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Tag: assembly member zohran mamdani

  • NYC Mayor’s Race: Mamdani rebuffs MTA boss Lieber’s skepticism of his free bus plan | amNewYork

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    Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani rebuffed MTA CEO and Chair Janno Lieber’s criticsm of his free bus plan. Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner, dismissed on Thursday MTA Chair Janno Lieber’s recent criticism of his signature campaign promise to make buses operated by the agency free.

    Lieber is one of a number of critics of Mamdani’s fare-free bus plan. As amNewYork reported Wednesday in an in-depth examination of the plan, skeptics say Mamdani faces numerous challenges to fulfilling this campaign promise — from financing operations without a state-approved tax increase, to wresting control of the bus system away from the MTA.

    During a Thursday afternoon Brooklyn campaign stop, Mamdani responded to Lieber’s comments from earlier this week on NY1, stating that his free bus proposal needed to be studied far more thoroughly.

    “Any change of the scale that’s being talked about, taking a section of our incredibly important transit system and changing it entirely has to be studied,” Lieber said, noting that the MTA studied the potential impact of the congestion pricing program for five years before implementing it.

    The MTA boss said such a review is necessary to understand if the MTA needs to run more buses, bring extra depots online, and account for a loss in subway fare revenue as well.

    But Mamdani — who is also a democratic socialist Queens Assembly member — said on Oct. 30 that he heard many similar criticisms when pushing for a free bus pilot program in Albany. The pilot saw the MTA make one bus line in each of the five boroughs free for a year.

    The test run ended in the summer of 2024, with the MTA declaring it a failure because it slowed average bus speeds, despite more regular riders boarding each route.

    MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber
    MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber riding the subway on March 6, 2025.Photo by Dean Moses

    During the Thursday press gaggle, Mamdani didn’t offer any new information about his bus plan — but he said he took comments criticizing his bus vision with “a grain of salt.”

    “I take things that are said with a grain of salt about the lack of changing the way that we do things here in New York City,” Mamdani said. “When we were pushing for free buses in Albany, these were a lot of the same concerns that were raised at the time, and we won the first free buses in New York City history. We made one bus route free in every single borough.”

    Lieber also aired concerns about subsidizing bus fares for those who can afford to pay, saying he prefers the city’s means-tested Fair Fares program, which provides half-fare rides to low-income New Yorkers up to 145% of the federal poverty level. Mamdani’s chief rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has mounted a similar criticism against his free bus plan.

    Mamdani also stood by his campaign’s $700 million-a-year cost estimate for making buses free, in response to Lieber’s prediction that it will bear a price tag closer to $1 billion. A 2023 Independent Budget Office analysis estimated the expected price tag at a minimum of $652 million. 

    “I continue to be confident in our cost estimates,” Mamdani said. “I think that much of the estimates that are being put forward are more of hypotheticals than actually realistic assessments of where we are in this moment.”

    He added that he is “excited to work with” Lieber.

    The Democratic nominee has said he wants to fund the program — and other core campaign initiatives, such as free universal child care — by raising the state’s corporate tax rate to 11.5% and personal income taxes on millionaires by 2%.

    However, Mamdani needs Albany lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul to approve such a tax increase. While Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has said he supports raising taxes on the wealthy, the governor — who is headed into a potentially tough reelection year — has said tax hikes are a nonstarter.

    Even those who tacitly support free buses in New York noted that such a proposal comes with a hefty cost that someone will need to pay.

    “Nothing is free in life, so we’re not talking about free buses,” John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union International, told amNewYork. “We’re talking about building the cost of the buses into the wider tax bases. Just like we don’t pay for sanitation at the point of service.” 

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    Ethan Stark-Miller

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  • EARLY VOTING: Who’s been participating in the NYC Mayor’s Race so far? Data shows some surprising trends | amNewYork

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    A person cast their vote duing the first day of early voting in the general election in Brooklyn on Oct. 25, 2025.

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    More than a quarter-million New Yorkers have already cast ballots in the 2025 NYC mayoral general election — and most of them appear to be Democrats and/or older, according to an amNewYork analysis of unofficial early voting data.

    That would seem to provide good news for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a 67-year-old registered Democrat now running an independent campaign, who has consistently led among older voters in recent polls. The frontrunner in the race — Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old Democratic party nominee — has had younger voters firmly in his corner in those same surveys.

