In closing marketing campaign messages to voters Monday, Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani supplied an optimistic view of how New York may look beneath his management, whereas former Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned of what he sees as the risks of the upstart frontrunner.
The contrasting visions have been delivered on the eve of Tuesday’s mayoral election, which is seen as one of many metropolis’s most consequential in many years.
Greater than 735,000 New Yorkers already voted early forward of Tuesday, probably placing the competition on observe to carry document turnout after a marketing campaign that has closely targeted on the town’s price of dwelling disaster.
Mamdani, who has polled as the favourite to win the election since successful June’s Demoratic main, delivered his closing deal with in Metropolis Corridor Park after strolling throughout the Brooklyn Bridge at daybreak with supporters that included State Legal professional Normal Tish James, Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander and a number of other Metropolis Council members.
His speech was replete with lofty descriptions in regards to the potentialities of his potential mayoralty. At one level, he mentioned his mayoral administration could be “a beacon” that permits individuals to “feel the light of City Hall” of their on a regular basis lives.
“Ultimately, the question before us is very simple: Morning versus night. Do we want it to be morning again in New York, where we feel the warmth of the sun on our skin and the possibility inherent and innate to every new day,” Mamdani mentioned, seemingly cribbing a line from ex-Republican President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 “Morning Again in America” marketing campaign advert. “Or do we want to shiver in the night cast by a politics of fear and self-enrichment?”
Cuomo, who’s operating on an impartial poll line, delivered his closing message throughout a string of marketing campaign stops throughout all 5 boroughs Monday. In an look on La Mega 97.9 earlier than hitting the streets, Cuomo railed towards Mamdani’s relative lack of expertise and left-wing agenda.
“You need to know how the government works to actually make change, and Mamdani has never had a real job,” mentioned Cuomo, who served as governor for 10 years earlier than resigning in 2021 amid sexual {and professional} misconduct accusations he now denies.
“Your first job should not be mayor of the City of New York.”
Mamdani has served as a State Meeting member representing northwestern Queens since 2021. However Cuomo argued that isn’t near sufficient of a resume, contending his personal document, which incorporates time as each governor of New York and secretary of Housing and City Growth beneath President Invoice Clinton, makes him well-equipped to take over the reins at Metropolis Corridor.
“This is the most important election in my life. I have the experience to do the job,” he mentioned earlier than slamming Mamdani’s “socialist” agenda:
“Socialism did not work in Venezuela. Socialism did not work in Cuba. Socialism will not work in New York City. It will be a big mistake.”
Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information
Andrew Cuomo speaks at a marketing campaign cease on W. 181 and St. Nicholas Ave. in Manhattan on Monday. (Barry Williams/ New York Day by day Information)
Regardless of the sunny descriptions of his marketing campaign, Mamdani would face critical — and fast — challenges ought to he be elected.
The lease freeze on stabilized tenants Mamdani has made a central promise of his marketing campaign could possibly be sophisticated by last-minute maneuvers by Mayor Adams, who dropped his bid for reelection in late September.
Different central marketing campaign planks, like his pledges to make public buses free, develop backed childcare and enhance taxes on companies and millionaires, would require state-level motion from Albany, the place Gov. Hochul has been proof against tax hikes.
Compounding Mamdani’s potential issues, President Trump reiterated his menace Sunday to chop again on federal funding for New York within the occasion of his election.
Throughout a marketing campaign cease in Washington Heights, Cuomo seized on that Trump remark and argued with the ability to concurrently each battle and work with the Republican president is vital.
“We heard Donald Trump yesterday. He said if Mamdani wins, he’s going to cut off funding to New York … We need a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump, who can get the funding that New York deserves,” he mentioned.
In his Metropolis Corridor Park remarks, Mamdani, who at 34 would turn into the youngest mayor in trendy metropolis historical past, mentioned he’d be prepared on Day 1 to launch authorized actions towards Trump over any funding cuts.
“I will take every single day after this election to put together my city government, my City Hall, to ensure that it is prepared, not only for the threats from Donald Trump, but also the threats from an affordability crisis that has put one in four New Yorkers in poverty,” Mamdani mentioned.
Zohran Mamdani addresses supporters at a rally exterior Metropolis Corridor. (Chris Sommerfeldt / New York Day by day Information)
Cuomo has within the remaining days of the marketing campaign leaned into a method of depicting Mamdani as too politically excessive for New York, whereas accusing him of amplifying antisemitism by criticizing Israel’s struggle in Gaza.
Going through a deficit within the polls and needing to develop his base to be able to have a viable shot at successful, Cuomo has additionally tried to draw Republican voters who may in any other case assist GOP mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa, who’s polling final within the race.
In that vein, the ex-gov has mentioned he’d be open to working with Trump, whose administration is pursuing an aggressive immigration crackdown in New York and different main cities.
