Democratic candidate Zoran Mamdani could become New York City’s first Muslim and first Asian American mayor if he thwarts former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s bid for re-election.
NEW YORK – Will Kampala’s kids join the wave of young people heading to City Hall? Will the brooding former governor find redemption at the voting booth? So what’s up with the guy in the beret? New Yorkers are flocking to the polls in record numbers to choose between a historic first mayoral election, a seismic resurgence, or vigilante spoiling for the mayor.
Zoran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and Democratic candidate for the state House, will be the first Muslim mayor and first Asian American mayor of the nation’s largest city. His closest competitor is former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a centrist Democrat who is running as an independent. Republican Curtis Sliwa, who founded the anti-crime group Guardian Angels, is a distant third in the poll.
In the Nov. 4 general election, voters will replace outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, whose re-election hopes have been dashed by scandal and a hard-fought first term.
New Yorkers will also vote in key city council and local elections, including Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who successfully prosecuted President Donald Trump in 2024 for hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Here’s the latest information:
Cuomo apologizes for deaths caused by coronavirus, but says “I did nothing wrong”
In an appearance on Fox News on the morning of Election Day, Cuomo said he was sorry to those who lost loved ones to the coronavirus while he was governor.
“I feel sorry for the families who lost loved ones during that time. I was watching and I understand how terrible it was,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo has been dogged during his campaign by continued accusations that while he was governor, his administration underestimated the number of nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus.
In a 2021 report, New York State Attorney General Letitia James found that data released by the state Department of Health may have undercounted these deaths by up to 50%, and that nursing homes are putting residents at increased risk by not adhering to infection control protocols.
Despite his apology, Cuomo continued to defend his record.
“We followed all federal regulations. We did nothing wrong.” “It was terrible, but everyone did their best.”
–Aisha Bagki
Cuomo says Trump has ‘realistic’ support
Andrew Cuomo said President Donald Trump is realistically appealing to Republican voters to support him against Democratic candidate Zoran Mamdani.
“President Trump is a realist,” Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday morning on the conservative talk show “Fox & Friends.” “He is telling them the reality of the situation. If they don’t vote, Mamdani will win.”
President Trump has increasingly voiced his support for Cuomo over Mamdani, who is the frontrunner in the election. Mr. Cuomo, who is running as an independent, has previously disavowed support for Mr. Trump while trying to draw Republican voters away from his third-place finisher, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
“Even if you’re not voting Republican, you’re voting to save New York City,” Cuomo said. “This election isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about saving the city.”
-Eduardo Cuevas
Sliwa, wearing a cat tie, goes to vote with his wife.
Wearing his signature red beret and cat-emblazoned tie, Curtis Sliwa accompanied his wife, Nancy, to vote for her husband in the New York mayoral race on Tuesday.
Sliwa, a Republican candidate on the voting line for animal rights groups, said the outcome of the city’s election will be determined by “the people, even if they don’t elect me” and not by “political elites.” Holding a book titled “Words for the Heart of Cat Lovers,” Sliwa said she has the support of the public.
“I hope that by the time this is all said and done and the votes are counted tonight, I will be the next mayor of New York,” he said. “And since we have friends both at Gracie Manor and at City Hall, the animals around town will be partying hard.”
–Rebecca Morin
Candidates highlight their signature policy proposals
The three candidates vying for mayor appeared on WNYC’s popular “The Brian Lehrer Show” Tuesday and gave vastly different closing arguments as they explained their distinctive policy proposals.
Mamdani, who is campaigning on affordability issues, said his main issue is universal child care, which he wants to fund through the taxes of the city’s wealthiest people. Gov. Kathy Hochul will ultimately have to work with state lawmakers to approve the tax increase, but she supports Mamdani’s proposal.
Sliwa cited his opposition to the city’s controversial housing plan, which Cuomo and Mamdani support. Sliwa also pointed to opposition from City Council leadership, which is a staunch Democrat. “Andrew Cuomo and Zoran Mamdani are helping developers and real estate agents,” he said. “I stand with the people.”
Mr. Cuomo’s main proposal was related to public safety, including hiring 5,000 new police officers. “Safety is fundamental,” he said. Mayor Eric Adams, who supported Mr. Cuomo, recently announced funding to hire 5,000 new NYPD officers. Major crime in the city continues to decline, with October’s homicide count the lowest since the NYPD began tracking the data in 1994, according to recent data.
