While former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has a sizeable lead in a recent poll of Democrat mayoral candidates for New York City, one who has claimed that Israel has committed a genocide is running second and has done well in fundraising.
Zohran Mamdani posted on X: “I will always be clear in my language and based in facts: Israel is committing a genocide.”
In the Honan Strategy Group poll, Mamdani was second, rising six points to 18%, while Cuomo led with 41%. City Comptroller Brad Lander had 8%, with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams at 6%.
The poll was conducted prior to the announcement that the corruption case against Adams, which included allegations of bribery and wire fraud, had been dropped on April 2.
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former aide to Republican Governor George Pataki and former CUNY trustee, said people should be taking Mamdani’s candidacy more seriously.
“I’ve been warning people for some time now that a victory of Mamdani would be dangerous,” Wiesenfeld said. “He is the most openly anti-Israel candidate we’ve seen and the Democratic Socialists will have the other candidates drop out, throw their weight and support behind Mamdani, and hope that the votes between Adams and Cuomo are split. Either one would be better than Mamdani.”
Adams visited Israel in August of 2023 and has spoken often in defense of the Jewish State.
Wiesenfeld said he is aware there is disdain for Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after President Joe Biden had called for him to do so. An inquiry overseen by Democratic State Attorney General Letitia James found that Cuomo sexually harassed women, including state employees. Cuomo was never charged with a crime, denied all allegations, and disputed the claims of the 168-page report. James also released a report that found underreported nursing home deaths due to Covid by possibly up to 50%. Cuomo was criticized for ordering nursing homes to accept senior citizens who tested positive for Covid, though he claimed the decision was in line with federal guidelines.
“I understand there are people furious with him for a number of things, including with the nursing homes during Covid,” Wiesenfeld said. “My own mother had Covid in a nursing home and barely survived, so I understand people’s anger. But it’s important to look at the big picture. Allowing a Mamdani win would be an absolute disaster and would result in even more Jew hatred.”
Hank Sheinkopf, an expert political and communications consultant whose clients have included former President Bill Clinton and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said Mamdani should not be underestimated.
“In politics, things can happen in a short amount of time,” he said. “Mamdani is openly anti-Israel. Some may also dismiss him, thinking he is too far left. But he is slick and has done very well in fundraising.”
Mamdani, 33, recently announced his campaign had raised $8 million dollars from about 18,000 donors. The Queens state assemblyman, who has more than 75,000 followers on X, recently advocated for the city to control grocery stores, though it is unclear how exactly that would occur.
Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov of District 48 in Brooklyn, said the Democratic Socialists of America are fueling Mamdani.
“It’s not surprising to me that Zohran is in second place right now,” Vernikov said of the poll. “Republicans may have won nationally in 2024, but it would be irresponsible to rest on our laurels and to underestimate the organizing power of the DSA – especially now that they’re on a back foot. We have to stay vigilant and understand that they will use Trump’s victory as a rallying tool. The DSA knows how to capitalize on a need to ‘resist’ and will use that to raise money and organize their dedicated volunteer base.
“Zohran is highly charismatic and has an uncanny ability to dress up his policies as anything other than what they really are: a socialist path to communism paved with ‘good intentions,” she continued. “Those of us who lived under communism understand where these nice sounding policies lead-government-run grocery stores sound wonderful until you are waiting on hours-long lines for break and milk.” Vernikov was born in Chernivtsi, in what was then the Soviet Union and is now Ukraine. She came to the United States when she was 12.
Former longtime Democrat New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, said he recently hosted Curtis Sliwa for a Shabbat meal. Sliwa was the Republican candidate who lost to Adams in the last election and is the presumptive Republican candidate when voters go to the polls on November 4.
Hikind said Mamdani is “obviously very dangerous.” But he said the campaign hasn’t really started yet and said he had problems with Cuomo, and that if the choice was Adams or Cuomo, he would pick Adams – for a number of reasons, including Cuomo’s actions during Covid regarding nursing homes.
“I haven’t endorsed any candidate,” Hikind said. “Who will ultimately be the Democratic candidate? We don’t know yet. We should not forget that Cuomo cannot be trusted. We know that there was a surge in antisemitism after October 7, but he was governor when antisemitism spiked even before that and he did nothing. He’s talk, talk, talk and no action.”
Hikind, who became a Republican a few years ago, said he wished there was a Democratic candidate he was comfortable with “on every level.” In a scenario where Mamdani won the Democratic primary, Hikind said, Sliwa “would have a great chance to win.”
In an article in the New York Post, Michael Goodwin wrote that Mamdani’s father, Mahmoud, a professor at Columbia University, “has called for the elimination of the Jewish state” and that Mamdani sponsored a bill that “would have allowed the state attorney general to dissolve any New York groups helping to fund Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”
On October 13, 2023, Mamdani was arrested for leading a sit-in that blocked traffic outside the Brooklyn home of Senator Chuck Schumer. Several media outlets alleged that Mamdani’s mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, signed on to a letter with about 90 others, requesting the Academy of Motion Pictures “reconsider” Israeli actress Gal Gadot’s presence at the Oscars. Gadot presented an Oscar nonetheless.
Wiesenfeld accused Jewish organizations of failing to speak out against Mamdani. He said some hide behind being 501(c) nonprofits, claiming the law doesn’t allow them to weigh in on politics.
“It’s just an excuse,” he said. “They are certainly allowed to speak out against slander of Israel without endorsing any specific candidate. It’s a shame that organizations that claim to work to protect the interests of Jewish New Yorkers have stayed silent.”
