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Tag: Mamdani

  • From ‘Drop Dead’ to ‘Let’s Build’: Mamdani pitches Queens housing development to Trump during surprise Washington trip | amNewYork

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    Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that his unannounced meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office was productive and expressed optimism about his pitch to build 12,000 units of affordable housing at Sunnyside Yards in Queens with the president’s support.

    In a photo posted following the meeting, Trump is seen holding two front pages of the Daily News. One is from 1975, when then‑President Gerald Ford famously told New York City to “drop dead” (as the tabloid put it) after City Hall requested an emergency loan to prevent bankruptcy. The other is a mock-up with the headline, “Trump to City: Let’s Build,” with a subheading noting, “Trump delivers 12,000 homes.”

    “I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon. I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City,” Mamdani wrote in the post directly after the visit. 

    Mamdani’s Press Secretary Joe Calvello said Thursday evening that the mayor presented Trump with the mock-up front pages as he pitched “a project with an estimated 12,000 units.” 

    “The president was very enthusiastic about the idea that we pitched him,” said Calvello. 

    He said that during Mamdani’s last in-person meeting with the President, Trump asked him to come back with “some big ideas on how we can build things together here in New York City, and that’s what he did today.”

    “The mayor took him up on his offer and went to DC today to pitch him about a possible project in NYC that could deliver one of the biggest federal investments in housing of the past 50 years,” said Calvello.

    In a statement issued late Thursday, the mayor’s office confirmed that the city is seeking $21 billion in federal grants to begin construction on the long-stalled, ambitious plan to build above the Sunnyside Yards. 

    In 2015, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio first suggested building on the site. In 2020, the city and Amtrak, the federal agency that owns the majority of the site, released a long-awaited ‘Sunnyside Yard Master Plan.’ 

    The master plan called for the creation of 100 percent affordable housing with 12,000 homes, 60 acres of new open space, equitable home ownership opportunities, the long-sought Sunnyside Station, and necessary infrastructure and other public amenities.

    At the time of the master plan’s release, the city’s Economic Development Corporation said the “generational plan” would likely be rolled out over several decades and involves decking over 115 acres of the 180-acre Sunnyside Yard. At the time, the estimated cost to build the deck would be about $5.4 billion– with the total cost of the platform and infrastructure about $14.4 billion. It then stalled under the Adams administration. 

    If the grants sought by the mayor are approved, Mamdani’s office said it would pave the way for the construction of those affordable homes, including 6,000 new Mitchell-Lama-style homes which were also outlined in the plan that was shaped by a series of public workshops and meetings held between May 2018 and the end of 2019. The project, city officials said, would create 30,000 union jobs and deliver new parks, schools, and health care clinics on the site. 

    “New York City is facing a generational affordability challenge,” Mayor Mamdani said. “Working families are being priced out of the neighborhoods they built. To meet this moment, we need a true federal partner prepared to invest boldly and act urgently. I appreciated the opportunity to speak directly with President Trump about building more housing in any single project than our city has seen since 1973.”

    According to the city, the Trump administration agreed to “continue discussions in the weeks ahead.”

    The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Plea to release students in ICE detention

    Also during Thursday’s meeting, Mamdani made a direct appeal to President Trump and secured the release of the Columbia University student who was arrested by ICE agents in her dorm building earlier that morning. The federal officers allegedly said they were NYPD officers looking for a missing child in order to gain access to the building of Elaina Aghayeva, a Columbia School of General Studies senior.

    Mamdani said he received a phone call from Trump after leaving the meeting, and “he has just informed me that she will be released imminently.” Aghayeva later posted on her Instagram story at around 3:45 p.m. that she had been released.

    Press Secretary Calvello said that after raising Aghayeva’s case, the mayor also gave Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, a list of four NYC students in ICE custody, asking them to consider dismissing their cases as well. 

    The mayor made the unannounced trip to Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning for a meeting with President Trump, the second in-person meeting between the two leaders whose relationship has drawn national attention.

    Mamdani’s visit was not listed on his public schedule and was first reported by The New York Times on Thursday morning. A source familiar with the meeting confirmed the mayor’s presence in the nation’s capital to amNewYork, but did not initially disclose the agenda.

    It comes nearly three months after the two held an unexpectedly cordial Oval Office discussion in November, when then-Mayor-elect Mamdani traveled to the White House. During that visit, they discussed shared concerns about housing affordability, public safety, and the cost of living.

    At the earlier November meeting, Trump praised Mamdani’s leadership potential and suggested a willingness to support initiatives to improve conditions in the city, even as both men acknowledged significant policy disagreements.

    U.S. President Donald Trump and then-New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani react as they speak to members of the media in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 21, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstREUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

    The 34-year-old mayor, a democratic socialist who took office in January, has repeatedly drawn sharp criticism from Trump, who during the 2025 mayoral campaign labeled him a “communist” — a false characterization, but the President has continued to use it. During the election, the president repeatedly threatened to cut off federal funding to the city if Mamdani were to win.

    In turn, Mamdani previously called Trump’s approach to governance authoritarian and fascist, and his election victory speech vowed to push back against the president’s threats to defund the city and meddle in his administration. Since taking office, however, the mayor has toned down his campaign criticism of the president as he seeks to foster a good relationship with the federal government. 

    The pair have kept in constant contact since their initial meeting, and when asked about the content of their conversations, Mamdani has kept the content and frequency of those conversations closely under wraps.

    Asked about it on Wednesday, after Trump shouted him out during his State of the Union address, Mamdani said: “I’ll keep the conversations that I have with the president private. I will tell you, however, that whenever they do happen, they always focus on how to better our city.”

     

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  • MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: NYC Schools reopen after snow day with 12,000 teachers out, student attendance at 63% | amNewYork

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    Monday, Feb. 24, marked the 55th day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did.

    As New York City continued digging out from the historic blizzard, public schools reopened on Tuesday with 12,000 teachers absent and about 63.3% of students returning — a decision that Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended as necessary, but one that raised concerns among City Council leaders.

    Speaking at a snowstorm update briefing on Feb. 24, Mamdani said the city was not in a position to pivot to remote instruction after midwinter break, noting that it could not ensure students had access to devices, making a last-minute switch to remote learning unworkable.

    He argued that schools play a critical role beyond academics, providing meals, mental health support, and childcare for working families, services he said were especially important once conditions were deemed safe after students had their first traditional snow day since 2019 on Monday.

    The mayor credited more than 8,000 Department of Education staff who worked through the weekend clearing snow, restoring heat and power, and preparing school buildings for reopening. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said more than 5,000 substitute teachers were brought in to cover absences after the call-outs of 15.38% of the workforce.

    Transportation disruptions appeared limited despite lingering storm impacts. City Hall said about 150,000 students typically rely on school buses, but only 78 complaints were reported Tuesday, with 15 of roughly 8,000 routes experiencing delays.

    Still, the decision to reopen drew concern from lawmakers representing districts hit hardest by the storm.

    Council Speaker Julie Menin said at a separate press briefing on Tuesday that she heard from numerous council members whose constituents were uneasy about sending children back to school so soon.

    “I heard from many council members, including Kamillah Hanks in Staten Island and Kayla Santosuosso of Brooklyn, who were hearing from parents concerned about getting their children to school and who really wanted the flexibility of a remote option,” Menin said. She added that flexibility should be considered during future major storms.

    Recently-elected Council Member Santosuosso on Tuesday said that despite the Department of Sanitation “moving mountains” overnight, it still wasn’t enough.

    “I’ve got teachers telling me the staff absences outweigh the sub headcount, and no shortage of hellish commutes for parents, kids, and teachers,” she posted on X.

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    The school reopening came as the city continued an all-hands response to what Mamdani called the “snowstorm of the decade.” Some neighborhoods, particularly on Staten Island, recorded 28 to 30 inches of snow, with high winds creating deep drifts that slowed cleanup efforts.

    City officials said 2,600 sanitation workers operated in successive 12-hour shifts, deploying more than 3,000 pieces of equipment and spreading over 143 million pounds of salt to plow every street across the five boroughs at least once. Sanitation crews also cleared thousands of crosswalks, fire hydrants, and bus stops, with additional work continuing due to blowing snow.

    An enhanced Code Blue remained in effect through Wednesday morning, with outreach teams making more than 250 placements for homeless New Yorkers since the weekend. Trash collection was suspended on Tuesday and set to resume on Wednesday evening, while alternate side parking was suspended through the end of the week.

    As temperatures rise later this week, city officials warned of falling snow and ice from rooftops and urged property owners to clear roofs safely.

    Education: CUNY professor’s hot-mic moment was reprehensible, says mayor

    Mayor Mamdani and Chancellor Samuels also faced questions Tuesday about a controversy involving a Hunter College professor, after a video surfaced showing the faculty member inadvertently cutting off a Black eighth-grade student who was raising concerns about the potential closure of her Upper West Side school during a Community Education Council meeting on Feb. 10.

    “They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,” Allyson Friedman, an associate biology professor at Hunter College, reportedly said on Zoom while her mic was live.

    Friedman later told the New York Times that her full remarks “make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group.”

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    When asked about the appropriate punishment for the remark and what it says about tensions surrounding the Upper West Side school relocation, Mamdani called the comment “reprehensible” and said it reflected “the exact kind of language that makes students feel as if they don’t belong within our public school system.” He added that the city is “looking to build a public school system that is home for each and every person that calls this city home.”

    Chancellor Samuels echoed Mamdani, calling the remark “abhorrent” and saying students “deserve so much better.” Samuels said the administration will work with the superintendent and school communities to repair any harm and strengthen teachers’ ability to address underlying issues in city schools.

    Pressed on whether Friedman should be fired, Mamdani said it would be part of the investigation into next steps, as Samuels had outlined.

    Appointments: Mamdani names Sideya Sherman City Planning Director, keeps key housing leaders

    Earlier Tuesday, Mamdani announced that he had appointed Sideya Sherman to lead the Department of City Planning and the City Planning Commission, while reappointing Eric Enderlin as President of the Housing Development Corporation and Edith Hsu-Chen as DCP Executive Director.

