NEW YORK — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo campaigned for mayor across all five New York City boroughs Monday, hoping to close a double-digit deficit with socialist front-runner Zohran Mamdani and telling voters the job is “too big” for his inexperienced rival.
Mr. Cuomo visited Chinatown to address a crowd of 300 seniors and supporters, where he highlighted his family legacy. He mentioned his late father, Mario Cuomo, who served as governor for three terms, and his daughters, Michaela and Mariah, who are part of his campaign.
He emphasized Mr. Mamdani’s socialist background and how that will not work in a city like New York.
“This is the most important election of my lifetime. It’s not between two people, it’s not between two parties, Democrat, Republican. It’s between two very different philosophies. I am a Democrat. My father was a Democrat,” he said.
“I worked for Bill Clinton, a Democrat. I supported Barack Obama, Democrat. My opponent is a socialist and wants to make New York City a socialist city and socialism has not worked anywhere on the globe,” Mr. Cumo said.
The former governor also highlighted his commitment to public safety and proposed hiring 5,000 additional police officers, including 1,500 officers in the subways. He told the crowd he is opposed to a proposed large jail in the Chinatown neighborhood, and pledged to expand gifted and talented programs in schools.
He took a jab at Mr. Mamdani as an inexperienced 34-year-old assemblyman who never had a “real job.”
“He’s only passed three bills. He missed most of the votes as an assemblyman, and he’s never had a real job. Mayor of New York City would be his first real job,” Mr. Cuomo said.
“New York City mayor is too big a job, too important a job, to have someone who has no experience from running anything,” Mr. Cuomo said. “He never ran a candy store. How are you gonna run New York City?”
He warned that President Trump has threatened to cut off federal funds from New York City if Mr. Mamdani is elected mayor, and that only he would know how to prevent such a situation.
Mr. Trump appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday night and said it would be hard for him as president “to give a lot of money to New York.”
“Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” the president said. “I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or another, but if it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”
The Mamdani campaign ran with Mr. Trump’s remarks and said it was a full-throated endorsement of Mr. Cuomo, an assessment disputed by Mr. Cuomo.
“Mandami lies,” Mr. Cuomo said. “He fabricates, he dissembles. He has a problem with the truth. I say when Mamdani is smiling, he’s lying. Trump did not endorse me. I said repeatedly, I would not accept Donald Trump’s endorsement. What he said was two things. First, he said, ‘I’d rather a bad Democrat than a communist,’” Mr. Cuomo said.
He added, “Basically, what President Trump was saying is he’d rather [have] anything than a communist…He just hates communists. That’s what he was saying. He called me a bad Democrat. I think that was unfair, unkind. I’m a good Democrat and a proud Democrat and an established Democrat, so I don’t think I’m a bad Democrat.”
Early voting ended on Sunday in New York, and the city has seen record early voting turnout this mayoral cycle.
However, Mr. Cuomo has an uphill battle. The three-way race, which includes Republican Curtis Sliwa, has made it difficult for Mr. Cuomo to capture as many voters in the city as possible.
Despite third-party ads appealing to Republicans by saying that a vote for Mr. Sliwa is a vote for Mr. Mamdani, Mr. Cuomo is still trying hard to turn out independents and Republicans to his side.
At least 1.9 million voters are expected to vote in the race, surpassing the 1.5 million who voted in 2001 when Republican Michael Bloomberg beat Democrat Mark Green.
Mr. Mamdani leads Mr. Cuomo by an average of 14.5 percentage points and leads Mr. Sliwa by 28 points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. He described Mr. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Eric Adams as “desperate” because their “power is slipping away.”
Mr. Adams endorsed Mr. Cuomo after his withdrawal from the race in September and joined Mr. Cuomo to criticize Mr. Mamdani on the campaign trail.
