BYE ANDREW

Andrew Cuomo

On March 1, 2025, former NY governor Andrew Cuomo entered the primary race for the Democratic nomination as

Mayor. He immediately sucked all the air out of the mayoral campaign, vaulted into first place and was widely proclaimed as the next mayor. He led in all in the polls. That was then.

This is now: On July 1, 2025, the Board of Elections confirmed that 33-year old Zohran Mamdani resoundingly won the primary — trouncing Cuomo 56-46%. Cuomo ran a lackluster, sclerotic campaign, avoiding direct contact with actual voters; his big ego may have been in it but his heart maybe not so much; his campaign was based on his conviction that he was, after all, entitled. A late Hail Mary pass by Black Congressman James E. Clyburn of South Carolina endorsing Cuomo, did zip to bring out Black voters. Cuomo is now running as a long-shot independent -- as is Mayor Adams.

Arrogant by nature, Cuomo was a competent governor until Covid, where he allegedly mismanaged the NYS nursing home crisis that resulted in thousands of deaths. It also emerged that he was an exuberant, non-consensual toucher, hugger and kisser who — at one point — copped a feel on a female state trooper who was guarding him. He was forced to resign. He has yet to own his behavior.

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Normally, Mamdani’s triumph would mean certain victory in the November general election. But this is, after all, New York. He is a progressive Democrat, an Assemblyman from Queens. He is a Muslim, the son of well known parents, with very limited legislative experience (he was first elected in 2020), and no management chops to speak of. He is a Democratic Socialist. I know one card-carrying party member, a person with passion for lost causes which may not be a good omen.

The keynote of his campaign is the city's affordability. The keynote of Cuomo's is “me”. That living in the city is a very expensive proposition for millions of New Yorkers really resonated with primary voters. The biggies who control NY real estate, finance, commercial life and much else, along with Michael Bloomberg, the last competent mayor we had, were Cuomo’s major donors. Mamdani won by hard work. For example, on a brutally hot day, he walked 15 miles from the northern tip to the base of Manhattan to rouse voters just before primary day.

The dishy New York Post wrote on July 1: “Zohran Mamdani secured more NYC Dem primary votes than any Big Apple Dem had in over 30 years while toppling Cuomo”. But Bret Stephens, the  NY Times columnist, devoted a piece to knocking Mamdani for using the expression “globalize the intifada,” defined as “an armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip”. His response, Stephens wrote, is that ZM “does not use those words himself” but “he would decline to ‘police’ the language of others”.

We have ranked voting in NYC. Thus the key strategy for knocking off Cuomo was not to rank him at all—exactly what I did and thousands more as well.. My first choice was Brad Lander, a moderate, competent public official. Lander is Jewish. The Jew and the Muslim co-endorsed each other. Mamdani is rightly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza and the look-the-other-way Israeli policy as West Bank settlers continue to attack Palestinians who have lived there far longer than they have. Every bomb, every bullet, every death caused by settlers, is one more potential Hamas recruit. Meanwhile, those very few hostages still alive sit and wait in appalling conditions. Mamdani’s stance on Israeli’s war did not hurt him among progressive Jewish voters. Indeed, it may even have helped.

Jews vote overwhelmingly whenever a vote is set, but sunny, scorching weather in the 95s was an important factor in limiting turnout; many older voters, including the elderly ultra-orthodox, who vote conservatively as a bloc would have helped Cuomo, but didn’t show up at the polls in their usual numbers. Precise figures on the exact number of those voters who turned out for primary day are not available. However, a Satmar leader in Williamsburg expected a strong turnout from the Hasidic voting bloc, predicting up to 8,000 votes for “a particular candidate,” i.e., Cuomo.

Adams, our corrupt and incompetent mayor, is also running as an independent. He is now a Trumper, having kissed the boot in exchange for the feds dropping corruption charges against him and allowing ICE to enter public spaces throughout the five boroughs. He is not raising money and does not appear to be campaigning much; the run is a face-saver only. He shoud demand a recount if he wins. There are a few announced Republicans running nobody has ever heard of. And then there’s the perennial Republican office seeker Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels in 1979. Here we have a 71 year old senior citizen still going around town in a red beret. Really? He and his fourth wife are reported to live among fifteen or more cats and, one hopes, many litter boxes which the felines are not to think outside of.

Zohran Mamdani

Much is made of Mamdani’s lack of executive experience. However, the city’s bureaucracy runs largely on its own, for good and for bad. The mayor’s hire/fire power at the top is not quite absolute; it is limited and often constricted — by Albany, by the City Council, by lobbyists, by politics, etc. To me, more important than management is leadership. A manager manages; a leader sees things before others do and acts accordingly. Given the corrupt Adams, the over-the-hill Cuomo, or the ailurophile Sliwa, I’ll go with Mandami.