Voters braved the autumn chill Tuesday to choose New York City’s next mayor in a historic election, voicing concerns about high living costs and the direction of the city.
New York’s election has become a national fascination after Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblymember, won a major upset against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June primary. Both men are facing off again in the general election, with Cuomo running as an independent and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa also vying for the seat.
Mamdani, who is running as a democratic socialist, has energized a younger crop of voters with messages of affordability and equity. Both Cuomo and Sliwa have struggled with double-digit polling deficits throughout the race.
If Mamdani wins, it will represent the most consequential office won by a democratic socialist. It will also make New York City a likely target for President Donald Trump, who gave Cuomo a last-minute endorsement Monday.
“They say this every election, [it’s] the most important election of our generation, but I've never felt it to be more real,” said Matt Treacy, 28, at Brooklyn Borough Hall just as polls opened at 6 a.m. “In a city like New York where we can be a bellwether for change, that's why I'm voting for Mamdani, to show the rest of the country that it’s possible to elect progressive ideals into office and see what that looks like.”
The latest polling showed Mamdani, who could become the city’s first Muslim mayor, with a sizable lead. He has made affordability issues the centerpiece of his campaign as residents face rising costs in housing, food and child care.
Cuomo has campaigned on his decades of experience in government, including his leadership of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump endorsed the 67-year-old ex-governor over Sliwa, his party’s nominee, and indicated he would cut more federal funding to New York should Mamdani win.
Sliwa, 71, has been polling in third place after Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race in late September. The founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime group has drawn support from conservative New Yorkers, mostly in the outer boroughs, who are worried about public safety and development issues.
Sandra Chase said she was voting for Sliwa, citing her frustration with local corruption. “The most important issue is getting the corruption out of City Hall, and it's been there far too long,” she said at Brooklyn Borough Hall. “Everybody knows it.”
Chase said the election should have been a two-way race between Sliwa and Mamdani. “If [Cuomo] had a shred of dignity, he would have walked away when he got his a-- kicked in June,” she said.
Jose Quintanilla at his polling site in Jamaica
Turnout during the early voting period, which ended on Sunday, set a record at more than 735,000, more than five times the number of early voters four years ago. That was largely driven by younger voters heading to the polls, according to a Gothamist analysis of voting data.
Other contests on voters’ ballots Tuesday include those for city comptroller, public advocate, borough presidents, city councilmembers and two district attorneys. New Yorkers are also voting on six ballot measures, including several that supporters say would accelerate housing construction but opponents say would cede leverage to developers in negotiations with the city. Mamdani said he would vote for the housing measures as he headed to the ballot box on Election Day. They would shift the balance of power around land-use decisions and have spurred fierce opposition from the City Council.
In interviews at poll sites across the city Tuesday, many voters said they were worried about pocket-book issues like the economy, housing and health care.
Dominic Miller, 34, took a selfie with his “I Voted” sticker at Brooklyn Borough Hall. He said he cast his ballot for Mamdani because of his pledges to create a more affordable city.
“I would love to see people who have been living in the city for a long time be able to stay where they're living, not being forced out of their areas, neighborhoods, apartments,” Miller said. “Young people that I know … are trying to make it work, but they're just on the edge of being able to pay their bills or not.”
A truck showing video messages supporting Zohran Mamdani is parked in Kensington.
Raulwin Bailey, 43, said the United States was going “downhill” at his polling site in Southeast Queens, an area that went for Adams in the 2021 election and tends to lean more conservative. Bailey pointed to an alarming reduction in food assistance for low-income people amid the federal government shutdown.
“People are starving,” noted Bailey, who works as a ramp agent at JFK Airport and said he voted for Mamdani. “Regular people are starving.”
At the same polling site, Jose Quintanilla said he voted for Cuomo because of his experience. "The other guy [Mamdani] is a demagogue," he said.
David Studer, 37, said in Bay Ridge he voted for Mamdani. “People expected Cuomo to just swoop in and win, but Mamdani shook things up,” he said. “ He is a fresh new face and I think that's what people are looking for. He is someone I would be proud of to represent our city.”
Studer joked that his wife, who is Muslim, would be angry with him if he didn’t vote for the city’s potentially first Muslim mayor.
Pierre Mathurin said he’s most concerned about living costs and is voting for Cuomo “because I trust him more.”
While Mamdani supporters expressed excitement about his electoral prospects, some Cuomo supporters seemed more ambivalent about their choice.
Amer Rafiaa, a 61-year-old doctor, said he typically votes Republican but was voting for Cuomo.
“ When I heard on the radio that Trump was endorsing Cuomo, I said, ‘That’s it,’” Rafiaa said, adding that Sliwa “was really spoiling it for Cuomo.”
Barbara Hargraves, a 78-year-old retired subway conductor, said she wasn’t happy with the options for mayor, but had made her peace with voting for the former governor.
“Even though I really don't want to, he got a little more experience, at least you know where he's coming from,” she said.
Not everyone, though, voted for one of the major candidates.
In Southeast Queens, Steven Epps, an 80-year-old veteran of the Vietnam War, said he wrote in himself on his ballot because he was turned off by them.
“Cuomo, he’s a good governor, but he’s too hooked up with all these billionaires,” Epps said. He said Mamdani’s campaign appeals “sound good, but if you listen to things he said prior to that, before he decided to run, he scares me.”
“I definitely couldn’t go with Sliwa,” Epps added.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
