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“Polling places opened Saturday for the start of in-person voting for two of the year’s most closely watched elections: the New York City mayor’s race and the contest to pick New Jersey’s next governor. New Yorkers are choosing between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat on the ballot as an independent. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, is also on the ballot but dropped out of the race last month and recently threw his support behind Cuomo.” AP News
“Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared to laugh briefly and agree with a radio host who said during an interview Thursday that Zohran Mamdani would be ‘cheering’ if ‘another 9/11’ happened on his watch, though a spokesperson for Cuomo's campaign later denied he was agreeing with the comments.” NBC News
Here’s our most recent coverage of the NYC mayoral election. The Flip Side
The left is critical of Cuomo, and praises Mamdani.
“It’s one thing to claim Mamdani lacks the experience to handle a major crisis like a terrorist attack. It’s quite another to insinuate that the Democratic nominee would cheer on a horrific tragedy to the city he’d be leading, with a nod toward Islamophobia in the process. And the radio show is not even the first instance of Cuomo engaging in bigotry against Mamdani…
“[Last] Wednesday, right before the debate, the Cuomo campaign quickly posted and deleted an AI-generated video showing ‘criminals’ supporting Mamdani’s campaign, including a drunk driver, domestic abuser, and a Black man wearing a keffiyeh shoplifting… It’s quite clear the Cuomo campaign is getting desperate in the final weeks of the mayoral race.”
Hafiz Rashid, New Republic
“There are understandable fears within the Jewish community about our safety at a time of rising antisemitism. To that, I say: It’s hard to imagine a stronger program of protection against hate than that which Mamdani has outlined. Mamdani has proposed a 800% increase for funding hate crime prevention — a comprehensive investment that should reassure those of us who are most alarmed. Antisemitism ‘is a real crisis that we have to tackle, and one that I’m committed to doing so through increased funding for actually preventing hate crimes across the city,’ Mamdani told NPR…
“It is true that Mamdani has been harshly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. What’s also true: Most American Jews agree with him. According to a recent Washington Post poll, a majority of American Jews believe Netanyahu’s government has overseen war crimes in Gaza, and almost 40% believe Israel has committed genocide. In that context, Mamdani seems like a candidate much more aligned with Jewish perspectives on Israel than Cuomo.”
Victor Kovner, Forward
“[Mamdani is] addressing the problems New Yorkers discuss over their kitchen tables. He’s not debating ‘Trumpism’ or ‘capitalism’ or ‘Democratic socialism.’ He’s not offering a typical Democratic ‘10-point plan’ with refundable tax credits that no one understands. He’s proposing a few easy-to-understand things: free buses, free child care, a four-year rent freeze for some 2 million residents, and a $30 minimum wage…
“He’s aiming to do what Franklin D. Roosevelt did in the 1930s — fix it. You may not agree with all his proposals (I don’t), but they’re understandable. And if they don’t work, I expect that, like FDR, he’ll try something else. The clincher for me is that he’s inspiring a new generation of young people… Corporate Democrats took the party away from its real mission — to lift up the working class and lower-middle class and help the poor… Zohran and others like him are its future.”
Robert Reich, Substack
The right is critical of Mamdani, and urges Sliwa to drop out.
The right is critical of Mamdani, and urges Sliwa to drop out.
“Calling Zohran Mamdani an anti-American supporter of terrorism has nothing to do with his religion and everything to do with his record of statements, actions and associations. It was Mamdani who wrote and sang a rap song giving his ‘love’ to the Holy Land Five, American Hamas financers convicted and sent to prison for up to 65 years. It is also Mamdani who is buddies with ‘brocaster’ Hasan Piker, who believes that ‘America deserved 9/11.’…
“He got himself arrested outside Sen. Chuck Schumer’s house at a ‘Stop Genocide’ protest less than a week after the Oct. 7 attacks, when the ‘genocide’ had scarcely begun… He speaks at rallies where signs and banners read ‘There is only Solution: Intifada Revolution.’… After radio host Sid Rosenberg commented to Andrew Cuomo that Mamdani would celebrate another 9/11, Mamdani cultists went bonkers claiming that Cuomo is a racist and Islamophobe. Cuomo didn’t say it, but even if he had, so what?”
Editorial Board, New York Post
“In Wednesday’s debate, the three candidates were asked about the city’s Rikers Island jail complex, which by law is set to close in 2027 — even though the first of the new county jails meant to replace it won’t be complete until 2029 at best. Both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa reasonably said they’d abandon the county jail plan and rebuild on Rikers instead. The budget-busting county jails are already years behind schedule. Only Zohran Mamdani insisted he’d close Rikers on time…
“While Rikers currently houses 7,100 inmates, the county jails will have a total of only 4,100 beds — meaning that thousands of serious offenders will be on the streets, simply for lack of jail space… Practically all of the pretrial detainees now housed on Rikers, 96% of them, are charged with felonies — with 47% of them charged with violent felonies, including murder. Only 222 of the 7,100 are charged with misdemeanors. In the best-case scenario, Mamdani will release 3,000 of these largely violent defendants from Rikers in order to close it.”
Jim Quinn, New York Post
“Curtis Sliwa is the most important man in New York City. That’s not because the red-bereted founder of New York’s Guardian Angels will become the next mayor, but because he can decide who does. A new poll from AARP/Gotham Polling shows it clearly: if Sliwa stays in the race, Mamdani will win…
“The bottom line is that Sliwa doesn’t have a viable path to victory. Everyone knows it—except, it seems, Curtis Sliwa… Even from a standpoint of enlightened self-interest, if Sliwa stays in the race, he will be remembered as the man who delivered New York City to Zohran Mamdani. After all the good he’s done—patrolling the subways for decades, giving voice to New Yorkers’ frustrations, and personifying New York’s old grit—his legacy deserves better.”
John Ketcham, City Journal
Take a Look at Rare Photos of Red Lightning in New Zealand.
New York Times
