I see that De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have come out against Cruz's New York values comment. See: [Link]. Cruz's comments had included:
"the values in New York City are socially liberal or pro-abortion or pro-gay-marriage, focus around money and the media."
But Governor Cuomo had earlier launched an attack against conservative Republicans saying they had no place in New York. See New York Post article, "Gov. Cuomo to Conservatives: Leave NY" [Link]
"Who are they? Right to life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay -- if that's who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that's not who New Yorkers are."
So, yes, there are cultural and political value difference between New York and much of the rest of the country over issues like abortion, conventional marriage, gun rights, etc. Big surprise. Where is Captain Renault when you need him?
What better way to evaluate what New York values are than to look at whom New Yorkers elect as their leaders, such as Cuomo, De Blasio, Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, etc. Uh, no thanks. I know there are good people in New York, but their values apparently are in the minority considering who the state and city elect as leaders.
Trump, publically on the surface anyway, supports conservative positions on abortion, gun right, and traditional marriage, although he used to be pro-choice. Trump himself recognized that New York values were different back in 2011 in a comment about gay marriage [Link]":
"I just don't feel good about it. I don't feel right about it. I'm against it and I take a lot of heat because I come from New York. You know, for New York it's like, how can you be against gay marriage? But I'm opposed to gay marriage."
So, if you believe Trump's current positions on such issues, he doesn't reflect the views of the New York voters or many of the New York politicians.
The 26 South Carolinians in Frank Luntz's panel after the debate largely thought Cruz won the debate. Perhaps they and people in many other states weren't turned off by Cruz's New York values comment.
As an aside, ny Georgia-born wife and I and our family lived in the NYC metropolitan area for four years when my company transferred me there from Texas. Each day when I would come home from work, my wife would ask "when are we going back home?" The rudeness and unfriendliness of the people she interacted with really affected her.
All I will say to your post is that Frank Luntz’s panels have been wildly mis-predicting (if that’s a word!) this year’s campaign.
Huh. That’s odd. When I lived in south Brooklyn, I was surprised by how friendly most of the people in the Bay Ridge area were. I was bracing myself when I was about to move for incredible rudeness, but to me, at least, they were quite friendly for the time I lived there.
What area did you live in?