An assortment of bagels. Photo by whitewish via iStock
By Hannah Feuer
June 10, 2025
Bagels have long played an outsized role in New York City politics, from Cynthia Nixon’s disastrous order combining cinnamon raisin and lox to the time Bill DeBlasio seemed to lie about getting his bagel toasted.
Clearly, this cultural signifier matters to New Yorkers — and especially Jewish voters, for whom a respectable bagel order can be a litmus test.
In an effort to bring some much needed clarity to the chaotic New York City mayoral race, I have ranked the candidates exclusively based on their bagel orders, as told to The New York Times, the Forward, and other outlets. Criteria included the order’s specificity, originality, relatability, and, most importantly, how I think the orders would taste.
I have ranked only the most prominent candidates, though I remain extremely curious about performance artist and mayoral candidate Paperboy Love Prince’s order, whose campaign is about as serious as this article.
Last week, mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos endorsed Andrew Cuomo, though she will still appear on the ballot. The Forward was unable to reach Ramos to obtain her order. Does this mean Ramos has also endorsed Cuomo’s bagel order? For her sake, I hope not.
1) Brad Lander
The order: “Everything bagel, sorry, Ezra Klein. Scallion cream cheese, slice of tomato, lightly toasted, lox.”
Judge’s comments: This is a bagel done right, with superb choice of schmear and toppings. Though toasted, it is only “lightly.”
Lander’s reference is to Times columnist Ezra Klein’s opinion piece titled “The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism,” which critiques progressive policy that tries to do too much and ends up accomplishing nothing at all. But even Klein admits in his piece that “everything bagels are, of course, the best bagels.” I agree.
2) Adrienne Adams
The order: “An everything bagel with veggie cream cheese. Do not toast it.”
Judge’s comments: Adams deserves kudos as the lone candidate to take a strong stance against toasting, which everyone knows ruins a freshly baked bagel. Her choice of bagel and schmear choice is nothing special, but not offensive, either.
3) Zohran Mamdani
The order: “As someone who grew up in Morningside Heights, I have to go back to Absolute Bagels. Poppy seed bagel, scallion cream cheese. Some pulp Tropicana on the side. And this is going to lose me some votes, but to be honest with you: toasted.”
Judge’s comments: Mamdani gets props for his bold choice of poppy and for specifying the pulp level in his orange juice.
Absolute Bagels, however, shuttered last December and is awaiting reopening under new ownership. When it was in business, Absolute Bagels charged an extra 10 cents for toasting — an interesting add-on for the socialist candidate who has made affordability his signature issue. Could firsthand experience with this upcharge be the impetus behind his proposal for city-run grocery stores?
4) Whitney Tilson
The order: “I sort of have a sweet tooth, so a cinnamon raisin bagel with plain cream cheese, or maybe honey walnut cream cheese sometimes.”
Judge’s comments: Tilson receives points for originality — honey walnut is a refreshing choice — and for maintaining the sacred separation between savory and sweet.
5) Zellnor Myrie
The order: “I’m a very big fan of lox and cream cheese. And I’m a plain bagel person.”
Judge’s comments: A classic combo, but vague and sort of boring. What kind of cream cheese? And “plain bagel person” — did you just invent a new Myers-Briggs type?
6) Eric Adams
The order: “As a plant-based New Yorker who’s reversed his Type 2 diabetes by cutting carbohydrates and sugars, missing out on bagels is a real challenge! I loved a good cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese, and now I make my own bread with flaxseed and vegan cheese.”
Judge’s comments: As a lactose intolerant Jew who often opts for vegan cream cheese, I sympathize with Adams’ dietary restrictions. His former bagel order is harmless enough.
7) Jim Walden
The order: “A toasted everything bagel with butter.”
Judge’s comments: This would be a fine order if reheating a week-old bagel from the freezer. But in the bagel capital of the world? Butter requires toasting the bagel so the spread can melt, making it a poor choice for bagels fresh out of the oven. And cream cheese offers a far superior schmear-to-bagel ratio.
8) Curtis Silwa
The order: “I get me and my wife’s breakfast while she feeds our five rescue cats. For me it’s two toasted plain bagels. The schmear 🥯 is butter. My wife has an everything bagel toasted. The schmear is cream cheese. Two cups of coffee and we are good to go. I go to Giacomo on the UWS [Upper West Side]. A mom and pop shop with classical music playing and the customers standing on line waiting are a good political focus group for me. 👍”
Judge’s comments: Oy vey, the second candidate who prefers butter. I fear he is using his wife’s objectively superior bagel order to distract from his.
9) Scott Stringer
The order: “Everything bagel with lox and tomato.”
Judge’s comments: Stringer must have missed something here. Where is the schmear? This would taste awfully dry.
10) Michael Blake
The order: “I am a bacon, egg and cheese on a croissant with salt and pepper and ketchup guy. [The Times is incredulous.] Y’all are judging me. Don’t judge. It’s delicious. We had this whole back and forth — if I’m just chilling, I put it on a cinnamon raisin. Even the team was like, that’s a lot on a cinnamon raisin. I was like, yes it is, but it’s delicious, too. Let me rock.”
Judge’s comments: This curious combination follows the same unusual logic as Nixon’s “sweet and salty” justification for her cinnamon-raisin bagel with lox. Blake, however, gets some credit for self awareness.
11) Andrew Cuomo
The order: “Bacon, cheese and egg on an English muffin, and then I try to take off the bacon, but I don’t really take off the bacon. The bagel I try to stay away from, to keep my girlish figure.”
Judge’s comments: This “bagel” order bungles the chronology of ingredients in the classic bacon, egg and cheese. And an English muffin is decidedly not a bagel.
Jacob Kornbluh contributed reporting.
