andrew yang nyc mayor
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Andrew Yang.
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
  • New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Andrew Yang stumbled in a Q&A on Thursday.
  • Yang pitched a homeless shelter program for domestic violence survivors that already exists.
  • He also blanked on a key provision that keeps NYPD disciplinary records secret.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

At a Prospect Lefferts Gardens event on Thursday, New York City mayoral hopeful Andrew Yang raised eyebrows from the Gotham press corps when he made a pair of blunders.

Yang was making an announcement about diversifying the NYPD and using data more effectively within the department.

During a media availability in front of a subway station near Prospect Park, Yang said he would like to implement a shelter program for those fleeing domestic violence.

Reporters were quick to point out that such a program already exists under Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration.

Yang has made a few similar blunders before in the campaign, specifically in policy proposals that are already in place in some form.

He was also asked about Section 50-A of the New York Civil Rights Law by Julia Marsh of the New York Post. The 1976 carve-out keeps disciplinary records for city police officers confidential, as well as those for firefighters and corrections officers.

Yang appeared unfamiliar with the provision in his answer.

Scott Stringer, the city comptroller and one of Yang's opponents from the left flank in the primary, issued a statement calling the blunders "dangerous."

Chris Coffey, Yang's co-campaign manager, responded to Stringer by implying he's out of touch with New Yorkers because of his taxpayer-funded chauffeur service.

Earlier this week, Yang proposed lowering the voting age to 16 and allowing green card holders to vote in local elections.

As the number of undecided voters has ticked down in the limited public polling on the race, Yang has finished in either first or second place in the latest surveys along with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

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