How Nadler Beat Maloney: Block-By-Block Manhattan Breakdown

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — In the wake of Jerry Nadler's resounding victory over Carolyn Maloney in last week's Manhattan congressional primary, political observers have been struck less by the result than by the margin.

Nadler, the 30-year West Side congressman, held 55 percent of the vote to Maloney's 24, according to preliminary election night results — with his 45,545 votes more than double Maloney's total.

In unseating Maloney, a fellow three-decade incumbent, Nadler even managed to win a majority of votes on her own East Side turf. Challenger Suraj Patel, who finished third with 19 percent, also won a handful of East Side blocks.

Patch took a closer look at the block-by-block results and broke down the key takeaways from Nadler's victory in the Upper East-and-West-spanning 12th Congressional District.

Nadler's best block: the 'Only Murders' building

The very best result for Nadler happened in an election district that spans one block, and includes just one building: the Belnord, a classic apartment building that runs from West 86th to 87th streets, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

Nadler won a whopping 85 percent of the votes cast by residents of the Belnord — which is now known for its starring role in the Hulu series "Only Murders in the Building."

Save for one tiny election district where he won all three votes, that was the night's best result for Nadler — an unsurprising outcome, since the block is in the heart of his longtime Upper West Side territory.

Maloney's best blocks: Roosevelt Island, Isaacs Houses

For Carolyn Maloney, her best result came not on the Upper East Side but on another chunk of land that she has long represented: Roosevelt Island.

The congresswoman won 55 percent of the vote in an election district that covers the middle chunk of the island, including many of the apartment buildings like The Landings that line Main Street.

On the mainland, Maloney's best result was near the northern edge of the Upper East Side, in a district above East 93rd Street that includes the NYCHA Isaacs Houses and a tenement-lined block east of Second Avenue.

Maloney won 52 percent of votes in that district, where she had the support of some tenant leaders.

Patel's best blocks: Kips Bay, Queensboro Bridge

Patel, an attorney and East Village resident who campaigned in part on his youth and pro-development views, received some of his best results in parts of the district that were further from Nadler and Maloney's bases.

His best areas included a cluster of blocks surrounding the Queensboro Bridge between East 59th and 60th streets, where he won 38 percent of votes; a group of four blocks in Kips Bay between East 29th and 32nd streets, where he also won 38 percent; and a small district hugging the FDR Drive between East 96th and 99th streets, where Patel won 44 percent of the 25 total votes cast.

Nadler's East Side dominance

En route to his landslide victory, Nadler managed to win the most votes even in the Upper East Side neighborhood that Maloney has represented since she started on the City Council in 1983.

In the 76th Assembly District, which covers Yorkville and Roosevelt Island, Nadler won with about 40 percent to Maloney's 38 percent. And in the neighboring 73rd District, which covers Carnegie Hill, Lenox Hill and parts of Midtown East, Nadler beat Maloney, 45-37 percent.

“We won with votes from the East Side to the West Side, from Gramercy and Riverside," Nadler said in a victory speech on election night.

The few dozen election districts that Maloney carried were based almost entirely on the East Side, save for a Chelsea district that includes most of the NYCHA Chelsea Houses (Maloney won 41 percent to Nadler's 32 percent), and a group of four Flatiron blocks between West 22nd and 25th streets, west of Fifth Avenue (Maloney won 37 percent to Nadler's 34).

Nadler, 75, is all but assured to win re-election in November's general election, where he goes up against candidates from the Republican and Green parties, as well as an independent.

Maloney, 76, said in her own speech last week that she was "really sad" for Manhattan to no longer have a woman representative in Congress.

"We cannot and we must not give up — the fight continues," she said.

Initially a collegial affair, the race turned hostile in its latter weeks, with Maloney amplifying a claim that Nadler is "senile" and Patel knocking the incumbents — who are both in their mid-seventies — for being out of touch.

Policy-wise, Patch's interviews with all three candidates revealed some substantial differences on issues like real estate development and the future of Midtown.

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