Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, launched a tour Monday of the city’s five boroughs with a central message linking former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to President Donald Trump.
Mamdani appeared in Midtown Manhattan with US Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York and several other city leaders to demonstrate the breadth of his support ahead of the November election, even as top Democratic Party leaders have declined to endorse him. His allies used the gathering to seize on a report in The New York Times that Cuomo and Trump spoke by phone in recent weeks, which both men have denied.
“The truth is Cuomo and Trump are very similar,” Nadler said at the Monday event. “Both use their power to serve themselves and their wealthy donors, not the people.”
Both Mamdani and Cuomo, who is running as an independent after his shocking loss in the June primary, are coalescing around key attack lines with less than three months before the November election. Cuomo has started criticizing Mamdani for living in a rent-stabilized apartment, hoping to undercut the democratic socialist as he pushes for a rent freeze for people in those units and runs on a broader message of making the city more affordable.
New York’s rent-stabilization laws, which impose strict rules on how landlords can lease some units, cover more than 1 million units in the city.
Cuomo highlighted Mamdani’s affluent upbringing as the son of Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair to argue his housing policies are hypocritical.
“Today, I am proud to announce that I will be proposing ‘Zohran’s law,’ a law that will keep the rich out of New York’s affordable housing,” Cuomo wrote Friday on social media, tagging his rival. “@ZohranKMamdani: you say freeze the rent. But for who? Rich people like you? Hardworking, working class New Yorkers are being pushed from their neighborhoods.”
But Brad Lander, who endorsed Mamdani after his own unsuccessful primary bid, defended the Democratic nominee. “Hey @andrewcuomo, are you aware that one-third of New Yorkers — about 1 million households — live in rent-stabilized units? (You could ask ChatGPT, which wrote your housing plan),” Lander replied.
Mamdani, meanwhile, sarcastically shot back at Cuomo’s proposal on Monday, saying that “I live rent free” in the ex-governor’s head.
The sharp-edged attacks reflect the escalating tension surrounding the mayoral race, as Mamdani’s upset victory has animated moderates and conservatives opposed to his progressive vision for the city, as well as Democrats concerned about his criticisms of Israel.
Partly frustrating the formation of an anti-Mamdani coalition is incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, mounting an independent campaign of his own following a high-profile falling out with the Democratic Party this year after the Trump administration moved to drop corruption charges against him.
“It is Trump billionaires who have been opposing our campaign’s vision for a city that New Yorkers can afford. It is Donald Trump himself who has been directly conspiring with candidates,” Mamdani said in response to the New York Times report last week. “Whatever Donald Trump seeks to do to influence the outcome of this election, I have more faith in New Yorkers themselves.”
CNN has reached out to the Cuomo campaign for comment.
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