I am back in Brooklyn after a joy-filled weekend celebrating my granddaughter Lucy’s graduation from Bard College in upstate New York.

I was so pleased that Bard graduating students, like those in colleges and universities all across the country, had created Pro-Palestinian encampments and mounted protests these past few years, led by their campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

On Saturday graduating Bard students expressed solidarity by wearing the Keffiyeh and holding signs saying “Free Palestine” and “No graduations in Palestine”.

There was a lot of supportive applause from parents, families and friends in the audience.

Bard President Leon Botstein joined in with a withering attack on the Trump administration. He called on the graduates to be “first responders in the fight against fascism”.

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Meanwhile voting in New York for a mayor is just four weeks away.

I get asked frequently if aI think Zohran Mamdani can actually win against the disgraced but well-known former governor, Andrew Cuomo.

To understand the dynamics of this race, understand that New York City has a ranked voting process.

Recent polls, including one done by the Mamdani campaign, show Zohran surging.

Cuomo is stuck at less than 50%, which makes him entirely vulnerable.

If one candidate fails to get 50% of the vote, first ranked votes from the candidate with the least votes gets added to their next ranked candidate until someone gets 50%.

It’s actually less complicated than I just explained it.

I have been impressed these past weeks with Mamdani’s refusal to run from his position of supporting Palestine.

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