Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have one thing in common: they are all New Yorkers and have been proudly professing their links to America’s largest city ahead of the state’s key prim
Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have one thing in common: they are all New Yorkers and have been proudly professing their links to America’s largest city ahead of the state’s key primary election on Tuesday.
They have tried to portray themselves as authentic locals and defended the “New York values” that Republican candidate Ted Cruz of Texas has derided throughout the campaign. But the trio are vastly different types of New Yorkers.
The son of a wealthy property developer and Scottish immigrant mother, Mr Trump grew up in a 23-room, nine-bathroom mansion in Queens.
Launching his business career with a million dollars from his father, Mr Trump eschewed building the middle-class housing that was the foundation of his family’s wealth, and instead developed luxury properties in Manhattan.
“I love this city, I love these people, these are my people,” Mr Trump said recently at a rally in Long Island.
The Republican frontrunner never misses an opportunity to pay homage to the strength of the city and its residents following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“In our darkest moment as a city, we showed the world the very, very best in terms of braveness and heart and soul,” he told a Republican gala.
Born in Brooklyn, Bernie Sanders grew up in a humble apartment and attended neighbourhood public schools. His father, a Polish Jew, arrived in the United States as a penniless 17-year-old.
The 74-year-old recently held a rally in front of his childhood home, and snacked on a hot dog in Coney Island.
“I am very proud I was born here in New York City,” Mr Sanders says.
He likes to point out that his wife, Jane, was also born in Brooklyn, and that his opponent Hillary Clinton is a New Yorker by recent relocation.
Born in Chicago, former US first lady Hillary Clinton served as a New York Senator from 2001 to 2009.
She owns a home in Chappaqua, about an hour north of New York, purchased in 1999 to make her eligible to run for the Senate position.
“I think I know the state a lot better” than Mr Sanders, she said.
“New Yorkers took a chance on me, and I will never forget it,” she said at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem in March.
