Residents of one of Brooklyn’s most diverse and changing neighborhoods, which hosts Thursday night’s Democratic debate, give their views of the candidates

The New York democratic primary on 19 April is shaping up to be one of the most important of this election season, with more delegates up for grabs than any contest until California’s primary on 7 June. It’s also a deeply personal one for both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who both have close relationships with New York – Sanders grew up in Brooklyn, while Clinton has a home upstate.

As the candidates gear up for their final debate in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard on Thursday, we spoke to the diverse community of residents and local workers about the issues they care most about, and the candidates they feel best represent them. Their answers were as colorful and contrasting as the painted murals, parked vespas and shopping trolleys that dot the area.

Darren Carlyle: ‘Clinton understands minimum wage’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Darren Carlyle, 30, a supermarket worker. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Carlyle, who has a two-year-old daughter and works at a supermarket near the Navy Yard, said that Hillary Clinton has his vote.

“Clinton understands the important issues more than the rest,” he said as he made his way through Commodore Barry Park to work.

At the top of those issues is the fact that the former New York senator has said she would fight to raise the minimum wage. Carlyle said having his wage raised to $15 an hour would completely change his life. He is currently living on just $9.50 an hour – a tough wage to survive on in New York City.

“She can do the job,” said Carlyle. “Her résumé is real big. She has people around her, supporting her,” he added, explaining that he felt Bill Clinton did a good job the first time around.

Tessa Basore: ‘Bernie is all about the working class’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tessa Basore, 30, a small business owner. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Basore, who moved the center of her company to Brooklyn three years ago from the Lower East Side, said that Bernie Sanders is the only solution she sees in these elections. “He has our best interest at heart and he is the only person I trust not to jump into another war,” she said.

“I like that he is all about the working class and where he stands on the environment. Fracking is a big concern of mine. He is the only one talking about it in a real clear way.”

Basore says she cannot believe how scary this election season has been, with the rise of a voice like Donald Trump’s. “He is spiteful. Nearly everything he says insults someone. He shows so much disregard for everyday people.”

David Myrie: ‘What I like about Sanders is his civil rights past’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Myrie, 28, a dance student. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Myrie, a dance and dance education student who attends a nearby school and grew up in the area, said he’s watched the neighborhood change “ridiculously” over the past few decades – and strongly values its diversity.

The changing of the neighborhood has informed his presidential candidate choice: Bernie Sanders. Myrie said Sanders is the best at being “inclusive of all lifestyles and income levels”.

“What turns me on about Bernie Sanders is his past as a civil rights activist. He gets it more,” said the 28-year-old. “Diversity is a practice, it’s an ideology. It’s about acceptance and appreciation,” he said.

Amy Stringer-Mowat: ‘It’s time to have a woman in office’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Amy Stronger-Mowat, 41, small business owner. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Stringer-Mowat said Clinton has her vote for one simple reason: “I think it’s time for us to have a woman in office, it’s an important milestone for our country. The rest of the world has done it. It’s time for us to do it too.”

The 41-year-old online business owner who recently moved to the neighborhood, said she’s mindful of how far her mother’s generation came in terms of gender equality, as well as how far hers has come.

In terms of what Clinton can achieve in office, she said she’s unsure what that might look like, but feels she will be effective.

“Politics are a dirty business and she is connected to the lobbyists. She will go in and be able to fight. I am jaded enough that I don’t mind knowing that,” she said before resuming her walk to work.

Jose Soto: ‘I don’t want to vote’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jose Soto, 28, a Navy Yard laborer. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Voting is the furthest thing from Soto’s mind, and that’s not because he doesn’t feel he knows enough about the candidates or the current election campaigns. Quite the contrary.

“I haven’t heard anyone say that they really care about my people, about the people I grew up with, where I am from,” said the 28-year-old Navy Yard laborer who grew up in Brooklyn

“What do I mean by ‘my people’? I mean the underprivileged, people who live in the ghetto, in the slums,” he said. His solution? Not voting.

