From Coney Island to the Bronx, candidates in New York City’s mayoral race spent Monday racing across all five boroughs in a last-ditch effort to win over voters before Election Day.
As the campaigns entered their final stretch, President Donald Trump unexpectedly urged New Yorkers to back former Governor Andrew Cuomo over Republican contender Curtis Sliwa in order to block Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, declaring on Truth Social that voters “really have no choice.”
More than 735,000 people had already cast ballots during nine days of early voting — more than quadruple the turnout in the 2021 mayoral race, though still below the nearly 1.1 million early votes cast in last year’s presidential election. Lines at several polling sites, including one in downtown Brooklyn, stretched for blocks on Sunday, the final day of early voting.
Cuomo’s Comeback Tour
Cuomo’s Monday schedule was packed with campaign stops across the city. At one event, he attacked Mamdani, comparing his policies to failed socialist governments.
“Socialism didn’t work in Venezuela. Socialism didn’t work in Cuba. It’s not going to work in New York City,” Cuomo said.
At 67, Cuomo is seeking a political revival four years after resigning as governor amid sexual harassment allegations he denies. Running as an independent, he has sought to attract Republican and centrist voters, presenting himself as the only candidate capable of defeating Mamdani.
Mamdani’s Grassroots Push
Mamdani, a state assemblymember who would become New York’s first Muslim mayor, began his day walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise and ended it rallying volunteers in Queens.
“With just 24 hours left, let’s give it everything we’ve got,” he told cheering supporters. “Let’s work so hard tonight and tomorrow that we never have to ask ourselves, ‘What if?’”
Over the weekend, Mamdani made high-energy campaign appearances at nightclubs, watched a Buffalo Bills game with Governor Kathy Hochul, and attended a Knicks game from the upper seats — a symbolic contrast to Cuomo’s courtside presence weeks earlier.
Sliwa Stays in the Race
Republican Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels patrol group, began his day at a Brooklyn subway station where he laid a wreath for a woman killed there last year before holding evening rallies in the outer boroughs.
“This time, the billionaires and insiders won’t pick New York’s next mayor,” he told supporters. “The people will.”
Trump’s Influence Looms Large
Trump, a former New Yorker, has loomed over the race for months — at one point threatening to arrest or deport Mamdani if he wins. On Monday, he threw his support behind Cuomo, again warning that he would withhold federal funds from the city under a Mamdani administration.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice,” Trump wrote. “A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani.”
Cuomo, during an interview with WABC Radio, agreed: “The president is right. A vote for Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani. This election now depends on Republicans.”
Sliwa, however, insisted he was staying in the race. Mamdani criticized what he called “the MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo,” saying Trump supports Cuomo “because he believes Cuomo will serve his administration, not New Yorkers.”
Digital Duel
Cuomo’s campaign continued to rely heavily on AI-generated ads, including a Halloween-themed video featuring a fake Mamdani trick-or-treating. The ad carried a disclaimer noting it was “AI generated.”
The former governor faced backlash earlier for a fabricated ad showing Mamdani eating rice with his hands and labeling his supporters as criminals — a video the campaign later removed, claiming it was posted by mistake.
Mamdani countered with multilingual social media posts, including a video of him speaking Arabic — which he jokingly admitted “needs some work.” He has previously shared messages in Spanish and Bengali to connect with New York’s diverse electorate.
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