    Sherman, formerly the city’s Chief Equity Officer, has a long history in urban planning and affordable housing, including leadership roles at NYCHA and the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity.

    Hsu-Chen has been DCP’s executive director since 2022 and played a role in the “City of Yes” zoning reforms aimed at promoting housing, sustainability, and economic development. Enderlin, meanwhile, has led HDC since 2016, overseeing billions in municipal housing bonds and the financing of thousands of affordable homes.

    Then Executive Director of the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity Sideya Sherman pictured in 2021.NYC Mayoral Photography Unit

    The appointments come as the city implements new initiatives to speed up affordable housing construction, including the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT) and the Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development (SPEED) task forces. Last week, DCP launched the first public review under the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for an affordable housing project in Mott Haven, Bronx.

    Mayor Mamdani framed the changes as central to his administration’s affordability agenda, while Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg called the leadership team “critical to shaping the lived reality of our city.”

    “Sideya Sherman understands that planning is not an abstract exercise – it is about whether working people can afford to live in the city they call home. Her record in community engagement and equitable development makes her exactly the leader we need at City Planning,” said Mamdani.

    “I’m confident that she and Edith Hsu-Chen will move with urgency to deliver affordability, advance fair housing and build a city that works for everyday New Yorkers — not just the wealthy and well-connected,” Mamdani continued. “Eric Enderlin will continue to lead HDC’s groundbreaking work as the nation’s largest municipal Housing Finance Agency, bringing innovative financing tools to bear to build a more affordable city, starting with the homes that dot the five boroughs.”

    Annemarie Gray, Executive Director of Open New York, said Sherman’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the city’s housing policy. “New York City’s housing shortage is inextricably linked with its history of exclusionary zoning, and solving one means confronting the other,” Gray said. She added that Sherman “brings a deep understanding of the connection between racial equity and fair housing,” and that recent voter-approved charter changes give the city new tools to approve more homes faster.

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  • MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Mayor, Speaker Menin unite to open long-delayed child care center as property tax dispute loom | amNewYork

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    Thursday, Feb. 19, marks the 50th day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did.

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin appeared side by side Thursday morning to announce the opening of a long-delayed early childhood education center on the Upper East Side, offering a moment of alignment amid deeper, growing divisions over the city budget and proposed protest restriction leglislation.

    The Feb. 19 announcement marked the official opening of the District 2 Pre-K and 3-K Center at 403 East 65th St., a former parking garage completed in July 2025 that had sat unused for months under the prior administration. The center will open this fall, according to the mayor, adding more than 130 seats and becoming the first standalone, city-run early childhood education facility in the 10065 ZIP code.

    Officials said the center will quadruple 3-K capacity and double Pre-K capacity in the neighborhood, addressing a longstanding shortage that had forced families either to travel outside the area or pay for private child care. Families have until Feb. 27 to apply for seats.

    “While New York City families waited anxiously for child care options near their homes, the last administration refused to move with the urgency this crisis demands,” Mamdani said. “In the wealthiest city in the world, no parent should be forced to choose between raising their child and keeping their job.”

    Menin praised the opening as a “big win” for families and credited years of pressure from Community Board 8 and local parents. “The building has been ready, and families have been waiting,” she said, calling the delays under the previous administration unacceptable.

    “This is really a sign of what we need to do city wide, to open up more child care facilities, to make sure that every single parent that needs a slot for 3k and pre K has it,” Speaker Menin added. 

    Protests and NYPD

    Menin and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal spoke early in the event and left before the press conference’s Q&A, which would focus on issues where the mayor and the Council speaker are not currently aligned.

    Among them: proposed legislation introduced by Menin through the City Council’s newly formed Committee to Combat Hate. The bill would require the NYPD to develop and implement fixed security perimeters of up to 100 feet around entrances and exits of places of religious worship. A separate, closely related bill sponsored by Bronx City Council Member Eric Dinowitz would apply the same framework to educational facilities.

    In response to the staggering number of antisemitic hate crimes reported across the city, Menin, the Council’s first Jewish Speaker, rolled out a five-point plan last month to combat antisemitism, which includes the protest perimeter bill to protect congregants, creating a dedicated antisemitism reporting hotline, funding security at private schools, and providing community-based security training for Jewish organizations.

    The introduction Menin’s protest legislation was a direct result of two separate and widely condemned demonstrations near synagogues in Manhattan and Queens. Her bill followed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s support for similar legislation during her State of the State address which would ban protests within 25 feet of houses of worship.

    Mayor Mamdani on Thursday said that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has expressed concerns about the proposed buffer zone legislations, apparently what City & State had reported.

    A spokesperson for the NYPD also confirmed that Commissioner Tisch raised issued with the initial drafting of the bills, “and she is working closely with the speaker’s office to ensure that the language of the bill maintains the NYPD’s flexibility to both protect houses of worship and facilitate first amendment rights.” The bill is due to be discussed at a council hearing on Feb. 25.

    Mamdani said he has also directed the city’s Law Department and the NYPD to review its legality. 

    “I care deeply about ensuring that New Yorkers can worship freely in their own city, and that we also protect the First Amendment rights to protest at the same time,” Mamdani said, stopping short of endorsing the legislation.

    “We are expanding the amount of funding for our office to combat anti-Semitism, and we are also looking to utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure that we root out bigotry from across the five boroughs,” the mayor added.

    A spokesperson for the Speaker’s office said Menin has had “multiple productive conversations with Commissioner Tish and the commissioner had a few minor tweaks to the bill which will be included in a new version.” They did not clarify what those tweaks entail. 

    The mayor has already taken steps to balance the rights to protest and worship. Last month, he quietly reinstated an Adams-era executive order he had previously revoked: one that directed the NYPD to better regulate protests outside houses of worship, including synagogues.

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    A separate Adams-era directive to increase the NYPD’s uniformed headcount by 5,000 officers amid a growing staffing crisis was officially shelved by Mamdani in his preliminary budget on Tuesday.  

    Before being elected Mayor, then-candidate Mamdani said he had no intention of following through on the plan outlined in Adams’ November budget outline, and instead committed to maintaining the NYPD headcount as it is.

    In his $127 billion preliminary budget, the NYPD’s allocation is slated to go from roughly $6.4 billion this year to around $6.38 billion in 2027. After that slight decline, projected spending would rise again, reaching nearly $6.44 billion by 2030. 

    The budget plan sets aside $421 million to plug funding gaps the administration says were overlooked, such as mounting overtime costs within the police department, upgrading an aging fleet of squad cars, and paying for expanding and maintaining high-tech monitoring systems

    The department has lost an average of 316 officers per month in 2025 due to retirements and resignations, and its current headcount is below the budgeted levels.

    When asked about the pushback against not increasing he headcount, Mamdani said he is focused on addressing the department’s retention crisis, trying to reduce the “expanding number of responsibilities we’ve given to those officers.”

    Mamdani said his proposed Department of Community Safety was one way to shift the many responsibilities from officers and address overtime, noting that police are currently dispatched to roughly 200,000 mental health–related calls. Funding for the proposed Department is not included in the preliminary budget but will be added to the executive budget expected in late April, according to the mayor. 

    Property tax

    To eliminate the current budget gap, Mamdani on Tuesday outlined two options: secure Albany’s approval to raise taxes on top earners and corporations, or — if that effort falls short — turn to measures the city controls, such as a 9.5% property tax increase and tapping reserves. He described the property tax hike as a “last resort.”

    However, both approaches face steep obstacles. Gov. Kathy Hochul has firmly rejected new taxes as she campaigns for reelection, and Speaker Julie Menin has also dismissed the idea of raising property taxes.

    Menin’s appearance with Mamdani on Thursday followed an interview the day earlier on the right-wing radio show of  Sid Rosenberg on WABC Radio, where she criticized Mamdani’s preliminary budget proposal. Rosenberg has drawn criticism in the past, having labeled Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, a “terrorist” and claiming during the campaign that he would be “cheering” another 9/11. 

    Since the unveiling of his preliminary budget, Menin has said that potential property tax hikes should not be discussed amid the current affordability crisis. Speaking to Rosenberg on Wednesday, she emphasized that the City Council has the final say over property taxes and made clear it will not approve any hike. 

    Menin said shifting additional costs onto small homeowners and businesses during an affordability crunch is unacceptable, and “either dipping into the rainy day reserves or proposing any kind of property tax increase is not on the table for us.”

    Asked by a Politico reporter about Menin’s appearance on Rosenberg’s show after his Islamophobic comments about Hizzoner, Mamdani said he would let the Speaker answer that.

    A spokesperson for the Speaker’s office said Menin’s appearance on Rosenberg’s show was one of many media hits she did that day to discuss the budget but that she “vehemently disagrees” with the hosts views and past remarks about the Mayor. 

    “Speaker Menin vehemently disagrees with Sid Rosenberg on a whole range of topics. She strongly condemns his Islamophobic rhetoric. She appeared on WABC radio, as well as numerous outlets, to speak to New Yorkers about the impact of the city budget,” the spokesperson said. 

    Separately, Commissioner Tisch reportedly met Rosenberg for dinner last month, according to the Daily News.

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  • MAMDANI’S FIRST BUDGET: Mayor warns property tax hikes loom without state action | amNewYork

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    Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025.

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani sharpened the stakes of New York City’s budget negotiations Tuesday, warning that property tax increases could be unavoidable unless Albany agrees to raise taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents and most profitable corporations.

    Hours before releasing his first preliminary budget, Mamdani said the city is facing a $5.4 billion budget gap and laid out what he described as two paths forward: state-level tax increases to address a long-standing fiscal imbalance, or city-level measures that would shift the burden onto working New Yorkers.

    “After years of fiscal mismanagement, we’re staring at a $5.4 billion budget gap — and two paths,” Mamdani wrote in a statement posted ahead of the budget’s release. “One: Albany can raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy and the most profitable corporations and address the fiscal imbalance between our city and state. The other, a last resort: balance the budget on the backs of working people using the only tools at the City’s disposal.”