    Of the roughly 223,268 New Yorkers who have voted early between Oct. 25-27, 74% were registered Democrats, according to preliminary data from the New York City Board of Elections (BOE). Nearly 13% are registered Republicans, and 11% did not list a party affiliation.

    Both Cuomo and Mamdani, as Democrats, are targeting Democratic voters; Cuomo has also attempted to appeal to Republicans and independents. 

    Voters over 55 made up the plurality of those who have voted early so far, with a combined 41% of those who cast ballots either qualifying as a Baby Boomer or a member of the “Greatest Generation” and “Silent Generation” — as defined by the Pew Research Center. “Generation X” — those aged 39 to 54 — made up 24% of early voters.

    Younger voters, including “Millennials” and “Generation Z” — those aged 18-38, accounted for the remaining 34% of voters.

    amNewYork’s findings would seem to confirm data analysis in a Gothamist report on Monday, which found that most of the early voters during the weekend were skewing older.

    On Tuesday, Cuomo said he was encouraged by the early turnout of older voters. “I think as long as the voters are smart, I’m in very good shape,” he said during an event where he received the endorsement of former Gov. David Paterson.

    Turnout will be the ultimate factor in the mayor’s race. Mamdani has consistently led in the polls, but the race has tightened as Election Day, Nov. 4, draws nearer. 

    The Mamdani campaign has boasted of having more than 85,000 volunteers, and indicated it is using the entire operation to get out the vote through Election Day. The candidate said he remains “confident in our campaign.”

    Across the five boroughs, Brooklyn leads in the number of early votes cast so far with 67,608. Manhattan comes second with 67,075, then Queens with 52,062, the Bronx with 19,094, and Staten Island with 17,059.

    Early voting continues through Sunday, Nov. 2, at select sites across the five boroughs. Regular polling sites are open on Election Day, Nov. 4, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. To find your early voting site or regular polling place, visit vote.nyc. 

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    By Ethan Stark-Miller and Sadie Brown

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  • NYC Mayor’s Race: Mamdani rails against Islamophobia in emotional speech; Cuomo charges Dem nominee is ‘playing victim’ | amNewYork

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    Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani delivered an address on Islamophobia in the Bronx. Firday, Oct. 24, 2025.

    Photo by Ethan Stark-Miller

    The 2025 NYC Mayor’s race rivalry between Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo grew even more personal on Friday.

    Following a spate of recent controversial actions by Mamdani’s mayoral election rivals that he and others have condemned as Islamophobic, the Muslim Democratic nominee delivered an emotional, 10-minute address on Friday in which he described his own experience with anti-Muslim discrimination and vowed to address the issue head-on going forward.

    During Mamdani’s address outside of the Muslim Cultural Center of the Bronx, he called out his chief rival Cuomo, Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa, and current Mayor Eric Adams for what he described as making Islamophobic remarks part of the closing messages of their campaigns and time in office.

    Cuomo responded in his own fiery Friday news conference with Muslim leaders in Jackson Heights, Queens, where he charged that Mamdani is “an actor playing the victim,” but in reality, “he’s the offender.”

    The former governor further asserted that Mamdani has offended and scared Jewish people across the city through actions like his hesitation to denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a term which the Democratic nominee now discourages using. Mamdani has been roundly criticized for his support of the Palestine cause following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, and for his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

    Sliwa’s camp also took exception to Mamdani’s statements, alleging that he was “weaponizing accusations of Islamophobia for political gain.”

    A spokesperson for Adams has yet to respond to requests for comment.

    Mamdani: ‘No amount of redirection is ever enough’

    Mamdani, a democratic socialist Queens lawmaker, said his adversaries’ comments were emblematic of the persistent Islamophobia he has experienced throughout his year-long mayoral campaign.

    “Every day, super PAC ads imply that I am a terrorist, or mock the way I eat,” Mamdani said. “Push polls that ask New Yorkers questions like whether they support invented proposals to make halal food mandatory, or political cartoons that represent my candidacy as an airplane hurtling towards the World Trade Center.”

    Mamdani said that hate has persisted despite his attempt not to be seen as the “Muslim candidate,” but rather as the one who would represent all New Yorkers. 

