I pride myself on being an independent thinker and try not to project a partisan bias. Yet if you live in New York City, unless you are a principled and dedicated Republican (and I have friends who are and don’t begrudge them for being so), you need to register as a Democrat. Immediately.

Prior to moving to NYC, I was previously registered to vote in New Hampshire, a fiercely independent state and was unaffiliated to any party. Most people in New Hampshire are unaffiliated and they have an open primary system allowing voters to vote in the primary of their wish, which is a key reason why New Hampshire primaries typically are won by centrists.

But New York State is different; it has a closed primary system where you must be registered to a political party to participate. And yet when I first moved to the City I remained independent. I recall going to a political event sponsored and was asked how I was registered. After hearing my enthusiastic, yet naive declaration, the woman I was speaking with could barely contain her laughter. “Are you nuts?! You’re disenfranchising yourself!” she exclaimed.

And she was right. For better or for worse New York City has a one-party system, not too dissimilar from the Communist Party in China. With exception of Staten Island, THE vote that determines who wins elective office here isn’t the better attended General Election in November, but typically the less advertised primary in September (or sometimes April, or sometimes June…sigh…).

So even if you’re conservative, if you want your vote to matter in New York City, register as a Democrat, get to a polling station for the primary and pick your favorite — or hold your nose and select the least bad option.