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\n Photo: Michael Nagle\/\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
As early voting begins, the race for mayor is barreling to an ugly conclusion, marked by bigotry, bitterness, and broken friendships. Picking the next mayor was never going to be a smooth affair \u2014 this is a high-stakes power struggle, not a church picnic \u2014 but New Yorkers hoping for relief from the turmoil and scandal<\/a> of the Eric Adams administration are going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n At the same time that ex-governor Andrew Cuomo was turning in a forceful and effective performance at the final televised debate of the campaign, his campaign released (and then quickly deleted) a disgusting, AI-generated video<\/a> featuring a pimp, a drug dealer, a shoplifter, a domestic abuser, and a drunk driver all purporting to be \u201cCriminals for Zohran Mamdani\u201d and committing crimes as New York literally burns.\u00a0The campaign blamed the release on an unnamed low-level staffer without explaining who commissioned, created, and approved the racist slop<\/a>, which ends with the words \u201cPaid for by Cuomo NYC.\u201d<\/p>\n Lest anyone miss the point, Cuomo followed up the video with an appearance on the WABC radio show of frequently fired<\/a> Sid Rosenberg, who has built a career out of making foul, hate-filled public tirades<\/a>. (One recent sample: At last fall\u2019s Trump campaign event at Madison Square Garden, Rosenberg told a roaring crow<\/a>, \u201cShe is some sick bastard, that Hillary Clinton, huh? What a sick son of a bitch. The whole fucking party, a bunch of degenerates, lowlives\u00a0\u2014 Jew-haters and lowlives. Every one of them.\u201d)<\/p>\n That Cuomo, a lifelong Democrat who served in the administration of Bill Clinton, chose to chat with Rosenberg on the air is a sign of how desperate he is to round up conservative votes. The gambit, predictably, backfired. \u201cGod forbid another 9\/11. Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?\u201d Cuomo said. Rosenberg responded: \u201cYeah, I could. He\u2019d be cheering,\u201d as Cuomo chuckled along<\/a>. Amid public cries for Rosenberg to be fired yet again<\/a>, Governor Kathy Hochul chided Cuomo online<\/a>: \u201cTime to get out of the gutter. Fear-mongering, hate speech, and Islamophobia are beneath New York \u2014 and everything we stand for as a state.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to Cuomo\u2019s attacks, Mamdani released a remarkable, emotional address to New York\u2019s Muslim community<\/a>, in which he denounced the insults, spying, and outright violence the community has endured in the years since the 9\/11 attacks. \u201cThere are still forms of hate that are acceptable in this city today,\u201d he said, and made a defiant public vow: \u201cMore than 1 million Muslim New Yorkers exist in this city, only to be made to feel as if guests in our own home. No more.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite a commanding lead in the polls<\/a>, Mamdani is also in a hunt for votes outside of his base and has begun making end-of-campaign moves that are sure to upset some supporters. Mandani confirmed during the final debate that he intends to keep Jessica Tisch<\/a> as NYPD commissioner, which would hand one of the most powerful positions in any city administration to the billionaire scion of one of America\u2019s wealthiest families.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a bit of a shocker, and not just because Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has opined<\/a> that \u201cI don\u2019t think we should have billionaires.\u201d\u00a0Commissioner Tisch, like her boss, Mayor Eric Adams, has been a vocal critic of progressive criminal-justice reforms and called for hardline policies, such as prosecuting young teens as adults, that Mamdani and other progressives oppose.\u00a0When asked about the discrepancy by the Hell Gate news organization<\/a>, Mamdani more or less shrugged. \u201cI think everyone will follow my lead,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be the mayor.\u201d Insiders also note that Tisch, a Harvard classmate<\/a> of President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, might provide a personal back channel to the White House if Trump cracks down<\/a> on New York.<\/p>\n Mamdani also appears to be attempting to build alliances among members of the City Council by refusing to take a stand on three housing-related referendum questions that appear on the fall ballot. The measures, if approved, would strengthen the mayor\u2019s hand<\/a> and weaken the power of individual councilmembers to block development projects.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m appreciative that those measures will be on the ballot and that New Yorkers will be able to cast their votes for them,\u201d Mamdani said at the debate when I asked if he supported the reforms, eliciting a chorus of boos and groans from the audience and outbursts from Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa (\u201cThat\u2019s not an answer \u2014 what\u2019s your opinion, Zohran? Come on!\u201d Sliwa said.) Mamdani\u2019s effort to build goodwill among councilmembers puts him at odds with progressive activists including Cea Weaver<\/a>, Comptroller Brad Lander<\/a>, and Amit Singh Bagga<\/a>, a Democratic strategist, who all support passage of the measures.<\/p>\n We got a preview of Mamdani\u2019s evolving political-management skills at the recent \u201cNew York Is Not for Sale\u201d rally in Forest Hills, when Hochul, a key ally, was greeted by a loud chorus of Mamdani followers chanting \u201cTax the rich.\u201d \u201cI hear you,\u201d said Hochul, who is steadfastly opposed to imposing any new taxes. Things got so funky that Mamdani had to come onstage, where he calmed the crowd by clasping Hochul\u2019s hand and raising it over his head approvingly.\u00a0If he wins, expect many more efforts by Mamdani to keep the left and center factions of the Democratic Party aligned.<\/p>\n Republican candidate Sliwa, a longtime broadcaster, made a last-minute move of his own by defiantly denouncing John Catsimatidis, the owner of his radio station, who has called on Sliwa to drop out of the race in order to boost Cuomo\u2019s chances.\u00a0 \u201cYou will never see me at the studios of WABC again, never, no matter how this election turns out,\u201d Sliwa told Rosenberg in a remarkable on-air rant<\/a>.\u00a0 He also blamed the station\u2019s relentless attacks for creating a poisonous atmosphere and threats so serious that Sliwa has hired armed security.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anything happens to me or anything happens to my wife because of this frenzy that I hear constantly coming from some of your colleagues there at WABC, it\u2019s on you guys and you gals,\u201d he said. \u201cMy life is on the line here.\u201d<\/p>\n Obviously, nothing at stake in the election is worth killing or dying for. The good news is that New Yorkers have more decency, judgment, and solid good sense than the frantic, power-hungry politicians who will spend the next week clawing for the keys to Gracie Mansion.<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Intelligencer\u00a0Newsletter<\/p>\n Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n