More stories

  • in

    With $25 Million, Pro-Cuomo Super PAC Shatters Outside Spending Records

    Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s candidacy has been bankrolled by the largest super PAC ever created in a New York City mayoral campaign.Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has modeled himself as the candidate of working New Yorkers, but his candidacy has largely been funded by record donations from billionaires and other wealthy business interests.Fix the City, a super PAC led by one of Mr. Cuomo’s closest advisers, has raised $25 million to boost his comeback bid for mayor and bury Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, his chief rival, in withering attack ads.The group is the largest super PAC ever created in a New York City mayoral campaign, a financial juggernaut on track to spend three times as much as Mr. Cuomo’s actual campaign legally can. The group has hired canvassers to take Mr. Cuomo’s message directly to voters, and one of its ads calling Mr. Mamdani a radical has been aired more than any other in the race.As of Monday, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg alone had given the group $8.3 million. DoorDash, the food delivery company, had given another $1 million; and Bill Ackman, an investor and supporter of President Trump, had donated $500,000.Some were motivated by Mr. Cuomo’s record, others more out of fear how Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who wants to raise taxes on businesses and the rich, would change the city if elected.Mr. Mamdani has denounced the outside spending and has tried to incorporate it into his critique of Mr. Cuomo. He argues that the former governor is in the pocket of corporate interests and shares donors with Mr. Trump.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    2025 NYC Mayoral Race: Photos From the Campaign Trail

    New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary field is crowded, diverse and tenacious, like the city itself. It includes candidates who would be the first woman, the first Muslim and the oldest person elected to lead City Hall. As the race has heated up, the contenders have traversed the five boroughs in an effort to gain support from millions of voters who hold competing interests and visions of New York.Running for citywide office, like much of American politics, is a contact sport. Candidates seeking to raise money and boost their name recognition have had to take their message directly to voters — meeting them everywhere from the seats of the G train to the steps outside an N.B.A. playoff game at Madison Square Garden. And that was just before the first debate.Candidates often campaigned in places where they had personal connections, or sought out New York City icons like the Cyclone roller coaster and the Staten Island Ferry.Yet the dark political mood has cast a shadow over the contest. All the Democrats running have made big promises to bring the city they love back. Rising costs of living, threats from President Trump and enduring concerns over public safety have captured New Yorkers’ attention and are driving their votes. This atmosphere has prompted some of the candidates who currently hold public office to leverage their positions to make waves and force tough policy conversations.The race coincides with continuing tensions within the Democratic Party, which is still forging a path forward after bruising losses in last year’s presidential election. And as the candidates seek to galvanize voters and make a name for themselves, they have also sought to paint themselves as fighters for their city, and against Mr. Trump. Here are some moments captured by New York Times photojournalists of the leading candidates on the campaign trail.Adrienne AdamsAdrienne Adams marching in the Haitian Day Parade; marking the anniversary of her father’s death from Covid-19; and campaigning with Attorney General Letitia James and union leaders.Victor J. Blue for The New York Times, Janice Chung for The New York Times, Dave Sanders for The New York Times and Todd Heisler/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    An Iran Cease-Fire, and Why N.Y.C.’s Mayoral Race Matters for Democrats Everywhere

    Listen to and follow ‘The Daily’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadioOvernight, Iran and Israel said they had agreed to a cease-fire — after an Iranian attack on a U.S. air base in Qatar that appeared to be a largely symbolic act of revenge.But the main topic on “The Daily” is the mayor’s race in New York City, where Tuesday is Democratic Primary Day. The race has quickly become an excruciatingly close contest between two candidates who are offering themselves as the solution to what’s wrong with their party in the age of President Trump.Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics for The Times, discusses the competing visions competing for the mayoralty and who is most likely to win.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.On today’s episodeNicholas Fandos, a reporter covering New York politics and government for The New York Times.The primary has taken on national implications, with the top two candidates tapping into Democratic voters’ hunger for a fight.Angelina Katsanis and Anna Watts for The New York TimesBackground readingIn the N.Y.C. mayor’s race, top democrats take on President Trump and their own party.Here’s the latest on Israel and Iran.There are a lot of ways to listen to ‘The Daily.’ Here’s how.We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon M. Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez, Brendan Klinkenberg, Chris Haxel, Maria Byrne, Anna Foley and Caitlin O’Keefe.Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam, Nick Pitman and Kathleen O’Brien. More

