The coming New York primary is making young voters think more about their most pressing questions for the presidential candidates. Economic inequality and student debt are consistently two of the most important issues.
Other areas of focus include education, foreign relations, the environment and the job market. Some New Yorkers we spoke with expressed concerns for the integrity of the candidates’ campaigns.
With many of the candidates in New York to prepare for Tuesday, amNew York asked millennials to think of questions they had for the potential new presidents covering their plans, their policies and their campaigns.
To Hillary Clinton:
Svetlana Pyntikova, 21
NYU student, Alphabet City
Voting for Sanders
“How aggressive will she be with foreign policy, especially with Russia?”
Andre Wheeler, 21
NYU student, Gramercy
Voting for Sanders
“What exactly is she doing to reach out to minorities? As president, what will she do to reach out to the Black Lives Matter movement?”
To Bernie Sanders:
Jake Goldzweig, 20
New School student, Chelsea
Voting Sanders
“How do you propose to make college free, and what would you try to do to get rid of more college debt?”
Peter Molesworth, 22
Freelancer, Lower East Side
Voting for Sanders
“Where will the United States be after eight years of a Bernie Sanders presidency?”
Elizabeth Cortez, 22, Upper West Side
Voting for Sanders
“How the hell did you manage to get tickets to ‘Hamilton?’”
To all the candidates:
Gabrielle Jean-Baptiste, 21
NYU student, Greenwich Village
Voting for Sanders
“How do you propose you would increase the number of jobs relevant to what college students study?”
Brenda Tapia, 20
Marymount Manhattan student, South Bronx
Voting for Sanders
“What will you do to minimize militarization in the border? We are not fighting a war against women and children who are seeking a better life.”
Courtney Ezeude, 18
NYU student, East Village
Undecided
“What are they going to do about the water situation in Flint?”
Daniel Kim, 23, teacher, Flushing
Voting for Sanders
“What will our environment be like eight years from now? Will we finally implement solutions to the impending global warming crisis?”
Michelle Saiyed, 19
NYU student, East Village
Undecided
“What are you going to do about consumer culture, fashion and capitalism… and the use of sweatshops in US corporations?”
Jake Bosee, 22
New School student, Chelsea
Bernie supporter
“What the plan is concerning the potential student loan bubble that could be bursting? How [do] they think that might affect the new generation entering the workforce. If negatively, how would they respond to that?”
Sonora Johnson, 22
New School student, Crown Heights
Voting for Sanders
“What they really plan on doing about student loans and debt.”
Dani Chavez, 20
NYU student, Midtown South
Voting for Clinton
“If they were to lose the nomination, what’s one value or stance they would want the nominee to take from their campaign?”
Alyssa Mullally, 20
NYU student, East Village
Voting for Sanders
“What are you going to do about the education crisis and education inflation?”
Rosanne Chen, 19
NYU student, East Village
Voting for Sanders
“What part of their campaign would they have done differently?”
Tina Budaeva, 27
NYU student, Williamsburg
Voting for Sanders
“How are you going to build a relationship with Russia?”
Tyler Payne, 21
NYU student, Union Square
Voting for Sanders
“Very specifically, what is their plan or policy that they would implement to better distribute wealth in America?”
Deborah A. Ni, 27
NYU grad student, East Harlem
Voting for Sanders
“What would you do about the broken food system in our country? How would you deal with big food companies? And if there are new policies to regulate their influence on the food system in general?”
Alex Garcia, 20
NYU student, East Village
Voting for Sanders
“Where did all the money from your campaign come from? Who and what amounts were they?
