Cuomo rallies Manhattan enterprise assist towards Mamdani in mayoral race

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Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with at the very least 80 enterprise leaders in Manhattan on Tuesday as stress to consolidate assist towards New York Metropolis Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is escalating with lower than two months till Election Day.

Cuomo's high-profile enterprise assembly got here as The New York Occasions/Siena School ballot performed from Sept. 2 to six and released this morning revealed Mamdani is main the pack of mayoral hopefuls at 46% and much outpacing Cuomo, at simply 24%. Nevertheless, the survey steered a particularly tight race in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup between Mamdani and Cuomo, with Mamdani choosing up 48% of the vote in comparison with Cuomo's 44%.

The previous governor spoke to enterprise leaders at The Pool occasion house in The Seagram Constructing in Midtown Manhattan for about 25 minutes on Tuesday morning about his pathway to victory in New York Metropolis's heated mayoral race.

As women and men of all ages wearing costly enterprise apparel exited the occasion house, one man who works in finance informed Fox Information that an "energetic" Cuomo assured the group that he believed incumbent Mayor Eric Adams may drop out of the race as early as this week.

MAMDANI RIVALS DEFIANT AGAINST DROPPING OUT DESPITE FACING LONG ODDS IN NYC MAYOR BATTLE

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, on June 11, 2024. (Al Drago/Getty Photos)

"New York Metropolis isn't on the market. The backroom scheming from Donald Trump and the billionaire class is backfiring, as New Yorkers see Zohran Mamdani is the one candidate who will combat to make the costliest metropolis within the nation extra reasonably priced," Mamdani marketing campaign spokesperson, Dora Pekec, stated in a press release responding to the most recent ballot.

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The ballot follows final week's report by The New York Times indicating President Donald Trump's advisors are floating roles within the administration for Adams and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the event that they drop out of the race.

"I do not suppose you'll be able to win until you've one on one," Trump informed reporters earlier than a White Home dinner on Thursday, whereas additionally denying that he is personally inspired any candidate to drop out.

Each Sliwa and Adams have affirmed their dedication to staying within the race through November .

Cuomo dismissed the ballot when questioned by reporters on Tuesday, arguing that he does not take "any of all of them that critically." He stated that even when Adams and Sliwa keep within the race, "folks aren't going to waste their vote" and it'll finally develop into a two-person race between him and Mamdani.

New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams is operating for re-election as an impartial candidate this yr. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/The Related Press)

Whereas the most recent polling signifies in any other case, as Cuomo shores up simply 24% of the vote when Adams and Sliwa keep within the race, one one who attended Tuesday's assembly with enterprise leaders informed Fox Information that Cuomo stated he may win even when Adams stays within the race. Cuomo defended that declare whereas talking to reporters on Tuesday.

Cuomo stated it wasn't simply enterprise individuals who attended Tuesday morning's assembly, however "folks from all walks of life" who're "nervous about the potential for Mamdani successful."

"There’s no comparability. It’s like being in a hoop with Muhammad Ali versus an beginner," the businessman informed Fox Information Digital, defending that Cuomo "is aware of what he is doing" and is "going to get these folks off the streets" and "put them in psychological establishments."

CUOMO, ADAMS TRADE SHOTS OVER WHO SHOULD DROP OUT IN RACE AGAINST MAMDANI FOR NYC MAYOR

Marc Altheim, the proprietor of the yoga studio, Know Yoga Know Bliss, in Manhasset, N.Y., spoke to Fox Information as he departed the assembly with Cuomo on Tuesday morning. He stated he was beforehand the founding companion at an actual property improvement agency, Atlantic Improvement Group, in New York Metropolis.

"I am right here as a result of Andrew is clearly the higher candidate to be operating this metropolis. I am very involved that New York Metropolis's gonna be decimated if the opposite man takes workplace. And I feel that it's extremely, essential that folks perceive what Andrew is about. He is about creating a greater, safer New York Metropolis. He is for the police. He desires to construct housing. He does not consider issues ought to be free," Altheim stated.

Altheim added that Mamdani has "no clue what he is doing."

New York Metropolis Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, spoke to supporters at a canvass launch occasion in Prospect Park on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox Information Digital)

"He by no means managed something. So for me, I desire a mayor who's competent. I do not need somebody who's simply paying lip service and giving issues free of charge," he stated, whereas including that it is time for Adams to go away the race.

Cuomo's push to consolidate assist towards Mamdani additionally comes as one other impartial candidate, Jim Walden, dropped out of the race final week and urged the opposite candidates to unite against Mamdani .

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Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., who rallied towards "oligarchy" with Mamdani in Brooklyn on Saturday responded on X to The New York Times , who first reported the small print of Cuomo's assembly with enterprise leaders on Tuesday.

"The oligarchs are panicking. They'll spend as a lot because it takes to attempt to defeat Zohran Mamdani. They’ve bought the cash. We’ve bought the folks. Collectively, let’s elect Zohran and cease billionaires from shopping for elections," Sanders said on X .