    Budget documents reviewed by amNewYork show that the mayor’s February 2026 Financial Plan balances the city’s budgets for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, but does so by relying on one-time actions, reserve drawdowns, and increased revenues, while projecting multibillion-dollar gaps in later years. 

    The plan assumes billions of dollars in additional property tax revenue beginning in fiscal 2027, totaling roughly $3.6 billion to $3.8 billion annually through 2030.

    Despite that assumption, the plan still projects out-year shortfalls of $6.7 billion in 2028, $6.8 billion in 2029, and $7.1 billion in 2030.

    Mamdani, who has repeatedly said he inherited a much larger deficit from the previous administration, has made raising taxes on wealthy residents and profitable corporations a centerpiece of his broader fiscal strategy. He urged state lawmakers last week to adopt a 2 percent personal income tax increase on those earning more than $1 million a year, alongside a corporate tax hike, as a “fair” way to preserve city services without deep cuts.

    Hochul repeats opposition to tax increases 

    Such changes would require Albany’s approval, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has so far resisted new taxes, even as she approved $1.5 billion in additional state funding to help close New York City’s budget hole.

    Speaking at an unrelated press briefing Tuesday morning, Hochul voiced her opposition to a possible property tax hike and emphasized that the mayor’s budget release marks the start, not the end, of negotiations.

    She also said updated revenue data has already improved the city’s fiscal outlook.

    “That picture is now complete,” she said, citing sales tax revenue as well as income taxes tied to stock sales and bonuses. “So it looks like the deficit came down to about $7 billion, down from $12 billion. That’s progress, but I know there’s a long way to go.”

    Asked specifically whether she would push back on a property tax increase, Hochul said, “I’m not supportive of a property tax increase. I don’t know that that’s necessary, but let’s find out what is really necessary to close.”

    She added that such decisions ultimately fall to city leaders. “That’s between the City Council and the mayor,” Hochul said. “That’s their prerogative to look at that as an option.”

    Property tax hike would be ‘crushing’ blow for homeowners

    The mayor’s projected property tax hikes have drawn immediate backlash from small rental property owners. Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY), said in a statement that raising property taxes while freezing rents would be “crushing to small owners, driving us into foreclosure and bankruptcy.”

    She added, “Owners of small rental properties are sick and tired of being treated like ATM machines every time the city needs to balance the budget… A Mayor who has never run a business knows nothing about the economic struggles and daily grind of small immigrant property owners.”

    Mamdani’s preliminary budget also includes early cost-containment measures, such as projected agency savings of $710 million in fiscal 2026 and roughly $1.1 billion annually in subsequent years, along with healthcare savings and staffing adjustments.

    Still, the mayor has argued that those steps alone cannot resolve what he calls a structural fiscal problem.

    With reporting from Ethan Stark-Miller 

    This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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  • Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration: New mayor vows not to soften democratic socialist agenda for governing NYC – amNewYork

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    Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened his administration Thursday with an explicit pledge to govern the nation’s largest city as a democratic socialist, saying he would not soften his politics as he ushered in the “new era.”

    “I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said in his inaugural address on New Year’s Day before a crowd of thousands gathered at City Hall and at a block party down the Canyon of Heroes.

    The declaration, made on the steps of City Hall, set the tone for a speech that framed his mayoralty as a test of whether a left-wing government can deliver for working people while confronting corporate power and economic inequality.

    “No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives,” he said, arguing that decades of deference to the private sector had eroded trust in government.

    He rejected advice to lower expectations at the outset of his term. “The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations,” Mamdani said. “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously.”

    Mamdani publicly commits to his campaign promises as mayor

    NYC’s new first couple: Mayor Zohran Mamdani (r.) with First Lady Rama Duwaji.Photo by Dean Moses
    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    Throughout the address, Mamdani returned to the question of who the city’s government serves. “Who does New York belong to?” he asked, answering later: “New York belongs to all who live in it, together.”

    He outlined priorities that he said reflect that commitment, including universal child care funded by taxing the wealthiest residents, freezing rents for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments, and making city buses “fast and free.” He said those policies were about expanding freedom in a city where, he argued, opportunity has too often depended on income.

    “For too long in our city, freedom has belonged only to those who can afford to buy it,” Mamdani said.

    The new mayor acknowledged skepticism from New Yorkers who opposed him, saying his administration would serve the entire city. “If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor,” he said, adding that only action would change minds.

    Mamdani framed the moment as one being closely watched beyond New York. “They want to know if the left can govern,” he said. “They want to know if it is right to hope again.”

    He urged supporters to remain engaged beyond the election, saying governing would require sustained public pressure and participation. “City Hall will not be able to deliver on our own,” Mamdani said.

    As he concluded, Mamdani cast the start of his term as the beginning of a longer struggle rather than a victory lap.

    “The work continues,” he said. “The work endures. The work, my friends, has only just begun.”

    ‘Radical agenda’

    Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who administered the oath of office, praised Mamdani’s election as a watershed moment for grassroots politics and working people, calling it “the biggest political upset in modern American history.”

    Sanders thanked New Yorkers for what he described as a volunteer-driven campaign that challenged entrenched political and economic power.

    “You took on the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the President of the United States, and some enormously wealthy oligarchs,” Sanders said. “And you defeated them.”

    Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders swears in Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
    Mayor Zohran Mamdani is sworn in by Vermont Senator Bernie SandersPhoto by Dean Moses

    He framed the victory as a response to growing disillusionment with democracy in the United States and beyond. “At a moment when people in America — in fact, throughout the world — are losing faith in democracy,” Sanders said, Mamdani’s election showed that “when working people stand together, when we don’t let them divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”

    Sanders acknowledged that governing would be more difficult than campaigning, telling the crowd that while winning the election was hard, “governing a city of 8 million people with all of its complexities” would be harder still.

    He urged supporters to remain engaged, saying that “grassroots democracy and people participating in the day-to-day struggles of this city will lead to good governance.”

    Addressing criticism of Mamdani’s agenda, Sanders rejected claims that the policies were radical. Making housing affordable, providing free, high-quality child care, offering free public transportation, and ensuring access to affordable food, he said, were “not radical,” but “the right and decent thing to do.”

    Sanders also called for higher taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, saying it was unacceptable that billionaires and major companies pay little in taxes while millions live paycheck to paycheck. “That has got to end,” he said.

    Mayor for all

    U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opened the inauguration ceremony Thursday, framing the event as a collective moment for the city’s residents and calling for greater civic participation in the years ahead.

    She described the ceremony as an inauguration for all New Yorkers, saying the city had chosen “historic, ambitious leadership in response to unprecedented times.”
    “New York, we have chosen courage over fear,” she said. “We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few.”

    Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-CortezPhoto by Dean Moses

    Ocasio-Cortez highlighted policy goals she said New Yorkers had embraced, including “the ambitious pursuit of universal child care, affordable rents and housing and clean and dignified public transit for all,” while rejecting “the distractions of bigotry and the barbarism of extreme income inequality.”

    Calling the moment “an inauguration for all of us,” she urged residents to reengage in civic and community life, saying, “A city for all will require all of us to fill our streets, our schools, our houses of faith, our PTAs, and our block associations.”

    She noted several historic firsts for the incoming mayor, saying he “will be the first Muslim mayor of our great city,” “our first immigrant mayor in over a century,” and “the youngest mayor of New York City in generations.”

    “But most importantly,” she said, “Zohran will be a mayor for all of us.”

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

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    Adam Daly

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  • Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station

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    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.

    Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.

    “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.

    The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.

    In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.

    The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.

    Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

    Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.

    In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

    In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

    But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

    Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

    He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

    Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.

    Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.

    Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.

    He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

    During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.

    But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

    “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.

    Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.

    Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.

    The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.

    That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

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  • Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station

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    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.

    Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.

    “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.

    The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.

    In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.

    The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.

    Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

    Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.

    In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

    In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

    But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

    Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

    He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

    Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.

    Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.

    Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.

    He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

    During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.

    But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

    “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.

    Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.

    Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.

    The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.

    That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

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  • Taking inspiration from Mamdani, democratic socialists look to expand their power in L.A.

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    The revelers who packed Tuesday’s election night party in L.A.’s Highland Park neighborhood were roughly 2,500 miles from the concert hall where New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani celebrated his historic win.

    Yet despite that sprawling distance, the crowd, heavily populated with members of the L.A. chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, had no trouble finishing the applause lines delivered by Mamdani, himself a DSA member, during his victory speech.

    “New York!” Mamdani bellowed on the oversized television screens hung throughout the Greyhound Bar & Grill. “We’re going to make buses fast and — “

    “Free!” the crowd inside the bar yelled back in response.

    In Los Angeles, activists with the Democratic Socialists of America have already fired up their campaigns for the June election, sending out canvassing teams and scheduling postcard-writing events for their chosen candidates. But they’re also taking fresh inspiration from Mamdani’s win, pointing to his inclusive, unapologetic campaign and his relentless focus on pocketbook issues, particularly among working-class voters.

    The message that propelled Mamdani to victory resonates just as much in L.A., said City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who won her seat in 2022 with logistical support from the DSA.

    “What New York City is saying is that the rent is too damn high, that affordability is a huge issue not just on housing, but when it comes to grocery shopping, when it comes to daycare,” she said. “These are the things that we’re also experiencing here in Los Angeles.”

    City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, appearing at a rally in Lincoln Heights last year, said New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s message will resonate in L.A.

    (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

    DSA-LA, which is a membership organization and not a political party, has elected four of its endorsed candidates to the council since 2020, ousting incumbents in each of the last three election cycles. They’ve done so in large part by knocking on doors and working to increase turnout among renters and lower-income households.

    The chapter hopes to win two additional seats in June. Organizers have begun contemplating a full-on socialist City Council — possibly by the end of 2028 — with DSA members holding eight of the council’s 15 seats.

    “We would like a socialist City Council majority,” said Benina Stern, co-chair of DSA’s Los Angeles chapter. “Because clearly that is the logical progression, to keep growing the bloc.”

