N.Y. Times Editorial Board takes Zohran Mamdani to task in NYC mayoral race. Here's what it could mean.
The heated New York City Democratic mayoral primary race has entered its final week with bombast, attack ads, and a surprise takedown of one candidate by the New York Times Editorial Board.
The board decided not to endorse anyone in the primary this year, but a blistering non-endorsement is threatening to reverberate though the final days of the campaign because it impacts the two frontrunners in the race.
Editorial Board comes down hard on Zohran Mamdani
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a massive get-out-the-vote rally with union members on Monday, while Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former state lawmaker Michael Blake cross-endorsed each other as part of a strategy to use ranked choice voting to hurt Cuomo.
But the development that pulsated through the Democratic mayoral primary was the decision by the Times Editorial Board to urge voters not to vote for Mamdani.
"We do not believe that Mr. Mamdani deserves a spot on New Yorkers' ballots. His experience is too thin and his agenda reads like a turbocharged version of Mr. de Blasio's dismaying mayoralty," the board said, referring to former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Mamdani downplayed it.
"These are the opinions of about a dozen New Yorkers, and a democracy will be decided by close to a million New Yorkers. They certainly have the right to their opinions, and New Yorkers have the right to their votes," Mamdani said.
Cuomo was only too happy to agree with the Times.
"So experience, confidence, knowing how to do the job, knowing how to deal with Trump, knowing how to deal with Washington, knowing how to deal with the state Legislature, these are basics, and I believe in on-the-job training, but not as mayor of New York," Cuomo said. "And then you wonder why the city's not run well because we haven't had a qualified, competent mayor who knew how to manage the city."
The Times Editorial Board raised objections to the former governor's ethics and conduct, but added, "He would be better for New York's future than Mr. Mamdani."
NYC Democratic mayoral primary ad wars ramp up
The primary will be held a week from Tuesday, and early voting has already started, but the ad barrage from all the camps is just getting started, with the top two contenders taking to the airwaves to troll for votes.
In one ad, Mamdani is seen on video saying "I was quite open to what would be considered being a 'radical' from a very young age."
"What will that mean for us? Mamdani wants to move the homeless into our subway stations," the ad by Fix the City, a Cuomo superPAC, goes on to say.
"Trump's billionaire donors support Andrew Cuomo, so it's no surprise they're lying about me ... I'll partner with police to deliver real public safety," a Mamdani ad says.
City Comptroller Brad Lander was endorsed by Peter and Daniel Arbeeny, whose father died of COVID-19 in a nursing home.
"He has gaslighted our family. He has never apologized, and he continues to lie," Peter Arbeeny said of Cuomo.
"I mean, it is stunning how little responsibility for Andrew Cuomo's actions he has ever taken," Lander said.