    “I thought that if I could build a campaign of universality, I could define myself as the leader I aspire to be, one representing every New Yorker,” he said. “I was wrong. No amount of redirection is ever enough.”

    But, he continued, “I do not want to use this moment to speak to them any further. I want to use this moment to speak to the Muslims of New York City.”

    Mamdani spoke to the discrimination he personally faced growing up in the aftermath of 9/11,” such as being called by the name “Mohammed” or ending up in an airport interrogation room for questioning about whether he planned on attacking the city. He also spoke to the experiences of other Muslims he knew who suffered even more extreme forms of hate.

    “I was never pressured to be an informant like a classmate of mine, I’ve never had the word ‘terrorist’ spray-painted on my garage as one of my staff had to endure, my Mosque has never been set on fire,” he said. “To be Muslim in New York is to expect indignity. But indignity does not make us distinct. There are many New Yorkers who face it. It is the tolerance of that indignity that does.”

    Cuomo says he ‘didn’t take’ terror remark ‘seriously’

    When it comes to Mamdani’s rivals, he pointed to Cuomo on Thursday, appearing to agree with conservative talk radio host Sid Rosenberg’s comment that he would cheer another terror attack like 9/11 — a characterization the former governor disputes.

    Specifically, Cuomo was commenting on how Mamdani would not be ready to handle a crisis and said: “God forbid, another 9/11 – can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?” To which Rosenberg responded, “he’d be cheering,” prompting Cuomo to chuckle and say, “that’s another thing.”

    Mamdani also chided Adams for seeming to paint him as an Islamic extremist who seeks to “burn churches” and Sliwa for claiming that he supports “global jihad.”

    Cuomo’s action in particular drew backlash from prominent Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul as well as U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) and Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).

    The former governor defended his response to Rosenberg during his Friday event by saying he “didn’t take it seriously.” 

    “I can see where, if you took it seriously, it was offensive,” he said. “I didn’t take it seriously at the time, period.”

    Cuomo also rejected the concept of Mamdani’s speech, contending that the Queens lawmaker is the one dividing people, not himself. He suggested that Mamdani is calling all New Yorkers Islamophobic.

    “What he is doing is the oldest, dirtiest political trick in the book: Divide people,” Cuomo said. “It’s the cheapest trick … divide New Yorkers as a political tactic. It won’t work. New Yorkers won’t let you divide them.”

    When asked by amNewYork whether he believed his past statements on Palestine had contributed to the campaign attacks he condemned Friday, the Mamdani campaign referred us back to his statement today about being subjected to discrimination as a Muslim New Yorker.

    As for Sliwa, campaign spokesperson Daniel Kurzyna charged that Mamdani was attempting to smear his rivals as bigots merely to gain a political edge.

    “Curtis Sliwa has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Muslim New Yorkers for 50 years, working to protect their communities from violence and hate, and he will continue to do so as mayor,” Kurzyna said. “To weaponize accusations of Islamophobia for political gain is wrong and desperate, and New Yorkers deserve a campaign based on facts and solutions, not smears.”

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    Ethan Stark-Miller

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  • NYC Mayor’s Race: Mamdani offers statement after hours of silence on Israeli hostages’ return while Cuomo, Sliwa applaud their release | amNewYork

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    Republican Mayor nominee Curtis Sliwa (left), former Gov. and independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, and Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

    Photos by Lloyd Mitchell

    Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani waited more than 12 hours to address the release of the last remaining living Israeli hostages early on Monday morning — drawing criticism from rival Andrew Cuomo that he remained silent for too long.

    Cuomo, the former governor who is running as an independent, and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa applauded in Monday morning statements the last hostages’ release from Hamas’ custody, which occurred during the early hours of Oct. 13, New York time. Mamdani’s statement came in at 4:21 p.m. Monday; by then, Cuomo had blasted the Democratic candidate in a social media post a short time earlier, charging, “His silence speaks volumes.”

    Mamdani, who is a staunch Israel critic and pro-Palestinian advocate, applauded both the return of the hostages and the end to Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza — which he again referred to as “a genocide” — that the overarching ceasefire deal brought.

    “Today’s scenes of Israelis and Palestinians are profoundly moving: Israeli hostages being freed and families reunited after years of fear, uncertainty, and torture; the first days in Gaza without relentless Israeli bombardment of Palestinians as families return to rubble and loved ones freed from detention,” Mamdani said in a statement. “There is finally a glimmer of hope that this ceasefire will hold and the long, difficult work of reconstruction can begin.”

