MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) — Several new polls show frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holding onto a sizeable lead with just five days until the election, but Andrew Cuomo insists he’s the one with the most momentum heading into next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Cuomo came to a Harlem senior center in the pouring rain on Thursday, where he joined with Mayor Eric Adams, insisting that New York is facing an existential leadership crisis.<\/p>\n
“Our city cannot go backwards, folks. That’s what this is about,” Adams said. “And for me to step aside or my desire to continue the work that I wanted to do in this city is because I want to hand the baton off to someone that could run the race and has the experience to run the race.”<\/p>\n
“Yeah, it sounds good. Flying buses, free food, freezing rents. It’s all untrue. It is all untrue. There is no Santa Claus,” Cuomo said. “He has no plan, and he has no ability or experience to accomplish anything in this city.”<\/p>\n
Cuomo was also joined by a number of Muslim community leaders defending Cuomo from being called Islamophobic.<\/p>\n
“When it comes to the Muslim community in New York City and New York State, no two people have stood up and fought for our Muslim community more than Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams,” said Mona Davids, publisher of Little Africa News. “We want to be clear that there is no Islamophobia in New York City.”<\/p>\n
In the final days of the campaign, Cuomo is pushing his experience, but it’s a pitch that may be missing the mark.<\/p>\n
A Marist Poll released overnight gives Democratic nominee Mamdani with 48% of likely voters followed by Cuomo with 32%, Republican Curtis Sliwa with 16% and 3% undecided.<\/p>\n
It’s not much different from Thursday’s Quinnipiac Poll, and an Emerson Poll released Thursday morning gives Mamdani an even bigger lead of 25 points.<\/p>\n
Mamdani toured a senior center on Thursday, pitching his signature issue to the city’s elderly residents.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes I’ve been frustrated by the way in which people think cost of living is a young person’s issue,” Mamdani said. “Because what I’ve actually found, time and again, is that cost of living is affecting every single New Yorker, no matter their age.”<\/p>\n
Despite his poll numbers, Curtis Sliwa continues to campaign hard, with a series of appearances and interviews that began in a Midtown subway station.<\/p>\n
“Trust me, I’m the most visible person out there. You can spot me a mile away with that red beret,” Sliwa said. “If there was this tsunami of people yelling at me, ‘Drop out, drop out, just ain’t happening.'”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg pledged $1.5 million to the Fix the City Super PAC supporting Cuomo. That’s in addition to the $8 million he gave in June. It’s substantial money, the likes of which Sliwa has not seen during his campaign.<\/p>\n
“Another day, another billionaire throws millions into the race,” Sliwa said. “I would suggest Michael Bloomberg who wasted $8 million in the primary on Andrew Cuomo’s disastrous primary campaign, that he could have spent it to help the homeless and emotionally disturbed in the subway.”<\/p>\n
Mamdani didn’t seem phased by any of it.<\/p>\n
“We faced around $25 million in opposition spending in the primary,” he said. “We saw a deluge of mailers, advertisements, radio show hits. We overcame that with 52,000 volunteers knocking on 1.6 million doors, 2.1 million phones, and winning a Democratic primary with the most votes in city history. As Taylor Swift says, I’ve seen this film before. But unlike she says, we actually like the ending.”<\/p>\n
———-<\/p>\n
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered<\/a> <\/p>\n * More Manhattan news<\/a><\/p>\n * Send us a news tip<\/a><\/p>\n * Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts<\/a> <\/p>\n * Follow us on YouTube<\/a> <\/p>\n
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News<\/p>\n