“I don’t want to vote. My vote doesn’t count. Presidents are selected not elected anyway. I don’t trust politicians. All they will do is maintain the status quo, and make sure the 1% keep on ruling,” he explained.

He doesn’t see Trump as a candidate for the people either. “Donald Trump is a piece of shit. He is an embarrassment to our country.”

Edward Meeks: ‘Trump is real’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Edward Meeks, 41, a catering company worker. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Meeks leaned in and whispered: “Everyone thinks I’m crazy, but I’m voting for Donald Trump in the primaries and the general election. Trump is real,” said the 41-year-old catering business worker.

For Meeks, Trump’s realness comes from his harsh stance on immigration.

“I like what he said about illegal aliens,” he said referring to people who come to the United States without visas or work permits. “I don’t want to build a wall between Mexico and the United States, though. That’s going too far.”

Trump will be a better president than Hillary Clinton, Meeks contended, because “he’s new”. “He will be less compromised. He has no past in politics.”

Steve Sprowls: ‘I’m worried about illegal immigration’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Steve Sprowls, 33, a carpenter. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Sprowls, who works on one of the new housing developments close the Navy Yard, knows which issues are close to his heart.

“I am worried about illegal immigration, I am worried about people not paying their taxes. I am worried they are destroying our social security and that by the time I come to retire I am not going to get mine.”

The only candidate addressing those kinds of concerns, he says, is Donald Trump. That’s who will be getting his vote.

“I pay a lot of taxes and I pay a lot of health insurance,” said the 33-year-old carpenter. “Meanwhile you see people walking up and down the street, and they are not working or paying for anything. When they end up in hospital, who is going to pay for them? I am. That’s not right.” But Sprowls is by no means an unconditional supporter. “I don’t like the racial slurs. It’s unprofessional.”

Scott Witter: ‘Housing prices have skyrocketed’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Scott Witter, 67, a building preservationist. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Witter is pinning his hopes on Bernie Sanders.

“I am happy to see Bernie come as far as he has,” said the 67-year-old buildings preservationist. “His policies are shaping the policies of the future. It’s about time.”

More immediately however, Witter is concerned about the loss and planned demolition of historic houses belonging to navy officers in the 19th century, located inside Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, and referred to collectively as Admiral’s Row.

During the Democratic debate on site, he says he plans on parking his car outside with a sign protesting against the demolition, he warns.

Witter, a homeowner, has lived on the same block adjacent to the Navy Yard since 1968. “The quality of life hasn’t changed, but the housing prices have skyrocketed.”

Angel Leonardo: ‘The streets here are too dangerous’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Angel Leonardo, 46, a grocery store owner. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Leonardo said Hillary Clinton is the only candidate he feels can address his concerns tied to high levels of crime in the area and a wish to legalize undocumented workers and immigrants.

“There’s a lot of crime and shootings in this neighborhood,” said the father of two and owner of a nearby grocery store. “The streets are too dangerous and you can’t walk around safely. I know she [Hillary Clinton] can implement policies to do something different about that.”

Leonardo, who came to the United States 21 years ago from the Dominican Republic, feels Clinton is most likely to help pass better immigration reform.

“People like me, they have to give us a green card,” he said. “If you work for this country and you’re doing everything good, you’ve got to at least have a green card or a work visa.”

Michelle Boykins: ‘Trump can’t get those nuclear codes!’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Michelle Boykins, 55, occupation undisclosed. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The Guardian

Boykins is a fervent supporter of Clinton. “She’s for the people!” Boykins exclaimed. “I like her. She’s a veteran. She is the woman to go to.”

Bernie Sanders is “OK too” in her book, but not much more. “Yeah, he’s from Brooklyn,” said the 55-year-old New York native, “but just because he’s from Brooklyn doesn’t mean he knows anything,” she shared from experience.

Boykins’ biggest worry is keeping Donald Trump away from the presidency and America’s nuclear weapons.

“I have read there is a red phone. If we get in a war, Trump could get excited and go pressing those buttons. I am not going to let that happen. Hell no! He can’t get those nuclear codes.”

In those kinds of extreme circumstances, someone with a “level head” is needed, she said. “That’s Hillary.”