    Despite those lofty ambitions, it could take at least five years before the L.A. chapter matches this week’s breakthrough in New York City.

    Mayor Karen Bass, a high-profile leader within the Democratic Party with few ties to the DSA, is now running for a second term. Her only major opponent is former schools superintendent Austin Beutner, who occupies the center of the political spectrum in L.A. Real estate developer Rick Caruso, a longtime Republican who is now a Democrat, has not disclosed his intentions but has long been at odds with DSA‘s progressive policies.

    In L.A., DSA organizers have put their emphasis on identifying and campaigning for candidates in down-ballot races, not citywide contests. Part of that is due to the fact that L.A. has a weak-mayor system, particularly when compared with New York City, where the mayor has responsibility not just for city services but also public schools and even judicial appointments.

    L.A. council members propose and approve legislation, rework the budgets submitted by the mayor and represent districts with more than a quarter of a million people. As a result, DSA organizers have chosen the council as their path to power at City Hall, Stern said.

    “The conditions in Los Angeles and New York I think are very different,” she said.

    Since 2020, DSA-LA has been highly selective about its endorsement choices. The all-volunteer organization sends applicants a lengthy questionnaire with dozens of litmus test questions: Do they support diverting funds away from law enforcement? Do they oppose L.A.’s decision to host the Olympics? Do they support a repeal of L.A.’s ban on homeless encampments near schools?

    Once a candidate secures an endorsement, DSA-LA turns to its formidable pool of volunteers, sending them out to help candidates knock on doors, staff phone banks and stage fundraising events.

    During Tuesday’s party, DSA-LA organizers recruited new members to assist with the reelection campaigns of Hernandez and Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, a former labor organizer. They distributed postcard-sized fliers with the message, “Hate Capitalism? So do we.”

    Standing nearby was Estuardo Mazariegos, a tenant rights advocate now running to replace Councilmember Curren Price in a South L.A. district. Mazariegos, 40, said he first became interested in the DSA in the seventh grade, when his middle school civics teacher displayed a DSA flag in her classroom.

    The crowd at the Greyhound in Highland Park reacts to results on Tuesday.

    The crowd at the Greyhound in Highland Park reacts to results on Tuesday.

    (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

    Mazariegos hailed the results from New York and California, saying voters are “taking back America for the working people of America.” He sounded somewhat less excited about Bass, a former community organizer who has pursued some middle-of-the-road positions, such as hiring more police officers.

    Asked if he supports Bass’ bid for a second term, Mazariegos responded: “If she’s up against a billionaire, yes.”

    “If she’s up against another comrade, maybe not,” he added, laughing.

    When Bass ran in November 2022, DSA-LA grudgingly recommended a vote for her in its popular voter guide, describing her as a “status quo politician.”

    Councilmember Nithya Raman, who represents a Hollywood Hills district, is far more enthusiastic. Raman has worked closely with Bass on efforts to move homeless Angelenos indoors, while also seeking fixes to the larger systems that serve L.A.’s unhoused population.

    “Karen Bass is the most progressive mayor we’ve ever had in L.A,” said Raman, who co-hosted the election night party with the other three DSA-aligned council members, DSA-LA and others.

    Raman was the first of the DSA-backed candidates to win a council seat in L.A., running in 2020 as a reformer who would bring stronger renter protections and a network of community access centers to assist homeless residents.

    Two years later, voters elected labor organizer Soto-Martínez and Hernandez. Tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado became the fourth last year, ousting Councilmember Kevin de León.

    Stern, the DSA-LA co-chair, said she believes the four council members have brought a “sea change” to City Hall, working with their progressive colleagues to expand the city’s teams of unarmed responders, who are viewed as an alternative to gun-carrying police officers.

    The DSA voting bloc also shaped this year’s city budget, voting to reduce the number of new recruits at the Los Angeles Police Department and preserve other city jobs, Stern said.

    To be clear, the four-member bloc has pursued those efforts by working with other progressives on the council who are not affiliated with the DSA but more moderate on other issues. Beyond that, the group has plenty of detractors.

    Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said DSA-backed council members are making the city worse, by pushing for a $30 per hour hotel minimum wage and a $32.35 minimum wage for construction workers.

    “No one is ever going to build a hotel in this city again, and DSA were a part of that,” he said. “Pretty soon no one will build housing, and the DSA is a part of that too.”

    The union that represents LAPD officers vowed to fight the DSA’s effort to expand its reach, saying it would work to ensure that “Angelenos are not bamboozled by the socialist bait and switch.”

    “Socialists want to bait Angelenos into talking about affordability, oppression and fairness, get their candidates elected, and then switch to enact their platform that states ‘Defund the police by rejecting any expansion to police budgets … while cutting [police] budgets annually towards zero,’” the union’s board of directors said in a statement.

    In New York City, Mamdani has proposed a series of measures to make the city more affordable, including free bus fares, city-run grocery stores and a four-year freeze on rent increases inside rent stabilized apartment units.

    Some of those ideas have already been tried in L.A.

    In 2020, weeks into the COVID-19 shutdown, Mayor Eric Garcetti placed a moratorium on rent hikes for more than 600,000 rent-stabilized apartments. The council kept that measure in place for four years.

    Around the same time, L.A. County’s transit agency suspended mandatory collection of bus fares. The agency started charging bus passengers again in 2022.

    City Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Eunisses Hernandez celebrate at an election party.

    City Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Eunisses Hernandez celebrate at the election night party they co-hosted with Democratic Socialists of America’s L.A. chapter and two other council members.

    (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

    In recent months, the DSA-LA has pushed for new limits on rent increases inside L.A.’s rent-stabilized apartments. Raman, who chairs the council’s housing committee, is backing a yearly cap of 3% in those buildings, most of which were built before October 1978.

    Hernandez, whose district stretches from working-class Westlake to rapidly gentrifying Highland Park, is a believer in shifting the Overton Window at City Hall — moving the political debate left and “putting people over profits.”

    Like others at the election party, Hernandez is hoping the council will eventually have eight DSA-aligned members in the coming years, saying such a shift would be a “game changer.” With a clear majority, she said, the council would not face a huge battle to approve new tenant protections, expand the network of unarmed response teams and place “accountability measures” on corporations that are “making money off our city.”

    “There’s so many things … that we could do easier for the people of the city of Los Angeles if we had a majority,” she said.

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    David Zahniser

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  • California D.A. retweets 9/11 attack images as he slams Mamdani

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    A California district attorney reposted on social media 9/11 images along with comments blasting the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Despite the gory images and strong denunciation of Mamdani, Dan Dow insists that he has no issues with the Muslim community in San Luis Obispo County, where he is the top prosecutor.

    He has “strong ties” with the community, Dow said in an emailed statement Thursday to The Times.

    But his posts have drawn backlash, and a Muslim advocacy organization is demanding an apology and an investigation.

    On Wednesday, Dow retweeted a post on X from a popular right-wing account that appeared to show a snapshot moments after flames jutted from the South Tower, the second of the twin towers struck by a plane on Sept. 11, 2001.

    A second visual tweet, more graphic than the first, displayed footage from two angles of a plane barreling into one of the towers. That was posted by the leader of an activist organization, described as a hate group by some, that claims to “combat the threats from Islamic supremacists, radical leftists and their allies.”

    Each was posted in the aftermath of the New York City mayoral election won by 34-year-old democratic socialist Mamdani.

    The posts were retweeted and subtweeted days later and 3,000 miles away by Dow, drawing rebuke from some locals, in a story first broken by the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

    Dow responded to a Times email for comment saying his issue was not with the county’s Muslim population, which numbers around 500, according to the Assn. of Religion Data Archives.

    “I shared the posts because, in my opinion, Mamdani is going to destroy New York being a self-proclaimed socialist,” Dow responded. “I support the Muslim community and have strong ties to our Muslim community in San Luis Obispo.”

    The first post Dow retweeted came from the account @EndWokeness, which vows to its nearly 4 million followers that it’s “fighting, exposing, and mocking wokeness.”

    The second post came from Amy Mekelburg, founder of Rise, Align, Ignite and Reclaim (RAIR) Foundation, which is listed as a hate organization by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

    The council’s Los Angeles office demanded Thursday evening that Dow apologize and “retract his recent anti-Muslim social media posts.” CAIR-LA is also asking for an independent investigation into Dow’s conduct and “his fitness to continue to serve as DA.”

    The organization is incensed at his retweeting of Mekelburg, whom they describe as “a known anti-Muslim extremist.”

    Mekelburg wrote a sizable message on the video post, saying she’d “given my entire self” to warn the world “about the threat of Islam after 9/11.”

    “And now … to see New York — my city — stand in this moment, where someone like Zohran Mamdani could even be elected,” she wrote. “My God, New York, what have you done?”

    CAIR-LA said that Mekelburg “falsely equated the election of Mamdani with 9/11, reinforcing the harmful stereotype that Muslims are inherently tied to terrorism simply because of their faith.”

    Dow subtweeted that specific post with a message that began by highlighting his 32 years of service in the U.S. Army and his four tours overseas.

    “I remember like it was yesterday our nation being attacked by Islamic extremists on 9/11/2001,” he wrote. “I love this country and I do not in any way share the same views as the 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani.”

    He added in the tweet: “I am very sad to see the Big Apple torn apart by electing an un-American socialist who wants to trample on the values and freedoms that millions of Americans have fought and died for.”

    “Dow’s decision to repost content that weaponizes bigotry and baselessly ties an elected Muslim official to terrorism is appalling and reflects the deeply rooted dehumanization and fearmongering in this country that American Muslims have had to endure for decades,” CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said in a statement.

    Dow’s posts also struck a nerve with one of his Muslim allies in San Luis Obispo, Dr. Rushdi Cader, who referred to the district attorney as “a personal friend” to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

    Cader told the Tribune the posts were “highly incendiary and puts Muslims at risk for harm, especially hijab-wearing Muslim women like my wife Nisha, whom Dan has himself described as ‘a kind and gentle lady’ who he ‘prayed would be blessed with peace.’”