  • in

    What to Watch for When the N.Y.C. Mayoral Results Come in

    A winner on Tuesday night is unlikely, but not impossible. Ranked-choice voting will play a big role in the outcome. Here’s what else you should look for as votes are counted.We are unlikely to know the winner of the Democratic primary race for mayor on primary night.Polls show a close contest between two candidates, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. In the ranked-choice election, voters can select up to five candidates in order of preference, and if neither man gets more than 50 percent of the first-place votes on Tuesday, a series of subsequent rounds will tally the final results based on voters’ second-through-fifth-place choices.But that count will not take place until July 1, a week after the election, because absentee, mail-in and affidavit votes, which can be important in a close race, can be received and counted up until then.Polls close in New York at 9 p.m., and first results will start to come shortly after that.Here’s what else you’ll need to know ahead of Primary Day:The math of ranked-choice votingThis is New York’s second mayoral primary election using the ranked-choice voting system. Vote counting proceeds in rounds, with the last-place candidate eliminated in each round. If a voter’s top choice is eliminated, the vote is then transferred to the voter’s next choice. Elimination rounds continue until there are two candidates left and one gets more than 50 percent of the vote.Most reliable polls suggest that neither Mr. Mamdani nor Mr. Cuomo will receive more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of vote counting on Tuesday night. But their performances will offer a look at who has the upper hand: The closer a candidate is to 50 percent, the better chance that candidate has to win in the end.The first results to come in on Tuesday night, from a period of early voting that began more than a week ago, are likely to favor Mr. Mamdani. That’s because a jump in the number of early voters this year appears to be driven by younger voters, who tend to prefer Mr. Mamdani.Bill Knapp, a strategist and consultant for Fix the City, the pro-Cuomo super PAC that has raised roughly $25 million from billionaire donors and corporate interests, acknowledged that the first votes counted would probably not favor Mr. Cuomo.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Why N.Y.C. Business Leaders Fear Mamdani

    As voters head to the polls, the democratic socialist candidate appears to be neck-and-neck with Andrew Cuomo. That has many executives worried.Business leaders have poured money into efforts to defeat Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.Victor J. Blue for The New York TimesBusiness’ Primary Day worriesBusiness leaders have plenty of global issues to worry about. But on Tuesday, another matter is hitting closer to home: the Democratic primary for New York City’s mayor.The latest poll suggested that Andrew Cuomo could ultimately lose to Zohran Mamdani, an assemblyman and democratic socialist. Executives are concerned that could have negative potential consequences for the city.Why executives fear Mamdani: While Cuomo carries baggage like his resignation as governor over a sexual harassment scandal, Mamdani is proposing ambitious and expensive ideas, like a rent freeze, free city buses and the creation of city-owned grocery stores.How he could fund them is causing agita: raising the corporate tax rate and income taxes for the city’s millionaires by 2 percent. He also wants New York to borrow $70 billion over the next decade, on top of billions in additional planned debt-raising.Cuomo has drawn support from a who’s who of the city’s business elite, including:Mike Bloomberg, who has given $8.3 million to a super PAC tied to CuomoRepublican-leaning executives like the financiers Bill Ackman (who called Mamdani “a dangerous and catastrophic choice”) and Dan Loeb, as well as John Catsimatidis, the supermarket mogulWall Street deal makers such as Blair Effron, Steve Rattner and Antonio WeissAlex Karp, the Palantir co-founder and C.E.O.“Terror is the feeling,” Kathryn Wylde, the chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, which represents top business leaders, told Andrew on CNBC on Tuesday.Mamdani opponents say businesses and top taxpayers will flee New York if he wins:“We may consider closing our supermarkets and selling the business,” Catsimatidis, who owns the Gristedes chain, told The Free Press.“I will never move from New York, but there’s a lot of other people that will and are leaving New York,” Neil Blumenthal, the co-founder and co-C.E.O. of the eyewear brand Warby Parker, also told The Free Press.Writing about wealthy elites criticizing Mamdani, Loeb wrote on X, “Another possibility is that they love New York and don’t want it to turn into a hellscape like San Francisco, Chicago or Portland.”Mamdani says he doesn’t oppose private industry. He told The Times, for instance, that he now believes the private market has “a very important role” in housing construction.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Primary Day, by the Numbers

