Why are we asking mayoral candidates their go-to deli orders? (2025)

Why are we asking mayoral candidates their go-to deli order? What does this have to do
with politics?
Viewers have picked up on the “irrelevant” questions asked during the mayoral debates.
One in particular received ridicule online – what is your go-to bodega order?
On the surface, the question is frivolous and inappropriate. However, one frivolous
question such as this one hides the answers to many more: How familiar are you with New York? Does your lifestyle mimic that of an average New Yorker, thus making you a better fit to lead the city? Are you able to answer this off the top of your head, proving that you do, in fact, do this every day, and therefore frequent the small businesses that characterize the city?
In a world of lying politicians that employ sarcasm and equivocal verbiage to answer questions, perhaps the questions need to adjust accordingly. New York City culture abides by an unspoken “if you know, you know” rule – the bodega order question takes advantage of exactly that.
All three candidates had the same answer: an egg and cheese on a roll.
Curtis Sliwa added a theatric “no salt, please!” to the end of his answer– the syntax and
delivery suggests that he is reenacting the way in which he orders it. This afforded him a
verisimilitude that Andrew Cuomo lost entirely when he said “same thing, no salt also.”
This answer did not convince New Yorkers of much, except that Cuomo, like Sliwa, is
conscious of his sodium intake – one of the first things you’re supposed to do to mitigate high blood pressure and risk of stroke, i.e. something you start implementing when your age starts to catch up to you.

There is something charming about Curtis Sliwa, a life long New Yorker with all the
rough markings to prove it, having to make slight adjustments to his long-established habits to account for his old age.
The same cannot be said for Cuomo, as he didn’t actually offer a proper response.
Additionally, his answer does not work outside of the context of the debate, making it all the more difficult to believe. Does Cuomo walk over to the deli and say “Same thing, no salt also”?
Does this mean he must always get the same thing as whoever accompanies him there? At best, it’s a vague, uninspiring answer.
At worst, it paints him as a submissive yes-man – does NYC, a city known for its
abrasive unabashed outspokenness, want a mayor that can’t order his own breakfast sandwich?
The verdict is in: they do not.
The components of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s order reflect the very strengths that
are the foundation of his (now successful) campaign: he is a New Yorker through and through, and he can handle the heat.
Mamdani’s order has a special ingredient – an egg and cheese with added jalapeños. The
analogy almost writes itself: Mamdani is a unique mayoral candidate on account of his youth, charisma, and ethnic background – in one word, his spice.
An egg and cheese with the addition of jalapenos exists as a perfect metaphor for
Mamdani himself – classic New York, with echoes of his immigrant identity.
The conversation about spice as it pertains to Mamdani cannot exist without mentioning
his cultural background – he is ethnically Indian (it must be noted that Indian food is one of the spicier ones out there), born and raised in Uganda, moved to NYC at age 7.

Spice and spicy food has served a very particular role in the culture wars that pertain to
race and ethnicity: white people cannot handle spicy food, people of color can.
White people’s inability to tolerate spicy food is a synecdoche for other things they
cannot tolerate – diversity, foreign cultures, and foreigners, period. Their palate is untrained to be receptive to new things.
There is a common joke that white people find ketchup to be too spicy and flavorful–
Cuomo and Sliwa can’t even handle salt.
Mamdani is a young man of color – he can handle spice. Eating jalapenos for breakfast
everyday connotes a powerful image, and for many, a familiar one. Jalapenos are used in many cuisines that make up the NYC melting pot – Mexican, Indian, Thai, Chinese, East African, what have you.
Spice can hurt, but it also warms you up.
The culture is fed up with old, pale politicians with cold smiles. New Yorkers deserve a
mayor with a heart that still pumps blood. Energetic, culturally diverse, warm.