New York City’s voters are deciding the outcome of a generational and ideological divide that will resonate across the US as they choose the next mayor to run the nation’s largest city.
Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier in 2025, faces former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and perennial Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who is trying to land a massive upset.
A victory for 34-year-old Mamdani would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations, while elevating the democratic socialist to political stardom and giving his brand of economic populism one of the most visible political perches in America.
If Cuomo comes out on top, he will have staged a remarkable political comeback four years after resigning as governor over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.
For Sliwa — the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime New York tabloid fixture — a win would put a Republican in charge of the nation’s largest city at a time when many New Yorkers are seeking a leader who can keep President Donald Trump at bay.
Mamdani and Cuomo voted on Tuesday morning local time in Queens and Manhattan, respectively, while Sliwa had already cast his ballot during early voting.
The race has made Mamdani a national figure as he has drawn the ire of Trump and other Republicans, who have tried to cast him as the face of a new, more radical Democratic Party.
Trump has also threatened to take over the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport the state assembly member, who was born in Uganda but is a US citizen.
Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring “disaster” to the city and encouraging Sliwa backers to vote for the former governor instead.
Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 following a report from the attorney general that concluded he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Cuomo initially apologised for some of his behaviour, saying he had fallen out of step with what is considered appropriate workplace conduct.
However, in recent months, he has been defiant — calling his accusers liars and blaming his downfall on political adversaries.