NYC Mayor’s Race: Mamdani eyes a ‘new day’ at City Hall at sunrise rally on final day of campaign

Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani kicked off his last day on the Nov. 4 general election campaign trail much like he began Election Day during the Democratic primary — with a rally at the crack of dawn.

Mamdani has been the frontrunner throughout the general election, backed largely by a coalition of elected officials and labor unions that had not endorsed him during the primary. However, Cuomo has narrowed the gap with Mamdani in several recent polls, and has amassed his own notable endorsements, including those of current Mayor Eric Adams and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Seeking to make one final push on the eve of Election Day, Mamdani walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on Nov. 3, with roughly 100 of his backers on Monday and delivered his closing campaign message just a few feet away from City Hall. The candidate, a democratic socialist Assembly member, said he had come full circle on the general election campaign that began with a sunrise press conference in his home district of Astoria, Queens, just before his upset primary win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in late June.

“The last time I spoke at a sunrise press conference was on the morning of June 24, when our movement felt ascendant, but certainly not inevitable,” Mamdani said. “Today, the morning before Election Day, we have not only come so far, we stand on the verge of ushering in a new day for our city.”

The supporters who joined Mamdani on his walk across the bridge and during the news conference included state Attorney General Letitia James, City Council Members Justin Brannan and Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn), and Assembly Members Robert Carroll and Jo Anne Simon (D-Brooklyn), among others.

During his remarks, Mamdani promised to deliver a new day at City Hall with his affordability-focused platform — including proposals like free bus service, a rent freeze for stabilized tenants, and subsidized universal childcare.

“When I am mayor, I don’t want City Hall to only be a beacon of light once the sun has risen and illuminated it from the exterior,” he said. “I want to make city government a light of its own that people across this city feel at all hours of this day.”

While Mamdani’s plans to cut costs have excited a large swath of the electorate, they have also drawn criticism from Cuomo and many others as being unworkable. They argue that Mamdani will not be able to deliver on his promises because the Democratic nominee aims to finance most of his agenda through tax increases on wealthy New Yorkers and corporations — something that requires state approval, and that Gov. Kathy Hochul has already called a nonstarter.

Reaction to Trump interview

As Mamdani has often done on the campaign trail, he also pledged to use the mayoralty to fight President Trump’s ongoing mass deportation effort.

Mamdani also sought to tie Cuomo directly to the Republican commander-in-chief with Trump’s remarks during a Sunday night 60 Minutes interview in which the president said he preferred a “bad Democrat” over a “communist.” (A communist is not the same as a democratic socialist.)

“I think what President Trump’s remarks show us last night is what many of us have long known and feared, which is that when you are too busy cashing the checks of the billionaire donors who gave us the second term of this president, you will not be able to stand up to that same president,” Mamdani said, referring to Cuomo sharing several donors with Trump.

Cuomo, however, has insisted that he is the only candidate with experience going toe-to-toe with Trump and that the president would use Mamdani as an excuse to launch a federal takeover of the five boroughs.

In response to Mamdani’s remarks, Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, said, “Once again, Mamdani is lying and gaslighting his way through this election.”

“Only one candidate has a record of standing up to Trump when he tried to hurt New York and winning, and that’s Andrew Cuomo,” Azzopardi continued.

Mamdani is scheduled to spend much of his final day on the campaign trail conducting interviews with “new media” and “creators,” according to his campaign spokesperson. He will then hold a canvass in Astoria on Monday evening.