    Cader added he thought Dow’s “ugly post” was borne “out of disagreement with Mamdani’s politics” rather than any direct attack on Islam.”

    Dow’s tweets drew other rebukes.

    San Luis Obispo County Second District Supervisor Bruce Gibson called Dow a “Christian nationalist.”

    He “occupies a powerful public office that requires decency and discipline,” Gibson said of Dow. “This post is yet another example that he has neither.”

    San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart emailed The Times to say that the city was welcoming to all community members.

    “Dan Dow, as the county’s District Attorney, by definition, should be objective and fair,” she wrote. “For someone in his position to express racism is unacceptable.”

    Dow had his defenders too.

    Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer serves with Dow on the California District Attorneys Assn. Spitzer is the organization’s secretary-treasurer while Dow is the president.

    Spitzer found no fault with Dow’s social media posts.

    “Elected officials have a platform to share their views and be judged by their constituents,” he wrote in an email. “It is heartbreaking to see someone who has expressed such anti-public safety and anti-Semitic sentiments elected as mayor of New York, and we as the elected protectors of public safety have a right to express that.”

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    Andrew J. Campa

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  • ‘Build a FL border wall’: DeSantis mocks Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral win

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    Credit: Shutterstock

    Before Tuesday’s elections in other states, Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly said a win in the New York City mayor’s race by Democrat Zohran Mamdani would be a boon for Florida real-estate agents as New Yorkers would move.

    After Mamdani’s dominant win Tuesday, DeSantis continued the trolling by posting a poll asking how Florida should respond: “Build a FL border wall” “Tariff all transplants” or “Recruit new transplants.”

    The poll closed Thursday morning with 45,282 responses. The border-wall proposal got more than 48 percent. Tariffs were second.

    When state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, posted online that “Florida should tariff everyone fleeing NYC,” DeSantis replied, “Have you filed that bill?”

    Meanwhile, Republican state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia called Mamdani’s victory “a sad day for NYC.”

    “The ‘Big Apple’ is now government issued and will be rationed accordingly,” Ingoglia posted on X.

    But Florida Democrats offered a much different outlook after Tuesday night, combining Mamdani with Democrats winning gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and the results in the Miami mayor’s race where Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins will face former Miami City Manager Emilio González in a runoff.

    “Last night was not an anomaly or a blip. It’s a rational call to restore order amidst chaos and a resolute reminder that hope is still on the ballot,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters.

    “They (voters) want the government back open,” Fried said. “They want to make sure that their kids are fed. They want to make sure that they have access to affordable health care. They want prices to come down. They want the economy to grow, and they want to stop the chaos in Washington.”

    Fried said national “momentum” could help Florida Democrats, who do not hold any statewide offices and are far outpaced in voter registration by Republicans.

    “We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m not overstating the amount of work that needs to get done,” Fried said. “But I do think that we are on the right course to start picking up some of these really important elections across the state.”

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    His lawsuit accuses Planned Parenthood of falsely advertising that abortion medication is “safer than Tylenol.”

    Spooky season had one final and belated hurrah on Conduit’s stage this week

    ‘SB 164 could be the beginning of a slippery slope where the state treats embryos and fetuses as ‘persons’ under the law.’



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    Jim Turner, News Service of Florida
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  • Democratic wins nationwide, a major rebuke of Trump, offer the left hope for 2026

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    NEW YORK — At the top of his victory speech at a Brooklyn theater late Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani — the 34-year-old democratic socialist just elected New York’s next mayor — spoke of power being gripped by the bruised and calloused hands of working Americans, away from the wealthy elite.

    “Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it,” he said. “The future is in our hands.”

    The imagery was apropos of the night more broadly — when a beaten-down Democratic Party, still nursing its wounds from a wipeout by President Trump a year ago, forcefully took back what some had worried was lost to them for good: momentum.

    From coast to coast Tuesday night, American voters delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump and his MAGA movement, electing Democrats in important state and local races in New York, New Jersey and Virginia and passing a major California ballot measure designed to put more Democrats in Congress in 2026.

    The results — a reversal of the party’s fortunes in last year’s presidential election, when Trump swept the nation’s swing states — arrived amid deep political division and entrenched Republican power in Washington. Many voters cited Trump’s agenda, and related economic woes, as motivating their choices at the ballot box.

    The wins hardly reflected a unified Democratic Party nationally, or even a shared left-wing vision for a future beyond Trump. If anything, Mamdani’s win was a challenge to the Democratic Party establishment as much as a rejection of Trump.

    His vision for the future is decidedly different than that of other, more moderate Democrats who won elsewhere in the country, such as Abigail Spanberger, the 46-year-old former CIA officer whom Virginians elected as their first female governor, or Mikie Sherrill, the 53-year-old former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor who won the race for New Jersey governor.

    Still, the cascade of victories did evoke for many Democrats and progressives a political hope that they hadn’t felt in a while: a sense of optimism that Trump and his MAGA movement aren’t unstoppable after all, and that their own party’s ability to resist isn’t just alive and well but gaining speed.

    “Let me underscore, it’s been a good evening — for everybody, not just the Democratic Party. But what a night for the Democratic Party,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said during his own remarks on the national wins. “A party that is in its ascendancy, a party that’s on its toes, no longer on its heels.”

    “I hope it’s the first of many dominoes that are going to happen across this country,” Noah Gotlib, 29, of Bushwick said late Tuesday at a victory party for Mamdani. “I hope there’s a hundred more Zohrans at a local, state, federal level.”

    On a night of big wins, Mamdani’s nonetheless stood out as a thunderbolt from the progressive left — a full-throated rejection not just of Trump but of Mamdani’s mainstream Democratic opponent in the race: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

    Mamdani — a Muslim, Ugandan-born state assemblyman of Indian descent — beat Cuomo first in the Democratic ranked-choice primary in June. Cuomo, bolstered by many of New York’s moneyed interests afraid of Mamdani’s ideas for taxing the rich and spending for the poor, reentered the race as an independent.

    Trump attacked Mamdani time and again as a threat. He said Monday that he would cut off federal funding to New York if Mamdani won. He even took the dramatic step of endorsing Cuomo over Curtis Sliwa, the Republican in the race, in a last-ditch effort to block Mamdani’s stunning political ascent.

    Instead, city voters surged to the polls and delivered Mamdani a resounding win.

    “To see him rise above all of these odds to actually deliver a vision of something that could be better, that was what really attracted me to the [Democratic Socialists of America] in the first place,” said Aminata Hughes, 31, of Harlem, who was dancing at an election-night party when Mamdani was announced the winner.

    “A better world is possible,” the native New Yorker said, “and we’re not used to hearing that from our politicians.”

    In trademark Trump fashion, the president dismissed the wins by his rival party, suggesting they were a result of two factors: the ongoing federal shutdown, which he has blamed on Democrats, and the fact that he wasn’t personally on people’s ballots.

    Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s chief advisors, posted a paragraph to social media outlining the high number of mixed-status immigrant families in New York being impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and mass deportation campaign, which Miller has helped lead.

    Democrats in some ways agreed. They pointed to the shutdown and other disruptions to Americans’ safety and financial security as motivating the vote. They pointed to Trump’s immigration tactics as being an affront to hard-working families. And they pointed to Trump himself — not on the ballot but definitely a factor for voters, especially after he threatened to cut off funds to New York if the city voted for Mamdani again.

    “President Trump has threatened New York City if we dare stand up to him. The people of New York came together and we said, ‘You don’t threaten New York,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). “We’re going to stand up to bullies and thugs in the White House.”

    “Today we said ‘no’ to Donald Trump and ‘yes’ to democracy,” New Jersey Democratic Chair LeRoy J. Jones Jr. told a happy crowd at Sherrill’s watch party.

    “Congratulations to all the Democratic candidates who won tonight. It’s a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win,” former President Obama wrote on social media. “We’ve still got plenty of work to do, but the future looks a little bit brighter.”

    In addition to winning the New York mayoral and New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, Democrats outperformed Republicans in races across the country. They held several seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and won the Virginia attorney general’s race. In California, voters passed Proposition 50, a ballot measure giving state Democrats the power to redraw congressional districts in their favor ahead of next year’s midterms.

    Newsom and other Democrats had made Proposition 50 all about Trump from the beginning, framing it as a direct response to Trump trying to steal power by convincing red states such as Texas to redraw their own congressional lines in favor of Republicans.

    Trump has been direct about trying to shore up Republicans’ slim majority in the House, to help ensure they retain power and are able to block Democrats from thwarting his agenda. And yet, he has suggested California’s own redistricting effort was illegal and a “GIANT SCAM” under “very serious legal and criminal review.”

    Trump had also gone after several of the Democrats who won on Tuesday directly. In addition to Mamdani, Trump tried to paint Spanberger and Sherrill as out-of-touch liberals too, attacking them over some of his favorite wedge issues such as transgender rights, crime and energy costs. Similar messaging was deployed by the candidates’ Republican opponents.

    In some ways, Trump was going out on a political limb, trying to sway elections in blue states where his grip on the electorate is smaller and his influence is often a major motivator for people to get out and vote against him and his allies.

    His weighing in on the races only added to the sense that the Democrats’ wins marked something bigger — a broader repudiation of Trump, and a good sign for Democrats heading into next year’s midterms.

    Marcus LaCroix, 42, who voted for the measure at a polling site in Lomita on Tuesday evening, described it as “a counterpunch” to what he sees as the excesses and overreach of the Trump administration, and Trump’s pressure on red states to redraw their lines.

    “A lot of people are very concerned about the redistricting in Texas,” he said. “But we can actually fight back.”

    Ed Razine, 27, a student who lives in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, was in class when he heard Mamdani won. Soon, he was celebrating with friends at Nowadays, a Bushwick dance club hosting an election watch party.

    Razine said Mamdani’s win represented a “new dawn” in American politics that he hopes will spread to other cities and states across the country.

    “For me, he does represent the future of the Democratic Party — the fact that billionaires can’t just buy our election, that if someone really cares to truly represent the everyday person, people will rise up and that money will not talk,” Razine said. “At the end of the day, people talk.”

