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NEW YORK - Leading New York City mayoral candidates, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, cast their ballots on Election Day, as the future of New York City and the Democratic Party hangs in the balance.
While Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa voted early, Mamdani and Cuomo flocked to their local polling sites Tuesday morning. Polls close at 9 p.m. in New York City.
"It is time now for a new day in our politics," Mamdani told reporters after voting alongside his wife Rama Duwaji at Frank Sinatra School of Arts in Queens.
After voting with his daughters in Manhattan, Cuomo told reporters there is a "civil war" brewing in the Democratic Party, where the "extreme, radical left that is run by the socialists," like Mamdani, are challenging "moderate Democrats," like himself.
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"I think if the far-left socialists were to win, I think long-term, it would be very detrimental to the future of the Democratic Party," Cuomo said. "This country is not a socialist country. This city is not a socialist city. The state is not a socialist state. Socialism has never worked anywhere on the globe. Not Venezuela, not Cuba. It's not going to work in New York City."
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But when Mamdani was asked during his own media availability Tuesday morning what his success in New York City would signal for the future of the Democratic Party, he said, "My ambitions are squarely within these five boroughs."
In his closing pitch, Mamdani said his campaign ends where it began, as one "that looks to transform the most expensive city in the United States of America into one that's affordable for each and every person that calls it home."
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said state authorities briefly closed several polling places across the neighboring Garden State due to "threats received by email" on Tuesday.
Mamdani called it "incredibly concerning."
"I think that it is an illustration of the attacks we're seeing on our democracy," Mamdani said. "Sometimes they're blatant and explicit in the manner of these bomb threats..."
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The Democratic nominee said one of his supporters was harassed at a polling site after voting for him.
"We have to understand this as part of the general approach the Trump administration has taken to trying to intimidate voters with baseless allegations of voter fraud as a means of trying to repress the voice of Americans across this country," Mamdani claimed.
"When we think about how best to fight Donald Trump, one way we can do so is by understanding Andrew Cuomo for what he is: the candidate endorsed by Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Stephen Miller," Mamdani said.
Trump urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo in a Truth Social post Monday night.
"Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!" Trump said.
In response, Cuomo told reporters Tuesday that Trump is "nothing if not pragmatic," while reiterating his belief that a "vote for Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani."
"My record with President Trump is 100% clear," Cuomo said. "I was governor. He was president. No one fought for New York more forcefully against President Trump than I did. We had battle royales. Many of them. And if there's anyone who can protect New York against President Trump, it's me. If Zohran Mamdani were mayor, Trump would go through him like a hot knife through butter. He would just step over him."
While Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to New York City if Mamdani is elected, the democratic socialist has committed to fighting back against Trump.
"President Trump also encouraged every New Yorker to vote for Andrew Cuomo," Mamdani said Tuesday. "There are many things that he will say and that he will do that will not actually bear out in the results within our own city. I will treat his threats as they deserve to be treated, which are the words of a president, and not necessarily the law of the land."
Mamdani said it's time the city has a "mayor who stands up for New Yorkers each and every day, not one who's willing to sacrifice those New Yorkers, so that they can stand up for themselves."
"I will not be intimidated by this president," Mamdani said.