    Much of Mamdani’s statement focused on holding the Israeli government accountable for the massive toll of death and destruction in Gaza.

    “We have watched as our tax dollars have funded a genocide,” he said. “The moral and human cost will be a lasting stain and requires accountability and real examination of our collective conscience and our government’s policies. The responsibility now lies with those of us who believe in peace to make sure it endures, and that it is just. Once aid is delivered, the wounded are cared for, and a lasting agreement secured, we cannot look away. We must work towards a future built upon justice, one without occupation and apartheid, and for a world where every person can live with safety and dignity.”

    amNewYork asked the Mamdani campaign about the reasons for the delayed statement, and is awaiting a response.

    On Monday, Hamas returned the 20 living hostages and the remains of at least four deceased hostages as part of a ceasefire deal between itself and Israel to bring the 24-month war in Gaza to an end.

    The conflict began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which the group killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostages. Israel’s military offensive has since claimed the lives of over 68,000 Palestinians, displaced most of Gaza’s population from their homes, and left most of the coastal enclave in ruins.

    Also, as part of the deal, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held inside its jails.

    ‘A moral moment’

    While Mamdani focused mostly on the end of the war in Gaza, Cuomo and Sliwa barely mentioned it, instead focusing mostly on the return of the hostages.

    Cuomo cast the event as “a moral moment, a reminder of our shared humanity and the sacred value of every life.”

    “For two long years, families have lived through unimaginable pain, sleepless nights, and endless heartache,” Cuomo said. “Today, their prayers have been answered, as the remaining hostages are finally home in the arms of their loved ones, where they belong.”

    The former governor also urged people not to forget the Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught where Hamas took the hostages, quoting Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who documented his ordeal in the autobiography “Night” and won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for his life’s work advocating against violence, racism, and repression. 

    “Elie Wiesel once said, ‘The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference,’” Cuomo said. “Today, we reject indifference & choose remembrance. And we choose hope: hope that peace is possible.”

    Sliwa expressed similar sentiments in his own statement, in which he also credited President Trump with brokering the ceasefire deal. His praise came despite his rocky relationship with Trump.

    “After two long years, all the living hostages are now safely home! A massive weight has been lifted from their families’ shoulders,” Sliwa said. “The 20 surviving hostages are reunited with families and loved ones after 738 agonizing days in captivity. 7+3+8 = 18, which means Chai, which means “life” in Judaism. A number that embodies life, hope, and blessing. We pray that these hostages coming home can recover and live peacefully again.”

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    Ethan Stark-Miller

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  • Lander, Goldman refer ICE agent for federal prosecution over courtroom shove of Ecuadorian woman | amNewYork

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    New York elected officials are demanding accountability after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) supervisor was filmed shoving a woman to the ground inside 26 Federal Plaza, an incident that has sparked calls for federal prosecution and renewed criticism of immigration enforcement in the city.

    The ICE agent, who has been overseeing detentions inside the immigration court for months as immigrants attend their legally mandated court hearings, was relieved of his duties over Wednesday’s incident with Monica Moreta-Galarza, an immigrant from Ecuador, who was pleading with the officer to release her husband from custody.

    On Friday, Congressman Dan Goldman and City Comptroller Brad Lander formally referred the officer to the U.S. Department of Justice, urging Attorney General Pamela Bondi to pursue felony charges.

    According to their letter, the officer “violently and unnecessarily” threw Moreta-Galarza to the floor in front of her two young children shortly after her husband was detained following a court appearance related to his asylum application. Moreta-Galarza hit the back of her head and required hospital treatment, according to the politicians.

    “This flagrantly egregious conduct by this ICE officer is in apparent violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242,” Goldman and Lander wrote. “In this case, the officer, acting under the color of law, willfully used excessive physical force by throwing a young mother to the ground and thereby deprived the victim of her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.”

    The letter cited prior prosecutions of federal officers for excessive force, including a 2022 conviction of a Customs and Border Protection officer in California. “If, as you are fond of saying, ‘no one is above the law,’ then certainly this incident deserves prosecution under the very precedent set by you as Attorney General,” the lawmakers wrote to Bondi.