    The Associated Press and Times staff writer Connor Sheets contributed to this report.

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    Kevin Rector, Summer Lin

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  • Champion of Dollar Slices and Rent Freezes: Small Businesses React To Mamdani Win in NYC Mayoral Race

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    New York assemblyman Zohran Mamdani seamlessly clinched the win Tuesday evening in New York City’s mayoral election in what has become the latest David and Goliath political tale.

    Mamdani defeated his opponents, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa, who ran as the Republican nominee, with Mamdani grabbing more than 50 percent of votes. Mamdani, 34, largely mobilized young voters who turned out in hoards and were excited by a fresh, progressive face to enter politics. Mamdani defeated Cuomo back in July in the Democratic primary as well, with 56.4 percent of the vote, while Cuomo nabbed 43.6 percent.

    Tackling affordability was a staple of Mamdani’s campaign and likely helped deliver his win in America’s most expensive city, one that continues to grapple with rising costs. Among other things, he’s promised to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized tenants, roll out a free childcare program, raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, and even resurrect the $1 slice. 

    For small businesses specifically, Mamdani wants to slash small business fines, inject $25 million in an underutilized small business financing program, and appoint a dedicated “Mom & Pops Czar.” But Mamdani’s tax policy has drawn fire from political opponents. He seeks to raise the corporate tax rate from 8.85 percent to 11.5 (matching New Jersey’s rate), and impose a two percent flat tax on high-earners, defined as those making $1 million or more each year. Critics warn that if these are enacted, the city could see an exodus of the wealthy. 

    Now begins the next step: Getting to work and delivering on the campaign promises he made. So are business owners ready? Inc. spoke with four entrepreneurs to see what they’re monitoring closely. 

    Affordable housing

    As New York City contends with a housing shortage and steep rent increases, local business owners like Josue Pierre, co-founder of Rogers Burgers in New York City, is hopeful that Mamdani will deliver on his promise of constructing 200,000 affordable housing units within the next 10 years. 

    “It’s great for the city as a whole because if our customer base can no longer afford to live in the city, then we will not be able to stay open,” Pierre says. “So seeing a Mamdani win is great for the average New Yorker, but it’s great for small businesses like mine.”

    Nelson Chu, the founder of the private credit platform Percent, anticipates that Mamdani will take a tougher posture on some sectors, like finance and real estate, but companies aren’t going to pack up and relocate overnight.

    “Finance folks may brace for more scrutiny in the short term; upside could be momentum on housing, transit, and small-biz support that broadens who can start and scale here,” Chu says. 

    At the end of the day, Chu says that most founders simply want faster rules, quicker permits, and streets that are safe and hygienic. He adds: “The real test is which proposals actually get implemented versus which stall out; that’s when you’ll see hiring, investment, and office decisions move.”

    Access to capital

    Chat Joglekar, the CEO and co-founder of the small business acquisition marketplace Baton, predicts that Mamdani will likely tighten financial and real estate regulations, but could also expand certain capital opportunities for businesses.

    While it does not appear that Mamdani has outlined specific capital access goals, he does want to invest $25 million in New York City’s Business Express Service Teams. The program connects business owners with city workers tasked with helping businesses apply for permits and abide by local regulations. 

    “We’d likely see renewed focus on equitable entrepreneurship and local reinvestment, which could broaden who gets to buy, build, and scale a business in New York,” Joglekar says. “The city’s next chapter will hinge on how well its leaders balance ambition with execution, turning promises into practical improvements that keep the country’s small business capital open for business.”

    The $30 minimum wage

    The general minimum wage in New York City sits at $16.50. Mamdani is proposing to effectively double it within four years. This concerns Aron Boxer, the CEO and founder of Diversified Education Services, a tutoring service. Boxer, who also partially owns the Tipsy Turtle, a sports bar nestled in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay, says the wage hike would be devastating. 

    “In California, when they jacked up minimum wage, kiosks and automation replaced workers to offset rising costs (causing mass layoffs), but New York’s hospitality industry doesn’t have that luxury,” Boxer says.

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    Melissa Angell

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  • Zohran Mamdani Wins NYC Mayor’s Race, Capping A Stunning Ascent – KXL

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City on Tuesday, capping a stunning ascent for the 34-year-old state lawmaker, who was set to become the city’s most liberal mayor in generations.

    In a victory for the Democratic party’s progressive wing, Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani must now navigate the unending demands of America’s biggest city and deliver on ambitious — skeptics say unrealistic — campaign promises.

    With the victory, the democratic socialist will etch his place in history as the city’s first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage and the first born in Africa. He will also become the city’s youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on Jan. 1.

    Mamdani’s unlikely rise gives credence to Democrats who have urged the party to embrace more progressive, left-wing candidates instead of rallying behind centrists in hopes of winning back swing voters who have abandoned the party.

    He has already faced scrutiny from national Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who have eagerly cast him as a threat and the face of what they say is a more radical Democratic Party.

    The contest drove the biggest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years, with more than 2 million New Yorkers casting ballots, according to the city’s Board of Elections.

    Mamdani’s grassroots campaign centered on affordability, and his charisma spoiled Cuomo’s attempted political comeback. The former governor, who resigned four years ago following allegations of sexual harassment that he continues to deny, was dogged by his past throughout the race and was criticized for running a negative campaign.

    There’s also the question of how he will deal with Trump, who threatened to take over the city and to arrest and deport Mamdani if he won. Mamdani was born in Uganda, where he spent his early childhood, but was raised in New York City and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.

    Mamdani must now start building for his ambitious agenda
    Mamdani, who was criticized throughout the campaign for his thin resume, will now have to begin staffing his incoming administration before taking office next year and game out how he plans to accomplish the ambitious but polarizing agenda that drove him to victory.

    Among the campaign’s promises are free child care, free city bus service, city-run grocery stores and a new Department of Community Safety that would send mental health care workers to handle certain emergency calls rather than police officers. It is unclear how Mamdani will pay for such initiatives, given Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s steadfast opposition to his calls to raise taxes on wealthy people.

    His decisions around the leadership of the New York Police Department will also be closely watched. Mamdani was a fierce critic of the department in 2020, calling for “this rogue agency” to be defunded and slamming it as “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.” He has since apologized for those comments and has said he will ask the current NYPD commissioner to stay on the job.

    Mamdani’s campaign was driven by his optimistic view of the city and his promises to improve the quality of life for its middle and lower classes.

    But Cuomo, Sliwa and other critics assailed him over his vehement criticism of Israel ’s military actions in Gaza. Mamdani, a longtime advocate of Palestinian rights, has accused Israel of committing genocide and said he would honor an arrest warrant the International Criminal Court issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    How Mamdani won over the city while Cuomo faltered
    Mamdani began his campaign as a relatively obscure state lawmaker, little known even within New York City.

    Going into the Democratic primary, Cuomo was the presumed favorite, with near-universal name recognition and deep political connections. Cuomo’s chances were buoyed further when incumbent Mayor Eric Adams bowed out of the primary while dealing with the fallout of his now-dismissed federal corruption case.

    But as the race progressed, Mamdani’s natural charm, catchy social media videos and populist economic platform energized voters in the notoriously expensive city. He also began drawing outside attention as his name ID grew.

    Mamdani ultimately trounced Cuomo in the primary by about 13 points.

    The former governor relaunched his campaign as an independent candidate for the general election, vowing to hit the streets with a more energetic approach. However, much of his campaign continued to focus on attacking opponents. In the race’s final stretch, he claimed Mamdani’s election would make Jews feel unsafe.

    Meanwhile, supporters packed Mamdani’s rallies, and he held whimsical events, including a scavenger hunt and a community soccer tournament.

    Cuomo also juxtaposed his deep experience in government with Mamdani’s less than five years in the state Legislature. But the former governor also faced his own political baggage, as his opponents dredged up the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation, as well as his decisions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Sliwa, the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group, also had his moments — mostly in the form of funny quips on the debate stage — but had difficulty gaining traction as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

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    Jordan Vawter

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  • New York has safeguards against casting multiple ballots

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    As Election Day approached, social media users shared a video of a man who said he planned to vote multiple times in New York City. 

    “I’m here in New York about to illegally vote for Zohran Mamdani six times,” the man in the TikTok video reshared on X says as he walks down a city street. 

    The caption of the Nov. 2 X post says, “VOTER FRAUD ALERT!! This guy just admitted he was on his way to ILLEGALLY vote for Mamdani six times! I live in (New York state) & there’s no ID requirement, you just sign your name. He could just lie about his address & vote in multiple precincts!”

    This video, shared widely, is misleading. It was originally published Oct. 29 on TikTok by a punk rock band member who wrote in the comments that he was “purposefully (spreading) misinformation over the internet.”

    Voter ID is required to register to vote in New York. State law prohibits people from voting more than once. A law that permits registered voters to cast ballots without showing their IDs at the polling site does not change that. 

    Mamdani, a New York State assemblymember and Democratic Socialist, won the Democratic primary election in the New York City mayoral race. He faces former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a longtime Democrat who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the primary, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, a Republican, in the Nov. 4 election.

    Who can vote in the New York general election?

    Before people can cast a ballot, they must register to vote. That involves providing identification, such as a New York driver’s license number or a Social Security number, and attesting that the information they are providing is correct. The state’s voter eligibility laws require that a person:

    • Be a U.S. citizen.

    • Be at least 18 years old.

    • Be a resident of the state, county, city or village for at least 30 days before the election.

    • Not be in prison for a felony conviction.

    • Not be adjudged mentally incompetent by a court.

    • Not claim the right to vote elsewhere, meaning that the person is not registered to vote in another state, county or municipality in the U.S.

    Kathleen McGrath,a New York State Board of Elections spokesperson, told PolitiFact in a Nov. 3 email that sometimes a person who didn’t meet verification requirements while seeking to register shows up at a poll site seeking to vote. In those instances, elections officials require the person to present valid identification on site.