    Here’s what to know about the primary election for mayor and a number of other posts, which will take place on the hottest day of the year so far.Good morning. It’s a very hot Tuesday. We’ll get details on today’s Democratic primary.Supporters of Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo outside the second Democratic primary debate for the New York City mayoral race this month.Anna Watts for The New York TimesAt the end of a day like today, Primary Day in New York, it’s always about numbers.There’s the number of votes the winner won by.There’s the number of people who voted.And today, there’s also a number that election-watchers usually don’t watch: the temperature.With the city under an extreme heat warning until 8 tonight, it may hit 100. That is far warmer than the last time there was a primary for mayor, in 2021. That day, the high was a seasonable 78.This time around, the heat could affect the turnout in a race that could turn on whether former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s union supporters and paid staff members head off Zohran Mamdani’s volunteers.Here’s another number: 384,338.That’s the number of voters who don’t have to think about standing in a sweaty line at a polling site. They’ve already cast their ballots, having taken advantage of early voting, which ended on Sunday. (Here is yet another number: 78,442. That is how many voters checked in at polling places on Sunday, by far the busiest of the nine days of early voting.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Cuomo and Mamdani Push to Raise Turnout in ‘Jump Ball’ Mayor’s Race

    A new poll shows the New York City mayor’s race tightening in its final days. Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani are scrambling for every last vote.In the final hours before Primary Day, the Democratic race for mayor of New York City appeared to be razor-tight, leaving the two leading candidates — Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani — in scramble mode to boost turnout on Tuesday.A new poll released on Monday by Emerson College suggested the race was too close to call, with Mr. Cuomo drawing the most first-place votes but falling short of the 50 percent threshold required to be declared the winner under the city’s relatively new ranked-choice voting system.The poll shows Mr. Mamdani pulling ahead in the eighth round, topping Mr. Cuomo by 3.6 percentage points — matching the poll’s margin of error. It is the first major survey that shows Mr. Mamdani winning, seemingly reflecting his momentum, especially among younger voters.“It is essential that we turn out in record numbers in order to turn the page on Andrew Cuomo, his billionaire donors, and the politics of big money and small ideas,” Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman and democratic socialist, said on Monday.Mr. Cuomo, the former governor who resigned in 2021 following a series of sexual harassment allegations that he denies, has led in polls for months, including one also released on Monday by Fix the City, a super PAC tied to Mr. Cuomo’s interests. His campaign called the Emerson poll an “outlier.”“We will continue to fight for every vote like he will fight for every New Yorker as mayor,” Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Bill Clinton Endorses Andrew Cuomo for NYC Mayor

    The former president’s endorsement came as Letitia James, the state attorney general who supports Andrew M. Cuomo’s mayoral rivals, criticized the former governor over harassment allegations.Former President Bill Clinton endorsed former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the New York City mayor’s race on Sunday, giving a last-minute boost of support to Mr. Cuomo, as he urged supporters to head to the polls for the last day of early voting.Mr. Cuomo worked in the Clinton administration as the housing secretary. The backing of the former president, as well as a taped robocall providing his support, could help turn out older voters in the tightening Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday.Mr. Clinton said in the robocall that he had hired Mr. Cuomo “because he knew how to get things done” and that he believed he would “stand up and protect the people of this city” from President Trump.Mr. Clinton, 78, who lives in a Westchester County suburb north of New York, has not often weighed in on city primary races. His endorsement is another indication that some establishment Democrats prefer Mr. Cuomo to Zohran Mamdani, a state lawmaker and Democratic Socialist who is second in the polls.The endorsement came as Mr. Cuomo and his rivals attended campaign events across the city, trying to convert undecided voters and to ensure that their supporters showed up at the polls. The push appeared more urgent this weekend, with a forecast heat wave potentially depressing turnout on Primary Day.By the end of the early voting period on Sunday, 384,000 Democrats had voted in the primary. That was nearly twice as many people as voted during the same period four years ago, when the coronavirus pandemic was still raging and many New Yorkers voters cast ballots by mail.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More