Biz big joins mayor race
Now that’s an endorsement. Ray McGuire officially launched his 2021 bid for New York City mayor Wednesday in a sleek new video voiced by Spike Lee.
In it, McGuire is pictured jogging through the streets of the Big Apple as Lee sings his praises.
“We need a mayor who can think big, bring in every expert, call in every favor,” Lee says in the video. “We need a mayor who can bring us together. We need Ray McGuire.”
The video, which was directed by Muta’Ali Muhammad and first reported by Politico, then cuts to McGuire himself speaking of his hardscrabble upbringing by a single mom who raised him, his two brothers and a dozen foster children in Dayton, Ohio, on “a social worker’s salary.”
McGuire, 63, eventually climbed through the corporate ranks to become a Citigroup executive after earning three degrees at Harvard University.
“I didn’t just want to get by. I wanted to rise up. Education was my family’s way out of poverty,” he said. “To get to a good school, I walked about a mile from my neighborhood on the other, other side of the tracks to get the bus.”
McGuire (photo) has so far raised more than $2.3 million for his City Hall run and has opted out of the city’s matching fund program, his spokeswoman Lupe Todd-Medina said Wednesday.
So far, he’s raised more than anyone else in the field of contenders, records show.
McGuire, a Democrat, is facing off against several other contenders in the primary.
They include city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Mayor de Blasio’s former legal adviser Maya Wiley, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former nonprofit CEO Dianne Morales.
The former Wall Street exec’s splashy announcement and fundraising prowess wasn’t lost on the competition.
Just hours after the video began circulating, Stringer, who’s regarded by many observers as a frontrunner, sent out an email seeking contributions.
“Citigroup’s Vice Chairman only jumped in the race yesterday, but he’s already on track to outraise Scott,” the email from his campaign reads. “We need your help to stay competitive in this race.”