    All voters must provide their signatures when voting as a means of voter ID, under the New York State Constitution Article II, Section 7. Poll workers confirm a voter’s identity by matching their signature to official records. 

    The County Board of Elections, which conducts local elections, operates voting sites and maintains voter registration lists, uses electronic pollbooks to check in voters at poll sites. The poll books are updated in real time as people cast ballots. If a voter has checked in at a poll site, they would be unable to check-in at another poll site during the same election.

    Erica Smitka, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New York State, told PolitiFact in a Nov. 4 email that because voting records are constantly changing, all voter list maintenance is conducted by bipartisan teams to ensure the process is fair, accurate, and transparent.

    “Another person cannot just say a voter’s name and vote on their behalf,” McGrath said. 

    Doing so would also require forging the voter’s signature. 

    “That action would be a felony,” McGrath said.

    McGrath said that if a voter has requested a mail ballot, they will be unable to cast a ballot in person on a machine and must complete a provisional ballot. Post-election, the County Board of Elections conducts an audit to ensure all ballots cast via affidavit are not from voters who have already cast another ballot.

    If people are not registered to vote, they will be turned away. 

    Donald Trump encountered some of these safeguards first-hand in 2004, years before he ran for president. “Access Hollywood” followed him as he sought to vote in New York City. The show captured him being turned away from various polling sites because poll workers said he wasn’t registered to vote at those locations. Access Hollywood said Trump ultimately filled out a provisional ballot in the backseat of a car, after learning that his issues related to his son Donald Trump Jr.’s change of address.

    McGrath said voting fraud is a rare occurrence because of the Boards of Elections record keeping. 

    “Because Boards of Elections keep permanent, individualized records of which elections a person participates in, the probability of detection after the fact is exceedingly high,” McGrath said. She said this is likely why there is little evidence in the U.S. of voter fraud-related crimes. 

    Our ruling

    An X post said, New York state has “no ID requirement” to vote, and people could lie about their address and “vote in multiple precincts.”

    New York voters are not required to present ID when voting, but they are required to present valid ID to register to vote. State law includes numerous safeguards to prevent anyone from casting more than one ballot in an election — and doing so is a felony. Poll workers confirm voters’ identities by matching their signatures to official records. 

    The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it  Mostly False.

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  • Trump pushes hard against Mamdani as New Yorkers select a mayor

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    NEW YORK — Voters were casting ballots in high-stakes elections on both coasts Tuesday, including for mayor of New York, new congressional maps in California and governor in both New Jersey and Virginia, states whose shifting electorates could signal the direction of the nation’s political winds.

    For voters and political watchers alike, the races have taken on huge importance at a time of tense political division, when Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided over the direction of the nation. Despite President Trump not appearing on any ballots, some viewed Tuesday’s races as a referendum on him and his volatile second term in the White House.

    In New York, self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, 34, was favored to win the mayoral race after winning the Democratic ranked-choice mayoral primary in June. Such a result would shake up the Democratic establishment and rile Republicans in near equal measure, serving as a rejection of both former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a more establishment Democrat and Mamdani’s leading opponent, and Trump, who has warned that a Mamdani win would destroy the city.

    On election eve, Trump warned that a Mamdani win would disrupt the flow of federal dollars to the city and took the dramatic step of endorsing Cuomo over Curtis Sliwa, the Republican in the race.

    “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!” Trump wrote Monday on his social media platform.

    A vote for Sliwa “is a vote for Mamdani,” the president added. “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”

    Mamdani, a Ugandan-born naturalized U.S. citizen and New York state assemblyman who defeated Cuomo in the primary, has promised a brighter day for New Yorkers with better public transportation, more affordable housing and high-quality child care if he wins. He has slammed billionaires and some of the city’s monied interests, which have lined up against him, and rejected the “grave political darkness” that he said is threatening the country under Trump.

    He also mocked Trump’s endorsement of Cuomo — calling the former governor Trump’s “puppet” and “parrot.”

    Samantha Marrero, a 35-year-old lifelong New Yorker, lined up with more than a dozen people Tuesday morning at her polling site in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood to cast her vote for Mamdani, whom she praised for embracing people of color, queer people and other communities marginalized by mainstream politicians.

    Marrero said that she cares deeply about housing insecurity and affordability in the city, but that it was also “really meaningful to have someone who is brown and who looks like us and who eats like us and who lives more like us than anyone we’ve ever seen before” on the ballot. “That representation is really important.”

    New York mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters as he marks his ballot in New York on Nov. 4, 2025.

    (Richard Drew / Associated Press)

    And she said that’s a big part of why people across the country are watching the New York race.

    “We’re definitely a beacon in this kind of fascist takeover that is very clearly happening across the country,” she said. “People in other states and other cities and other countries have their eyes on what’s happening here. Obviously Mamdani is doing something right. And together we can do something right. But it has to be together.”

    Elsewhere on the East Coast, voters were electing governors in Virginia and New Jersey, races that have also drawn the president’s attention.

    In the New Jersey race, Trump has backed the Republican candidate, former state Rep. Jack Ciattarelli, over the Democratic candidate, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, whom former President Obama recently stumped for. Long a blue state, New Jersey has been shifting to the right, and polls have shown a tight race.

    In the Virginia race, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a 46-year-old former CIA officer, defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, according to an Associated Press projection.

    Trump had not endorsed Earle-Sears by name, but called on Virginians to “vote Republican” and to reject Democratic candidate Spanberger, whom Obama has also supported.

    “Why would anyone vote for New Jersey and Virginia Gubernatorial Candidates, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, when they want transgender for everybody, men playing in women’s sports, High Crime, and the most expensive Energy prices almost anywhere in the World?” Trump recently wrote on his social media site, repeating some of his favorite partisan attacks on Democrats from the presidential campaign trail last year.

    At a rally for Spanberger in Norfolk, Va., over the weekend, Obama put the race in equally stark terms: as part of a battle for American democracy.

    “We don’t need to speculate about the dangers to our democracy. We don’t need to wonder about whether vulnerable people are going to be hurt, or ask ourselves how much more coarse and mean our culture can become. We’ve witnessed it. Elections do matter,” Obama said. “We all have more power than we think. We just have to use it.”

    Voting was underway in the states, but with some disruptions. Bomb threats disrupted voting in parts of New Jersey early Tuesday, temporarily shutting down a string of polling locations across the state before law enforcement determined they were hoaxes.

    In California, voters were being asked to change the state Constitution to allow Democrats to redraw congressional maps in their favor through 2030, in order to counter similar moves by Republicans in red states such as Texas.

    Leading Democrats, including Obama and Gov. Gavin Newsom, have described the measure as an effort to safeguard American democracy against a power grab by Trump, who had encouraged the red states to act, while opponents of the measure have derided it as an antidemocratic power grab by state Democrats.

    Trump has urged California voters against casting ballots by mail or voting early, arguing such practices are somehow “dishonest,” and on Tuesday morning suggested on his social media site that Proposition 50 was unconstitutional.

    “The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump wrote, without providing evidence of problems. “All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!”

    Both individually and collectively, the races are being closely watched as potential indicators of political sentiment and enthusiasm going into next year’s midterm elections, and of Democrats’ ability to get voters back to the polls after Trump’s decisive win over former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.

    Voters too saw the races as having particularly large stakes at a pivotal moment for the country.

    Michelle Kim, 32, who has lived in the Greenpoint neighborhood for three years, stood in line at a polling site early Tuesday morning, waiting to cast her vote for Mamdani.

    Kim said she cares about transportation, land use and the rising cost of living in New York and appreciated Mamdani’s broader message that solutions are possible, even if not guaranteed.

    “My hope is not, like, ‘Oh, he’s gonna solve, like, all of our issues,’” she said. “But I think for him to be able to represent people and give hope, that’s also part of it.”

    Lin reported from New York and Rector from San Francisco. Times staff writer Jenny Jarvie in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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    Kevin Rector, Summer Lin

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  • Fact-checking Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ interview

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    In his first “60 Minutes” interview in five years, President Donald Trump misled about his administration’s deportation strategy and his record on grocery prices. 

    The nearly 90-minute interview came a year after he successfully sued CBS’ parent company over its editing of a Kamala Harris interview, netting a $16 million settlement. The network broadcast an edited 28-minute version of the Trump interview that covered trade with China, nuclear weapons testing and the federal government shutdown. 

    When asked about his plan to end the shutdown, Trump rejected possible negotiations with Democrats over expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and said Republicans will “keep voting” on continuing resolutions that have failed in the Senate.

    When “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent Norah O’Donnell asked Trump about his administration’s immigration enforcement tactics — referring to agents tackling a mother, releasing tear gas in Chicago neighborhoods and smashing car windows — Trump was unapologetic. He said the raids “haven’t gone far enough.” 

    A former New Yorker, Trump weighed in on the Nov. 4 New York City mayoral race, saying he preferred “bad Democrat” former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, over the frontrunner, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee.

    CBS released a 1-hour, 13-minute version of the interview on YouTube as well as a full online transcript. We fact-checked Trump’s statements from the network broadcast version of the interview, and noted when relevant portions had been edited out.

    Said he did not instruct the Justice Department “in any way, shape or form” to pursue his political enemies.

    Trump has publicly called on Justice Department officials to prosecute people he perceives as political enemies. 

    In a Sept. 20 Truth Social post, he asked Pam Bondi, his attorney general, to take action against former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff.

    “I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” Trump wrote. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

    The Wall Street Journal reported the post was intended to be a private message to Bondi.

    Trump doubled down after he was asked about the post later that day.  

    The Justice Department indicted Comey on Sept. 25 on charges of making a false statement and obstruction related to 2020 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee; he has pleaded not guilty. The department indicted James on Oct. 9 on one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution; she has pleaded not guilty. And on Oct. 16, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton was indicted on charges of unlawfully retaining and transmitting classified information, an investigation that was inherited from the Biden administration; Bolton has pleaded not guilty.

    New York City mayoral candidate Mamdani talks to a pedestrian in New York, Oct. 27. (AP)

    Mamdani is a “communist, not a socialist. Communist.” 

