By Michael V. Cusenza
Astoria Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday soundly beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the second time in four months. The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist will succeed Mayor Eric Adams at City Hall in January.
Mamdani garnered 50.4 percent of the vote, while Cuomo earned 41.6 percent, according to NBC News. GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa got 7 percent of the vote. Over 2 million New Yorkers voted—including over 500,000 Queens residents.
“The voters have spoken, and while the results were not what many of us had hoped for, I remain deeply grateful to everyone who stood up, got involved, and made their voices heard in this election.
Our city is at a crossroads,” said City Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park). “Many New Yorkers are concerned about what this outcome could mean for public safety, quality of life, and the future of our neighborhoods. Those concerns are real, and I’ll keep fighting every single day to make sure they’re not ignored.”
Photo Courtesy of Gov. Cuomo
Former Gov. Cuomo votes in Queens on Tuesday.
In a shocking development, Mamdani defeated Cuomo in June in the Democratic primary. Cuomo ran this fall on the Independent line.
Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. earned another term on Tuesday. Additionally, voters gave the green light to three highly contested housing proposals on the ballot that were generated earlier this year by the City Charter Revision Commission.
“New Yorkers desperately need more housing that is affordable to them, but the solution isn’t to take away communities’ power to secure more affordability and essential public goods from developers and the City. These misleading ballot proposals permanently change the City’s constitution to weaken democracy, lasting beyond the next mayor when we inevitably have a mayor who is bad on housing, equity, and justice for communities. This will leave our city without the checks and balances of democracy to protect New Yorkers and ensure outcomes that prioritize them, not simply profits,” City Council spokesperson Benjamin Fang-Estrada said in a statement.
“Tonight’s results are not surprising given the misleading language placed on the ballot to describe these proposals that intentionally sought to deceive voters by hiding what they do. The fact that there is no accountability or scrutiny for ballot language and abuses of mayoral charter revisions exposes a continued threat to our democracy that the State must address. Governor Hochul must sign into law a bill passed by both houses of the State Legislature to prevent mayors, like Eric Adams, from misusing the charter revision process to block ballot access and weaken democracy.”