    “We respectfully request that you immediately investigate this incident in a timely manner and enforce the laws prohibiting this gross misconduct to the fullest extent. Every person in this country must be assured that federal officers are not above the law, and that if they engage in abuses of power, they will be held accountable for their actions,” they concluded.

    The unnamed ICE supervisor relieved of his duties by homeland security after he shoved a mother to the ground in 26 Federal Plaza.Photo by Dean Moses

    ‘Everyone should be held to the same law’

    The referral preceded a press conference in Queens, where Lander and state officials condemned both the assault and the broader pattern of ICE courthouse arrests.

    Lander, standing alongside Assemblymembers Tony Simone and Jessica González-Rojas and Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, said the push should not go unpunished. He said the violence at Federal Plaza is part of a climate of fear in which immigrants complying with legal proceedings are met with force.

    “This is the city that welcomes people from around the world, the most remarkable immigrant city,” Lander said, pointing to New York’s history as a refuge symbolized by the Statue of Liberty.

    “And so when we show up at 26 Federal Plaza, when we support immigrant rights groups in our neighborhood, when we demand and pass and defend and implement sanctuary city laws, we are doing it because that’s what it means to be New Yorkers.”

    González-Rojas described Queens as “the world’s borough,” emphasizing how immigrants are central to the borough’s communities and economy, but many are now “fearful of living their lives.”

    Simone, recalling his own family’s immigrant story, condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as “un-American.” He called out other mayor candidates, Mayor Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo, whom he said he was “ashamed of” for staying quiet.

    “We must stand together. I call out my Republican colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, who are chicken on this issue: rise up,” he said. “We can talk about affordability and protecting our fellow New Yorkers who thrive in our economy. Our economy will suffer without them.”

    Mamdani welcomed the news that the officer had been relieved of his duties, but said Wednesday’s incident was not what shocked him the most. He said it was the fact that “we knew that that act is taking place every day across this country, oftentimes unseen, unnoticed, and unabashed in its cruelty.”

    He told reporters the ICE officer was only relieved of duty after video of the assault spread widely.

    “It was only because of the response to this act that the officer has been relieved,” Mamdani said. “And it’s only from the responses from those who have been standing on the front lines of this fight, and so many Americans across the country, that we will finally hold this administration accountable for the ways in which they have torn apart the very fabric of this country.”

    Mamdani said, “It was only because of the response to this act that that officer has been relieved of their duties,” condemning ICE’s treatment of immigrant New Yorkers and pledging to defend sanctuary city protections if elected mayor
    Mamdani said, “It was only because of the response to this act that that officer has been relieved of their duties,” condemning ICE’s treatment of immigrant New Yorkers and pledging to defend sanctuary city protections if elected mayor.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    When asked if the ICE supervisor should be charged with a crime, Mamdani said: “I think that if the ICE agent has violated a law, and is found to have done so, then, yes, they should be charged.”

    “Everyone should be held to the same law. We can not have a separate system, especially for those who are seeking to enforce them,” he added.

    Mamdani pledged that, if elected mayor, he would uphold sanctuary city laws and expand legal representation for immigrants facing deportation, including hiring 200 lawyers so that the law department can return to pre-pandemic levels – “in stark contrast to Andrew Cuomo.”

    In response to the criticism of the former Governor at Friday’s press conference, Cuomo’s campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said, “Unlike Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo has not just forcefully condemned the misuse of ICE for years, but took action, signing the executive orders restricting New York’s cooperation with them on non-criminal matters, successfully guarded NY’s drivers license database from them and has continuously called out their abuses on the campaign trail.”

    “But if fraudster Mamdani is in a talkative mood, he should answer direct questions about his campaign promise to decriminalize prostitution, his refusal to apologize for calling the NYPD racist as promised and his vow to ‘seize the means of production,’ i.e. abolishing private property.” he added.

    Reps for Adams did not immediately return requests for comment.

    Goldman, though not at the rally, said Moreta-Galarza and her children fled to his district office across the street from Federal Plaza immediately after the incident, where they recounted what had happened before Moreta-Galarza was taken to the hospital.

    Goldman called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to take “appropriate disciplinary action and implement measures to prevent this from happening again.”

    Lander said his office is now working to connect the family with legal assistance.

