Down the homestretch, Cuomo's allies unleash millions to topple New York City mayoral rival
NEW YORK — With early voting underway in the New York City mayoral primary and polls showing a tightening race, Andrew Cuomo and his allies are beefing up their attacks on his top rival — most recently with a $5.4 million negative TV ad, according to a new campaign filing.
And Saturday morning, Al Sharpton voiced support for the former governor and derided top rival Zohran Mamdani's decision to cross-endorse a white man but not a Black woman in the crowded race, which will be determined by ranked-choice voting.
The latest developments underscore the heated fight to the finish between the oldest and youngest candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to oust Mayor Eric Adams.
A pro-Cuomo super PAC — funded in part by donors to President Donald Trump and buoyed by $5 million from Mike Bloomberg this week — spent the seven-figure sum lambasting Mamdani, according to records the New York City Campaign Finance Board released Friday night.
The new broadcast spot paints the 33-year-old democratic socialist as too radical and inexperienced to assume the complicated job of running the nation's largest city.
'I was quite open to what would be considered being a radical from a very young age,' Mamdani is shown saying in a 2020 interview, before a narrator suggests the mayoral hopeful wants to move homeless New Yorkers into the city's subway stations.
'That's cruel to the homeless and dangerous for us,' the narrator warns.
In an interview with WNYC in May, Mamdani proposed using vacant retail space in subway stations as homeless outreach and service hubs. The persistence of homeless people with presumed mental illness sleeping on city subways has rattled commuters and spurred candidates to delineate plans to tackle the problem.
'It's about getting people out of the subway system, not bringing them into the subway system,' spokesperson Andrew Epstein said in response to the ad. 'To have medical professionals stationed around the system is going to make everyone's commute safer.'
The narrator then says Mamdani promises to defund the police and notes the state legislator called for the NYPD to be dismantled in 2020.
Mamdani pushed back against those claims in an interview Saturday.
'It's yet another example of lies that are funded by the Trump billionaires who are putting millions of dollars behind Andrew Cuomo's campaign,' he said. 'I've been clear time and time again, I am not defunding the police.'
Mamdani did, in fact, tweet in favor of defunding police departments in 2020.
Epstein also noted the ad shows several clips of Mamdani wearing a kurta, a common South Asian article of clothing, though the candidate usually dons a suit and tie on the campaign trail. 'There's nothing that should be scary about wearing a kurta,' Epstein said.
Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, has sported the garment in his own ads.
Candidates are limited to spending around $8 million during the primary, but Cuomo is being boosted by the largest PAC ever to get involved in a New York City election. The anti-Mamdani ad came as Cuomo, Sharpton and other Black political leaders piled on Mamdani Saturday at Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem.
Speaking to reporters, Cuomo criticized Mamdani's short legislative record.
'You want to drive a bus, you need to be trained to drive a bus. You want to operate a hot dog cart, you have to get a permit,' Cuomo said. 'Only mayor of New York, no experience necessary? … You can go from five employees and the next day we put you in the seat and you run 300,000? We've had inexperienced mayors before. They've failed.'
Sharpton expressed support for the former governor while deriding Mamdani's decision to tell his supporters to rank candidate Brad Lander second, instead of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. Lander and Mamdani cross endorsed Friday, in a nod to the relatively new ranked-choice voting system that allows New Yorkers to pick up to five candidates in order of preference.
'They say that Mamdani and Lander endorsed each other, so against the Black woman,' Sharpton said. 'Something about that politics ain't progressive to me.'
A source with knowledge of discussion between the two camps said Mamdani had sought a cross endorsement with Adams over weeks of discussions. The state lawmaker also encouraged supporters to donate to her campaign ahead of a crucial fundraising deadline last month. No deal came of the talks.
A person with knowledge of Adams' campaign strategy said the Council speaker has been courted by multiple candidates, but only recently began airing ads and is still finalizing her ranked-choice voting strategy.
Meanwhile Mamdani dropped six figures on his own ad seeking to counter criticisms of his public safety platform.
During his mayoral run, he has pledged to maintain NYPD's headcount. In the ad, Mamdani says he will create a Department of Community Safety that would take over responsibilities handled by officers, such as responding to mental health emergencies.
The pro-Cuomo PAC has flooded the Democratic primary with $14.7 million, with no sign of abating.
The super PAC, called Fix the City, reported raising $18.5 million in the latest filings with the Campaign Finance Board.
'Fix the City has and will continue to highlight why Andrew Cuomo is the mayor we need to ensure a safe and affordable city,' spokesperson Liz Benjamin said in a statement. 'We will also keep pointing out the records, positions, and deficiencies of other candidates who are intent on making the city less safe and less affordable.'
Campaigns are prohibited from coordinating with the Super PACs supporting them. The city board fined Cuomo's campaign $756,994 for improperly coordinating with Fix the City over one of its broadcast ads.
Jeff Coltin contributed reporting.
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