    That’s False.

    Mamdani describes himself as a democratic socialist, which in the U.S. generally refers to someone who believes in a political system with generous social insurance programs such as heavily subsidized child care and high tax rates to pay for education and health care.

    Mamdani’s mayoral platform proposes making New York City more affordable, including via free buses and child care, rent controlled apartments and city-owned grocery stores. That is not akin to communism, a system in which the government controls the means of production and takes over private businesses. Mamdani has not called for the elimination of private ownership in his mayoral campaign.

    “Do you know that I could use (the Insurrection Act) immediately and no judge can even challenge you on that? … The Insurrection Act has been used routinely by presidents.”

    This is exaggerated. Legal experts have previously told PolitiFact courts can rule on the legality of invoking the Insurrection Act, although courts have historically deferred to presidents’ use of the act. Invoking the Insurrection Act — a centuries-old set of laws that allow the president to deploy federal military personnel domestically to suppress rebellion and enforce civilian law — isn’t as commonplace as Trump made it out to be. 

    In the full interview, Trump told O’Donnell almost 50% of presidents have used the act and “some of the presidents, recent ones, have used it 28 times.”

    The Insurrection Act has been used on 30 occasions in U.S. history, most more than 100 years ago, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Seventeen of the country’s 45 presidents, about 37%, have officially invoked it.

    No president has invoked the act 28 times. Former President Ulysses S. Grant invoked the law six times in the 1870s — the most of any president — as white supremacist groups violently revolted after the Civil War.

    The most recent invocation came in 1992 after riots broke out in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King.


    Two National Guardsmen stand guard outside a burning donut shop in Los Angeles April 30, 1992. The National Guard was called in to aid police during the second day of rioting in the city. (AP)

    Asked about his campaign promise to deport the “worst of the worst,” Trump said, “That’s what we’re doing.” 

    This needs context. More than 70% of immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — nearly 60,000 — as of Sept. 21 had no criminal convictions, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a Syracuse University research organization.

    The federal government doesn’t specify what crimes the 28% of immigrants with criminal convictions committed. The list can include serious felonies, immigration violations such as illegal entry and minor traffic violations.

    O’Donnell pushed back, saying the Trump administration had deported landscapers, nannies, construction workers and farmers who aren’t criminals.

    “No, landscapers who are criminals,” Trump said.

    News organizations have reported numerous cases of immigrants with no criminal records who federal immigration agents have detained including landscapers, the father of three U.S. Marines, day laborers and farmworkers. 

    Speaking about the government shutdown, “The problem is (Democrats) want to give money to prisoners, to drug dealers, to all these millions of people that were allowed to come in with an open border from Biden.”

    That’s False.

    The Democrats’ government funding proposal would not give federally funded health care to immigrants illegally in the U.S., who are already largely ineligible for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

    The Democrats’ proposal would not change that. Instead, Democrats want to restore access to certain health care programs for legal immigrants, such as refugees and people granted asylum, who lost access under the Republican tax and spending law that was signed into law in July.

    That law also reduced funding for a Medicaid program that reimburses hospitals for emergency care provided to immigrants who would be eligible for Medicaid if not for their immigration status. The Democrats want to revert to previous funding levels. The program represented less than 1% of total Medicaid spending in fiscal year 2023, according to KFF, a health think tank.

    In the full interview, Trump said, “I don’t want to give $1.5 trillion to prisoners and drug dealers and the people that came into our country from mental institutions.”

    One group estimated that the Democratic proposal would add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade; that doesn’t mean Democrats are proposing to spend $1.5 trillion on any single program, especially not for immigrants illegally in the U.S. 

    There is no evidence other countries, including Venezuela, sent people from “mental institutions” to the U.S. 

    “We have more nuclear weapons than any other country.”

    By the numbers, Russia is ahead of the U.S. But countries keep exact numbers secret, and there are different ways to count weapons.

    Counting nuclear weapons inventories, including active stockpiles and retired warheads, Russia has 5,459, ahead of the U.S. with 5,177, according to the Federation of American Scientists, a group that tracks nuclear policy.

    Hans M. Kristensen, who works for the organization, said Russia has a wider lead over the U.S. on its active stockpile. The U.S. has more retired warheads than Russia.

    Trump could be citing a separate metric — an estimate that the U.S. has 1,670 deployed strategic weapons and 100 nonstrategic weapons, for a total of 1,770. This outpaces Russia’s estimated 1,718 deployed strategic weapons. Deployed strategic warheads are deployed on intercontinental missiles and at heavy bomber bases, while nonstrategic warheads are deployed with operational short-range delivery systems. 

    A simple weapons count “is deeply ridiculous,” because the size of either the U.S. or the Russian arsenal would create massive devastation, said Richard Nephew, a Columbia University weapons expert.

    “Right now, (grocery prices are) going down, other than beef.”

    Trump’s effort to fact-check O’Donnell, who said grocery prices were up, is mostly inaccurate. A few major grocery items have had price decreases under Trump, but most have not.

    Many grocery items have seen price increases between December 2024, the last full month of Joe Biden’s presidency, and September 2025, the most recent month for which Bureau of Labor Statistics data is available.

    Grocery prices overall have increased by almost 2%. Trump correctly noted beef’s price rise: Ground beef prices are up almost 13%, and steaks are up by more than 15%.

    But the price increases go beyond that. Bacon is up by more than 5%; the combined category of meats, poultry, fish and eggs is up by 4%; fruits and vegetables are up by almost 1%; coffee is up by more than 15%; sugar and sweets are up by more than 4%; and dairy products are up by a fraction of a percent.

    Two notable price declines have come from eggs (down 16%, after the sector recovered from bird flu-related shortages) and bread (down about 2%).

    In a portion of the interview not broadcast, Trump falsely said the U.S. has “no inflation” and “we’re down to 2%, even less than 2%.” In September, the year-over-year inflation rate was 3%, higher than it was during the final six months of Biden’s term.


    Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak after Netanyahu addressed the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Oct. 13 in Jerusalem. (AP)

    “Before the ninth month (of my presidency) I stopped eight wars.” 

    Trump has helped broker temporary peace deals in conflicts around the world, but his repeated claim that he has “stopped” eight wars is exaggerated.

    The U.S. was involved in recently eased conflicts between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Armenia and Azerbaijan — but these were mostly incremental accords, and some leaders dispute the extent of Trump’s role. 

    Peace has not held in other conflicts. The U.S. was involved in a temporary peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, but violence in the region resumed, with hundreds of civilians killed since the deal’s June signing. After Trump helped broker a deal between Cambodia and Thailand, the countries accused each other of ceasefire violations that have led to violent skirmishes.

    A standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia over an Ethiopian dam on the Nile remains unresolved, and it’s closer to a diplomatic dispute than a military clash. In the case of Kosovo and Serbia, we found little evidence of brewing conflict. 

    The Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage agreement involves multiple stages. Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire and ordered strikes in the Gaza Strip that killed over 100 Palestinians before announcing that the ceasefire was back on.

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  • Zohran Mamdani leads in fundraising for New York City mayoral contest

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    Zohran Mamdani pulled in almost double the funds of his nearest rivals for New York City mayor between early July and mid-August, as the candidates prepare for the crucial post Labor Day push to the November poll.

    New York’s City’s campaign finance board said on Saturday that the democratic socialist, who won the Democratic party nomination in June against former state governor Andrew Cuomo, raised $1,051,200, with an average donation of $121 recorded equally from donors in and outside the state.

    Cuomo raised $541,301, with an contribution size of $646. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, running as an independent, raised $425,181, with an average donation of $770. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa brought in $407, 332.

    Related: ‘A new political era’: fresh Democratic faces seek office to prevent their party from ‘sleepwalking into dystopia’

    Mamdani’s fundraising dominance is mirrored in a polling advantage. Last week, a Siena poll placed him at 19 points ahead of Cuomo, his nearest rival, who is also running as an independent. A 12-poll average from Decision Desk HQ puts Mamdani ahead of Cuomo by 13 points.

    Mamdani, who has proposed rent freezes on almost a million rent-stabilized apartments in the city, free buses and childcare, city-run grocery stores, and elevated taxes on Columbia and New York University to subsidize city colleges and trade schools, has been consistently ahead in fundraising over rivals.

    In March, he asked his campaign’s grassroots supporters to stop donating, and directed his primary campaign staff to encourage supporters’ focus to volunteering efforts. His campaign funds on hand are put at $4.4m, and his campaign is eligible for $2.2m more in matching public funds.

    Last week, it was revealed that the anti-billionaire candidate had received a donation of $250,000 to a political action committee from Elizabeth Simons, the daughter of late hedge fund billionaire Jamie Simons.

    Adams is barred from receiving matching campaign funds, the city campaign finance board having found he had violated related laws. Cuomo has begun transferring money from a $7.5m state campaign account to his city campaign account and has $1.2m on hand. Cuomo is in line for a payout of about $400,000 from public funds.

    Pressure on the two trailing candidates, Adams and Sliwa, to step out of the race is likely to increase next month, but both have said they are unwilling to do so.

    Last week, Adams repeated his resistance to dropping out after a close adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was indicted for allegedly running a political-favors scheme that included receiving seafood and an acting role opposite Forest Whitaker.

    Politco reported last week that Cuomo told supporters at a fundraiser he expects Republican leaders, including Donald Trump, to urge Republican voters to switch from Sliwa to stop Mamdani, whom Trump has branded “a 100% Communist Lunatic”. Mamdani has said he is “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare”.

    Cuomo said on Friday that “a lot is going to happen” between now and the November vote. “I don’t think the public even knows who the assemblyman is, what he represents, what his positions are. So I think the more they find out about him, the less they’re going to like him, and … his appeal is going to drop dramatically.”

    Mamdani, meanwhile, has accused Cuomo of lying about his coordination with Trump and says the former governor, who bitterly clashed with Trump while in office, is now seeking the president’s help.

    “It’s par for the course for Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani said on Tuesday.

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