    “ICE’s courthouse arrest policy has turned 26 Federal Plaza into a violent and dangerous place,” Lander said in the referral announcement with Goldman. “Shoving a bereft woman to the ground, causing injuries, is a criminal act and should be investigated as such. We demand accountability for this egregious violence and an end to this lawless policy.”

    amNewYork previously reported that now-removed ICE supervisor had been accused of using force against court attendees. Last month, he pulled a teenage girl from her father’s arms and restrained her as she cried. Several court observers had also complained for months about his physical behavior.

    The Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

    – With additional reporting from Dean Moses 

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    Adam Daly & Lloyd Mitchell

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  • NYC Mayor’s Race: Mamdani posts strong general election fundraising haul, while Cuomo and Adams lag behind | amNewYork

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    Former Gov. and independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo (left) and Democratic mayoral nominee and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani.

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani continued his strong fundraising performance over the past month, having amassed more than $1 million in private, mostly small contributions since mid-July, according to newly updated filings with the city Campaign Finance Board (CFB) on Friday.

    At the same time, independent candidates former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams lagged behind. Cuomo raised roughly half of Mamdani’s haul — $507,660, while Adams amassed $420,886.

    Mamdani, a democratic socialist Queens Assembly member, raked in $1,051,200 between July 12 and Aug. 18, according to CFB records. The haul came from 8,461 donors – with an average contribution of $121. Just under half of those contributions — 48% — came from New York City donors, with the rest coming from outside the five boroughs.

    CFB records indicate that Mamdani’s campaign submitted $281,270 of the sum in claims for the city’s public funds program, which matches eligible contributions 8-to-1. The campaign says it expects that amount to unlock over $3 million in matching funds.

    With the new private and anticipated public funds, the campaign says it has already raised over $7 million in the general election.

    “I’m thankful for the support of New Yorkers and for the fact that we continue to show that we are the choice of people across the five boroughs,” Mamdani, who won the June Democratic primary by nearly 13 points, said during an unrelated Friday news conference.

    Mamdani’s spokesperson Dora Pekec, in a statement, said the campaign’s strong fundraising stems from his vast grassroots support, while taking a shot at Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams’ donors with connections to Republican President Trump.

    “While Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams continue to rake in support from MAGA billionaires, our campaign is proud to be fueled by true grassroots support that speaks to the people-powered movement we’re building,” Pekec said. “With over 50,000 volunteers, thousands of small-dollar donors, and genuine enthusiasm for Zohran’s vision for a more affordable New York City, our momentum is surging.”

    Mamdani’s campaign spent $848,918 over the same period and has a war chest of nearly $4.4 million.

    The Assembly member was the first candidate to reach the $8.3 million spending limit in the Democratic primary. The spending cap has been reset for the general election.

    Cuomo and Adams reports

    The campaign for Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, said it expects to add to its $507,660 raise by unlocking $525,384 in matching funds. The combined sum would bring his total fundraising for the cycle to over $1 million.

    Cuomo’s campaign shelled out $579,470 over the same period and has roughly $1.2 million in his campaign account, CFB records show. More than half of Cuomo’s donations came from outside New York City. 

    Cuomo appears to be lagging behind Mamdani in fundraising now that he is running as the underdog, instead of as the presumed frontrunner, as he was in the primary. The former governor was not only able to quickly raise large amounts during the Democratic contest, but was backed by tens of millions of dollars in super PAC spending. 

    Adams’ $420,886 haul, meanwhile, was far lower than the $1.5 million he raised over the previous filing period. That could spell more trouble for his campaign, given the CFB’s continued refusal to grant it matching funds. His haul has $59,420 in matching fund claims.

    The mayor spent big over the past month — to the tune of $850,668 — but still has nearly $4 million in its coffers, according to the board.

    amNewYork reached out to both campaigns for comment and is awaiting responses.

    Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa’s campaign brought in $407,332, of which the campaign claimed $208,021 could be matched, CFB records show. He spent $345,314 and has $2 million cash on hand.

    Meanwhile, independent attorney Jim Walden reported raising just over $8,222 over the same period, records indicate. About $4,329 of that amount is eligible for public matching funds, records show.

    Walden’s campaign has spent $318,566 since mid-July. He has a balance of over $1.2 million in his campaign account.

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    Ethan Stark-Miller

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