-Eduardo Cuevas
Mamdani votes ‘yes’ on New York City housing measures
Mamdani told reporters outside a polling place in Astoria, Queens that he voted in favor of New York City’s controversial Ballot Proposals 2 through 4. They were proposed by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and proponents said were necessary to address the city’s severe housing shortage.
City Council leaders opposed the measure, arguing that it would concentrate power in the hands of mayors and developers while leaving local authorities unable to respond to neighborhood needs.
Mamdani had not previously indicated whether he supported the proposal. At the last mayoral debate on Oct. 22, opponents and moderators mocked him for not responding.
“We urgently need to build more housing across the five boroughs,” he told a New York Daily News reporter on election day, acknowledging the lawmakers who opposed the measure over concerns about investing in their communities. “I share their commitment to that investment and look forward to working with them to make it a reality.”
Mamdani also voted against a ballot measure that would have moved municipal elections for positions such as mayor to the presidential era to increase voter turnout.
-Eduardo Cuevas
Cuomo refuses to support Trump
Andrew Cuomo refused to accept President Donald Trump’s last-minute endorsement of him in the final hours before Election Day. Trump urged his supporters to vote for Cuomo in a post on Truth Social on the night of Nov. 3.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really don’t have a choice. You have to vote for him and hope he does a great job. He can do that, Mamdani can’t!” Trump said.
Rather than backing him, Mr. Cuomo emphasized that Mr. Trump had previously called him a “bad Democrat.”
“Did Trump call me a bad Democrat? No, I’m a good Democrat. I’m a proud Democrat,” Cuomo said in a post on the X show Monday night.
Mr. Cuomo painted himself as someone who could stand up to the Republican president, adding that he would not deploy ICE or the National Guard to New York City under Trump’s surveillance.
-Aisha Bagki
Mamdani said his economic plan is aimed at protecting the city from President Donald Trump’s threats to reduce federal funding.
Mr. Mamdani calls for a 2% tax on people making more than $1 million a year to raise $4 billion a year, and an increase in the corporate tax rate to 11.5% to generate $5 billion. Mamdani also plans to freeze rents for 2.5 million residents in the city of 8.5 million.
“This will allow us to actually begin to move our cities against President Trump,” Mamdani said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ali Melber.” “We must protect New Yorkers in the least possible way from attacks by the most powerful man in this country.”
President Trump called Mamdani a communist and said if he were elected, the federal government could no longer afford to put good money after bad.
“As president, it would be difficult for me to donate a lot of money to New York,” Trump said in an interview on Sunday’s “60 Minutes.”
-Bert Jansen
New York mayoral candidates rally voters ahead of Election Day
Zoran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa are making a last-ditch effort to connect with voters ahead of Election Day in New York City.
Mamdani described Cuomo-Trump as a “handpicked” candidate in the race.
President Trump urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo, whom Mamdani had already won in the Democratic primary. Mamdani said voting for Cuomo in a heavily Democratic city would be the same as voting for Trump.
“I’m saying that because Donald Trump has chosen the candidate himself, and that candidate’s name is Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ali Melber.” “And New Yorkers have the opportunity to hand-pick their fighters, and I believe that candidate should be me.”
-Bert Jansen
Who are the candidates for mayor of New York?
Zoran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist state representative from Queens, is leading in the polls following his stunning June primary victory over Andrew Cuomo, a three-term former New York governor who has been trying to revive his political career after resigning in disgrace. If elected, Mamdani would be the first Muslim and first South Asian to lead the city, and the first immigrant mayor in 80 years.
Mr. Cuomo, 67, who is running as an independent candidate in the general election, has consolidated voters who oppose Mr. Mamdani and is narrowing his lead over Mr. Mamdani heading into Election Day. The come-from-behind victory marks a monumental comeback for Mr. Cuomo, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
But Mr. Cuomo still faces an obstacle from Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the beret-wearing vigilante group Guardian Angels. Mr. Sliwa, 71, did not drop out, although polls show his conservative base could help him emerge in Mr. Cuomo’s race against Mr. Mamdani.
Sliwa has been a well-known figure in New York City for decades, but he lost easily to Adams four years ago. If a divided electorate cannot decide between Cuomo and Mamdani, Sliwa would become the first Republican elected in a Democratic-dominated city since Mike Bloomberg.
