the June primary.

“I like it if there was relative equality in how people utilize their ballots. In other words: if in more privileged and less privileged communities you saw consistent voting one through five, or as close to that as possible, everyone maximizing the power of their ballot.”

“If it turns out, conversely, that we see a real skew, then I think it’s time to reassess, because what I don’t want to see a system that enfranchises some people and not others,” de Blasio said.

Black and white voters made full use of ranked-choice voting at about equal rates, according to exit polling conducted on primary day. Forty-five percent of white voters used all five spots while 43 percent of black voters did, according to the good government group-commissioned survey.

But the poll also found that 25 percent of black voters cast ballots that voted for just one mayoral candidate — more than double the 10 percent of ballots cast by white voters that ranked just one candidate.

Of the 17 percent of New Yorkers who picked just one candidate, 65 percent told pollsters they were settled on one candidate in the race; just 28 percent of the group said they were unfamiliar with ranked-choice voting.

Ah, we see what you did there, Big Bird. It's the old "Black voters are too dumb to understand" trope. Black voters overwhelmingly voted for and participated in RCV and frankly, this "concern" is insulting. They also voted overwhelmingly for Eric Adams and only Eric Adams because he was the only person running that they identified with. Period.

It's completely logical to only vote for one candidate, not because of a misunderstanding of RCV, but because the other candidates are so awful, you don't want to rank any of them. Why progressives believe that RCV is only successful and legitimate if all 5 bubbles are filled in is a bit disturbing. People are free to vote for as many or as few candidates as they wish. The problem was not the way RCV was conducted, but rather the way the results were tabulated and released. It was, and continues to be, a freaking clown show.

Food for thought on density

From the NY Post/AP:

Crowded houses and apartments are often cited as a source of spread, particularly in Los Angeles, which has some of the densest neighborhoods in the US Households in and around LA often have several generations — or multiple families — living under one roof. Those tend to be lower-income areas where residents work essential jobs that can expose them to the virus at work or while commuting.

This is exactly the pattern in NYC as well. High income areas, where 2-3 people live together in an apartment, such as LIC, Greenpoint and most of Manhattan, have low spread. A lot of people living together in a small space is going to encourage spread. When Cuomo talks of this being a virus of density, he means the city as a whole. But it's the indoor density that counts.

But also remember that for decades the city's position was that if you push for lower zoning in neighborhoods where illegal conversions are rampant, or demand enforcement of existing occupancy codes, you are a racist. We have groups now pushing for legalizing cellar and attic apartments, which in many cases have no ventilation. This isn't going to stop the spread, but rather encourage it.

Remember this as the dope-a-crats chide people over wearing masks and wanting to eat indoors. This entire pandemic response is a classic case of tweeding in lieu of actually governing effectively.